Pascal Passion

The Falconer Files #4

by Andrea Frazer

Shepford Stacey is an unassuming little village, its greatest asset being its small but excellent Church of England Primary School. This delightfully old-fashioned establishment of only two classes, one of infants, the other of juniors, has been run by the same pair of ladies for decades.
It is in the year that the headmistress, Audrey Finch-Matthews, is to retire, that the smooth running of this long-established educational establishment is interrupted by murder.
When Detective Inspector Harry Falconer and Detective Sergeant Davey Carmichael of the Market Darley Police arrive to investigate, they discover a host of motives, both past and present, and grudges that reach right back through the years.
As the Easter weekend grinds inexorably on its way, Death stalks the village again, and it suddenly becomes imperative that the murderer is caught before there are more fatalities.
Falconer soon realises that this is not the work of an opportunistic psychopath passing through, but of someone within the small community itself, taking lives at will, and there is no indication that the slaughter will stop here.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Procedural, British Literature, Crime

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2012

About the author

An ex-member of Mensa (bored!),Andrea Frazer is married, with four grown-up children, and lives in the Dordogne with her husband Tony and their seven cats. She has wanted to write since she first began to read at the age of five, but has been a little busy raising a family and working as a lecturer in Greek (she has a Fellowship Diploma in Greek), and teaching music.
Apart from writing, Andrea continues to teach music, and now also teaches French to ex-pats.
Her interests include playing several instruments (but not all at the same time!), reading, and choral singing (she sings with two choirs in a nearby town). In her spare time, she breathes!

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again DI Harry Falconer and DS Davey Carmichael are once again investigating a murder in a village - this time in Shepford Stacey. This is an idyllic village with a well regarded village school with two teachers and two classes. It is the year of the headmistress's retirement but unfortunately someone has decided that she won't live to enjoy her retirement.

Gradually as the investigation progresses Falconer discovers there are a lot of unresolved and smouldering resentments concerning the dead woman and the suspect list grows by the minute. The ending is frightening and far from cosy and I didn't work out who was responsible for the murder before it was revealed.

This is a well written mystery which is well plotted and the characters are interesting and well drawn. Falconer and Carmichael are growing on me - I wasn't sure at first whether I would find them a bit irritating while reading a series in which they are the main characters. They are both developing as people and their relationship is improving. I recommend this series to anyone who likes their crime stories without too much on the page violence.

[Anthony Frazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't get enough of these Falconer stories! The author's keen observation of real life at an infants school leaps out at you from chapter 1, and her anthropomorphising of a fire is truely original and chilling! There is more humour between the two detectives and we are slowly discovering Falconer's history and background. The murder at the beginning is sudden and unexpected and has a macabre quality and the murderer is truly off their head! A superbly readable page turner and highly recommended.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There sure were a lot of horrible people in this book

I like these Falconer Files books because of the big differences between the inspector and the sergeant. The inspector is such a "prissy" person with his white grand piano and high priced clothing. He is not a wimp though, and his comments to sergeant Carmichael are so hilarious. This book had a whole bunch of unlikable people and it turned out to have a pretty good ending. I am ready to read book number five!!

[Mandy Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad its got the same main characters and fun to read

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious reading. Great fun, relaxing cozy.

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

So reminiscent of the previous books in the series. There is a formula to these books and it makes for rather a repetitive read. You meet the gossiping locals, the police talk to the gossiping locals, so you hear it all again. Then the police discuss what he gossiping locals had to say so get the same story for the third time.

All the time you are wondering about the main character but you just don't get to know a huge amount about them as if it is a state secret. The structure of these books is one of the problems with them. You need to get to know more about the main characters.

I still have another ten books to read of this series.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small town has a well known school. When the headmistress is killed, Falconer and Carmichael are called in to figure out what's going on. As they begin to investigate, they uncover grudges that go back many years.

Fairly good mystery told with some humor. I laughed out loud while reading.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same plot as previous three books, so no originality or thought went into this one. Much too self-indulgent; the first book in the series was fine and funny, but each one uses the same jokes and the same characters.
It’s really too bad. I thought the author had more to give, but I’m not seeing it.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The relationship between Falconer and Carmichael is getting easier as they investigate the murder of the head teacher in a small school in a local village.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A soon-to-be retired headmistress of a local Church of England school is found gruesomely murdered by the children of the school. There are a lot of people in the little village of Shepherd Stacey who had reason to dislike the headmistress...she had alienated even the woman who worked with her, had belittled former students, accused local business women wrongfully of stealing, and many other infractions. Detective Falconer and Detective Sergeant Carmichael have to wade through all these motives to find out whose is the strongest. In the meantime, Falconer is subjected to more of Carmichael's new family, with hilarious results.

I really enjoy these books, but they are getting a bit predictable. I think I'm going to give them a rest for a while and come back to them later...

[Susan Hersey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous books but it was good to travel with Harry Falconer and his offsider Carmichael again.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy myself when I am reading about DI Harry Falconer and his partner DS Davey Carmichael. The mysteries are just complex enough to balance the humor which tickles me.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 3 out of 5]

in an English village, revenge is a dish best served well chilled...

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable series with humor.

[J M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. have another by this author to read next.