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Inspector Rudd #13
No Flowers, by Request
Detective Chief Inspector Rudd investigates the murder of David Hamilton, a young lawyer apparently killed by a prowler
- GenresMystery
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
June Thomson
70 books22 followersJune Thomson, a former teacher, has published 24 crime novels, 18 of which feature Detective Chief Inspector Jack Finch and his sergeant, Tom Boyce. She has also written six short story collections of Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in St Albans in Hertfordshire.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 27, 2023
"It was, on the surface, a congenial gathering in Elizabeth Hamilton's pretty drawing room the day of the party. Even her father, Felix Napier, was being friendly to the irritating Steven Bradley. Dear, disorganized Dodie had introduced an attractive new teaching colleague called Kate into their midst. Ruth, the diminutive local doctor, kept up a lively conversation, and Elizabeth's solicitor husband David completed the circle of comfortable hospitality.
"Within a few days one of this company would be dead -- and the rest under suspicion of murder. A murder so unexpected, brutal and calculating that even the formidable Detective Inspector Finch found it utterly baffling."
~~back cover
"A murder so unexpected" is an excellent description. Knowing you're reading a murder mystery, the reader eagerly follows the very generous clues that might possibly lead to sussing out the victim in advance. And those clues are all wrong. The victim is the least expected of all of the group.
Even worse, the murder almost certainly seems to have been done by an unknown intruder -- certainly not anyone the victim might have known, even slightly. A random burglary gone wrong? At first it appears to be the case, but then ... little details begin to add up to the murderer being known to the victim.
The plot builds slowly on these bare bones, pulling the reader into a morass of investigation that seemingly leads nowhere ... until suddenly things begin to fall into place. Since this is a murder mystery, the genre demands the murder be solved in the end, and indeed it is. But the reader (like Detective Inspector Finch) remain mostly in the dark until the very last moment, when all is revealed to the surprise of everyone involved.
An excellent mystery, that so many of the more modern ones fail to live up to.
"Within a few days one of this company would be dead -- and the rest under suspicion of murder. A murder so unexpected, brutal and calculating that even the formidable Detective Inspector Finch found it utterly baffling."
~~back cover
"A murder so unexpected" is an excellent description. Knowing you're reading a murder mystery, the reader eagerly follows the very generous clues that might possibly lead to sussing out the victim in advance. And those clues are all wrong. The victim is the least expected of all of the group.
Even worse, the murder almost certainly seems to have been done by an unknown intruder -- certainly not anyone the victim might have known, even slightly. A random burglary gone wrong? At first it appears to be the case, but then ... little details begin to add up to the murderer being known to the victim.
The plot builds slowly on these bare bones, pulling the reader into a morass of investigation that seemingly leads nowhere ... until suddenly things begin to fall into place. Since this is a murder mystery, the genre demands the murder be solved in the end, and indeed it is. But the reader (like Detective Inspector Finch) remain mostly in the dark until the very last moment, when all is revealed to the surprise of everyone involved.
An excellent mystery, that so many of the more modern ones fail to live up to.
August 8, 2011
This one was more in line with what I'm used to from Thomson...I've read 3 or 4 others by her. I got involved with the characters and she kept me guessing till the end. I always like that in a mystery.
March 14, 2011
( Flores Não Por Favor )
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews