No Corners for the Devil: Murder and Mystery in a Cornish Seaside Village

DCI Channon Mystery #1

by Olive Etchells

When the body of a teenaged girl washes ashore in a small Cornish village, the subsequent investigation rattles the community, turning the normally peaceful village inside out.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Olive Etchells was born in Lancashire, England. She has been writing for many years and is best known for her Jericho Rose Lancashire sagas.

She writes under two other names: Liza
Manning and Rachel Murray. Both names are used for romance fiction.

Series:
* DCI Channon Mystery

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Baxter family move from Manchester, England to a seacoast village in Cornwall for a quieter, simpler life. Instead, they are soon embroiled in a murder mystery after the younger son, Ben, and a neighbor boy discover a teen girl's body in the surf on a morning adventure on the beach.

Immediately gripping, the book continues as an intriguing page turner. Plot twists abound as DCI Channon and his surly assistant Bowles continue the investigation that involves the entire police force. The Baxter family is questioned more than others and become the talk of the village, school friends, neighbors, etc.

The author skillfully provides a narrative that doesn't bog down, and characters with their backstories are realistic and relatable. A reader cheers for some characters, suspects others.

So far, so good until the ending, where a new twist is suddenly thrown into the mix, having little or no connection to the preceding story lines. It even stretches credibility. The ending is then something of a disappointment that doesn't live up to the excellent plotting of the previous chapters.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Corners for the Devil is a British police procedural, set in a Cornish seaside village, and centering on a family who’ve moved from Manchester to start a new life. A teenage girl’s body washes up on the shore and is found by Mancunian Luke. At which point DCI Baxter begins to investigate. Is Luke a suspect? Will the welcoming villagers turn against the newcomer family? And can Luke’s mother protect him, and all her family, and reconnect with her errant daughter, and… Complex relationships are slowly revealed as the story progresses, all against a backdrop of beautifully evocative countryside. There’s lots of dialog, easy to read but told with convincing voice. And there’s plenty of intrigue and mystery as the story progresses. It makes for a good police procedural, with plenty to draw the reader in.

Disclosure: I found this in a library sale and I enjoyed it

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books that had so much promise, but failed to deliver. However, if you like extreme police procedural with little character development, a just the facts kind of book, this might entertain you more than it did me.

The most bothersome thing for me is that the main character isn't the police officer as much as the wife of the prime suspect is. I would've much preferred having the focus on the main investigator.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

NO CORNERS FOR THE DEVIL (Police Procedural-England-Cont) – G+
Etchells, Olive – Standalone
Constable, 2005- UK Hardcover
Sally Baxter, her husband and three children, have moved to a roundhouse with cottages in a small farming community in Cornwall. The oldest son, Luke, gave his classmate Samantha a ride home one night. The next day, his youngest, and very sensitive brother, Ben, along with his friend Malachi, finds Samantha's body in a tide pool on the beach. Luke is the last know person to see her but it's Sally's husband, Rob, who seems most disturbed. DCI Cannon, whose wife and son were killed in an automobile accident, is in charge of the investigation.
*** The plot was good and there were enough suspects to keep me going, but the motive was a little weak. What I really liked about the book was the characters. There are a lot of them, but each was unique and interesting in their own right and I really liked the relationships between the characters. I can only hope this is the beginning of a series as I should really like to see how these characters develop over time.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beautiful Cornish countryside is the setting for this story. The Baxter family move into the lovely old roundhouse, they are very happy and accepted by the local community until the body of a girl is found on the beach by the Baxter's youngest son. The police officer DCI Channon is a thoughtful man and not unkind but his Sergeant, Bowles in just the opposite, he seems to have it in for the Baxter's older son and is determined to prove that he is the murderer. A good read but maybe a little on the tame side when it comes to excitement.

[Karla Huebner]

This was a pretty good mystery in terms of evocation of the character Sally Baxter, mother of one of the boys who finds the murdered girl; nuances of family dynamics are generally well presented here. The police procedural aspect, on the other hand, did not particularly interest me, as the more abrasive of the two main detectives didn't come off as nearly as bright as he was alleged to be. The solution was a bit surprising.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book has some 1st-book awkwardnesses that might have been addressed with better story editing (two items esp. that are brought up and then never explained or resolved), the characters are interesting and well developed with believable motivations. Would like to see more local color for the intriguing small-village England coast setting.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

British mystery writer -- title comes from a round house -- no corners for the devil -- pretty neat! Good mystery that keeps u guessing!

[Christina Potter Bieloh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just happened upon this at the library, and I am really enjoying this British mystery.

[Mary G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good story.

[Kandyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A teenage girl, Samantha, is murdered and the mystery unravels as to who the killer might be.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new author for me and one I enjoyed. This was a good mystery and the characters were well drawn out.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like some of the dective show from the UK, you'll enjoy this book.