Blood is thicker

James Fleming #1

by Ann C. Fallon

Asked to help the elderly Moore sisters make funeral arrangements for their brother, James Fleming is soon investigating a murder when he learns that the old man was stabbed to death and delivered to his sisters' house in a wooden coffin

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

Published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part of an anthology "Murder Most Irish" that I found at a book swap. I liked this one - a short novel length or a very long short-story. Although it was easy to figure out some of the"who" and "why", making the ending not such a surprise, the characters involved were well-written. The protagonist James Fleming is a Dublin lawyer, kind of a confirmed bachelor who loves travel and trains. He is called in to assist a client, a country family, when their prodigal brother, missing for 25 years, is mysteriously delivered early one morning to the farm doorstep in a coffin. Fleming soon finds himself digging deeply into the murky past of the village of Kilmartin to discover how to best defend his client.

[Eugene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just can’t quite elevate this to the 3rd level. I came across it in a used bookshop, #1 in the series (as well as #6 of the 7) and not having heard of Ms. Fallon’s work before, thought to give them a try. And I will give #6 that obeisance, but unless it’s a sight above this, I won’t pursue any of the others.
In this outing lawyer James Fleming is sent by his Dublin firm to the village of Kilmartin, where an old client has just discovered a body in a coffin on her driveway.
Turgid writing, less than appealing characters who become moreso as the tale goes on, including the protagonist who I didn’t find very much to my liking either, and a final solution that was hard to accept, not particularly satisfying and seemed adapted from the denouement in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express but not as smoothly.
I will read the other I have and reassess.

[William Howle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read. Well written and moves along smoothly. A man dies and is coffin is delivered to the home he fled from so many years ago. A solicitor goes to help make arrangements, but is determined that he was stabbed and his older sister is blamed for the death and is charged. She has been a very mean person and those around her would like to see her punished. It was not to be, but she ends up still being disliked and living with her sister that she has taken advantage of for years.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included in the anthology, Murder Most Irish, the first in a series of six mysteries featuring Dublin solicitor James Fleming. A pleasant "cozy" that spans rural and urban Ireland.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

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