British Detectives Books

The Private Patient

P.D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating.

Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder.

To Commander Adam Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman—the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances—suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt.

P. D. James has gained an enviable reputation for creating detective stories of uncommon depth and intricacy, combined with the sort of humanity and perceptiveness found only in the finest novelists. The Private Patient ranks among her very best.

The Victoria Vanishes: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

Christopher Fowler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

It’s a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England’s most well-known pubs—including one torn down eighty years ago. What’s more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn’t exist. Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest. Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

That’s easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter. But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.

Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs Novels)

Jacqueline Winspear

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Not yet published By: Henry Holt and Co.

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Editorial Review:

In the thrilling new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of An Incomplete Revenge, Maisie Dobbs must catch a madman before he commits murder on an unimaginable scale

It’s Christmas Eve 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the prime minister’s office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met—and the writer mentions Maisie by name. After being questioned and cleared by Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard’s elite Special Branch, she is drawn into MacFarlane’s personal fiefdom as a special adviser on the case. Meanwhile, Billy Beale, Maisie’s trusted assistant, is once again facing tragedy as his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their young daughter, slips further into melancholia’s abyss. Soon Maisie becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict death and destruction on thousands of innocent people. And before this harrowing case is over, Maisie must navigate a darkness not encountered since she was a nurse in wards filled with shell-shocked men.

In Among the Mad, Jacqueline Winspear combines a heart-stopping story with a rich evocation of a fascinating period to create her most compelling and satisfying novel yet.

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 597 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

My first Christie book... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

and I'm no kid, believe me. I didn't think I'd like mystery, but this one makes me want to come back for more. It was assigned for my daughter's English class at school, so I picked it up and read it -- in one day. It kept me guessing and flipping back to find clues all the way to the end. Bravo!

Then There Were None-- Best book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Then There Were None, also published as The Ten Little Indians, was one of the most page-turning thrillers I've read. This book will keep you up all night and day wanting to finish it. This book is about 10 unsuspecting people going to an unknown island for a vacation. Each person is persuaded over for various reasons. The longer they stay, the weirder things get. Each day someone is killed, but there is no other people on the island despite a butler. As the members are being killed off, it leaves everyone thinking. Who is the murderer?

This book will be the best thriller/mystery book you may read. It's darkness and spookiness keeps you interested. The way the book's written makes you feel like you're in the book, trying to save yourself. But you never know which order you may go in. I highly reccomend this book, so enjoy.

Editorial Review:

Considered the best mystery novel ever written by many readers, And Then There Were None is the story of 10 strangers, each lured to Indian Island by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host accuses each person of murder. Unable to leave the island, the guests begin to share their darkest secrets--until they begin to die.

Death of a Witch (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 25)

M. C. Beaton

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Not yet published By: Grand Central Publishing

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Editorial Review:

Returning from a foreign holiday, Hamish Macbeth is worried because he senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over the Highland village of Lochdubh. He learns that a newcomer, Catriona Beldame, is regarded as a witch and various men have been seen visiting her. Hamish himself is charmed by her until he finds out she has been supplying dangerous potions. At first the villagers won't listen to him, saying that the loveless Hamish has turned against all women. He threatens to kill her so that when she is found murdered, he must clear his name and then work to solve yet another murder to bring peace and quiet back to his beloved village. His investigations are complicated by a romance with a female forensic expert. Perhaps he'll get married at last!

Not in the Flesh: A Wexford Novel (Inspector Wexford Mystery)

Ruth Rendell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A new Chief Inspector Wexford mystery from the author who Time magazine has called “the best mystery writer in the English-speaking world.”

When the truffle-hunting dog starts to dig furiously, his master’s first reaction is delight at the size of the clump the dog has unearthed: at the going rate, this one truffle might be worth several hundred pounds. Then the dirt falls away to reveal not a precious mushroom but the bones and tendons of what is clearly a human hand.

In Not in the Flesh, Chief Inspector Wexford tries to piece together events that took place eleven years earlier, a time when someone was secretly interred in a secluded patch of English countryside. Now Wexford and his team will need to interrogate everyone who lives nearby to see if they can turn up a match for the dead man among the eighty-five people in this part of England who have disappeared over the past decade. Then, when a second body is discovered nearby, Wexford experiences a feeling that’s become a rarity for the veteran policeman: surprise.

As Wexford painstakingly moves to resolve these multiple mysteries, long-buried secrets are brought to daylight, and Ruth Rendell once again proves why she has been hailed as our greatest living mystery writer.

The Lighthouse (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series #13)

P. D. James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 96 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

P.D James came down from a higher league. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

No one currently writing can match her. She is in there with Dashiell Hammet.
I read "The Lighthouse", then bought a copy for a gift.

John Culleton
Rowse Reviews

Editorial Review:

A secure and secluded retreat for the rich and powerful becomes the setting for an unsettling series of murders.

Combe Island off the Cornish coast is a restful haven for the elite. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from the island’s famous lighthouse in what appears to have been a murder, the peace is shattered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to handle the sensitive case, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. He is uncertain about his future with his girlfriend Emma Lavenham; his principle detective Kate Miskin is going through an emotional crisis; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a female boss. After a second brutal killing, the whole investigation is jeopardized, and Dalgliesh is faced with a danger even more insidious than murder.

Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery (Rex Graves Mysteries)

C.S. Challinor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cool Mystery 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This was like Agatha Christies "And Then There Were None" but more readable. I liked the sleuth Rex Graves. He does not try to be enigmatic like many mystery sleuths. I will read the next book when it comes out.

Editorial Review:

Not even a blizzard can keep Rex Graves away from Swanmere Manor, a historic hotel in East Sussex. But instead of Christmas cheer, the red-haired Scottish barrister finds a dead guest. Was it a stroke that killed old Mr. Lawry? Or an almond tart laced with poison? When more guests die, all hopes for a jolly holiday are dashed. Worst of all, the remote mansion is buried under beastly snow. No one can leave. Confined with a killer, no one can enjoy their tea without suspicion and scrutiny. Rex takes it upon himself to solve the mystery, but the most intriguing evidence - a burnt biography of President George W. Bush - offers few clues. Could the killer be the sherry-swilling handyman? The gay antiques dealer with a biting wit? The quarrelling newlyweds? Surely, it's not Helen D'arcy, the lovely lass Rex seems to be falling for.

An Incomplete Revenge: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (Maisie Dobbs Novels)

Jacqueline Winspear

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Not yet published By: Picador

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

*An Incomplete Review* . . . 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 10 people found this review helpful.

. . . OR, a culling of different points of view ?

Don't you sometimes wonder what book reviews should be? Reader response to Jacqueline Winspear's fine novel "An Incomplete Revenge" has inspired these thoughts:

1. Pare down your synopsis (of plot & characters). They have been covered quite deftly by Publisher's Weekly & top reviewers. If your review contains more words than the book itself I will find an abbreviated version that suits my needs. (You can't believe how STINGY with TIME you become when you are among the Aged!)

2. DOWSING has located sources of water for ten houses in our area, Prof. Calvin. Therefore, I am a True Believer. (I am sure you don't need to 'google' the subject but some other readers might benefit)? You doubtless know that in the backwoods we call it well-witching.

3. Consider whether your review will add real substance for on-line readers to mull over - - or whether you are perhaps satisfying your own ego? Julia M., isn't writing for amazon.com the ultimate in 'vanity press'? After reading your response & those by several others I can do some weighing & come up with my own smattering of opinion.

4. SAVE repetition for conversations with the hard-of-hearing, YES, but scatter (especially foreign) words to good effect - possibly drawing readers to more open attitudes about language. Our eyes are practiced at playing leapfrog with words on the printed page and don't you do some skimming yourself?

5. Coincidences are to be cherished!

6. BE OBJECTIVE (as I am not). Now that you have scanned a few of my cherished prejudices I suggest that others NOT make the same mistake.

Jacqueline Winspear pleases many readers and has developed Maisie as a most fetching character. It is especially interesting to learn of the detective's Roma ancestry. I have in the past wondered about the gypsies in Britain and the author has blended a great amount of information with an engaging story of losses and gains. The well-drawn personalities are a bonus, as always. James Compton is a lucky employer and he may even be found helping Maisie weather some of the future changes that are hinted.

Editorial Review:

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggest a darker criminal element at work. A peculiar secrecy shrouds the village, and ultimately Maisie must draw on her finely-honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases yet.

Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries

Agatha Christie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Poirot Investigates 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

What can I say , It's Agatha Christie ! She is the best in my book when you talk Mysteries !Add Poirot in the picture and all I can say is WOW ! The stories are excellent as usual . Brilliant writer .

A gift. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This was a gift for my cousin. He and I both enjoyed the Poirot Mysterys on television. He has really enjoyed the CD's and said he "Might" let me borrow them. I will not hold my breath.
Dianne

Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries (Mystery Masters Series) [Audiobook] [CD] [Unabridged] 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

We really enjoyed listening to the audiobooks and noticing the differences between the DVD's and the actions and verbage in the books.

Hercule Poirot at his best! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a great audiobook that contains several mindboggling mysteries! David Suchet is the best man for this job so to speak since he portraited Hercule Poirot in the tv-sent shows.
His interpretation of Hercule Poirot, the voice and everything makes one feel like ones there just beside them!
I highly recommend this one!

Editorial Review:

Two things bind this sampler of thrillers: the diminutive Poirot's deductive brilliance and his partner Hastings's obtuseness. The eleven cases here involve film stars, valuable jewels, and abductions as Poirot stylishly uncovers the truth. This is a thrilling short story collection by the master of mystery and the most popular author of all time.