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A Killing In The City
“Well, Mr Kendall, let us say you purchased twenty thousand shares in Rockford Metals today and sold them on Friday, you should make a profit of twenty, twenty-two per cent. Something like that,” Collier said. He paused and shook his head. “In other words, you'll make quite a killing.”
He paused once again and smiled. “But somehow, Mr Kendall, I don't think you came here to talk about investments, did you?”
Kendall smiled and shook his head. No, he hadn't. He had quite a different kind of killing on his mind … the killing of Robert Andrews.
He paused once again and smiled. “But somehow, Mr Kendall, I don't think you came here to talk about investments, did you?”
Kendall smiled and shook his head. No, he hadn't. He had quite a different kind of killing on his mind … the killing of Robert Andrews.
- GenresMystery
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2012
3 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 22, 2021
Yet another enjoyable Kendall audio book. This time based on holiday which didnt really happen. I can get Mollie's frustration.
There was a section which just had me smiling so much that I could not restrain myself - at the beginning when Mollie and Kendall were packing and getting ready to leave and then when Kendall arrived at the airport. I just wanted to slap him.
The rest of the audio book followed in the normal usual vein and I really enjoyed it.
I was given a free copy by the author but this in now way impacted my review.
There was a section which just had me smiling so much that I could not restrain myself - at the beginning when Mollie and Kendall were packing and getting ready to leave and then when Kendall arrived at the airport. I just wanted to slap him.
The rest of the audio book followed in the normal usual vein and I really enjoyed it.
I was given a free copy by the author but this in now way impacted my review.
July 20, 2012
The pacing of this book was incredibly slow and it was also blatantly obvious who'd dun it almost from the very beginning of the book. My major issue with the book though from the start was the dialogue. The setup is that Tom Kendall is a private eye who lives in Miami who heading to London with his secretary/business partner for a HOLIDAY! I raised an eyebrow as Americans usually say they are going on vacation. OK, so maybe Tom is a Brit who's been living in the States for years. Nope. He's a born and bred American who talks like a Brit.
I plodded on and wanted to like this book but between the pace, the obvious plot, lack of suspense and Tom Kendall I 'll take a pass on this series. The five star reviews on Amazon befuddle me.
I plodded on and wanted to like this book but between the pace, the obvious plot, lack of suspense and Tom Kendall I 'll take a pass on this series. The five star reviews on Amazon befuddle me.
January 30, 2019
( Format : Audiobook )
"Like a dog with a bone."
John Holt's doggedly determined detective, Tom Kendall, has promised his long suffering secretary and business partner, Molly, an holiday, an extravaganza of sight seeing and shopping: four weeks in London. It will be his first holiday in years and his first time out of the country, apart from a day trip to Niagara Falls. As Molly packs and grows ever more excited, Kendall desperately searches for their passports and tickets which he knows he put somewhere safe.
Of course, once in Eng!and, Molly's dreams of serious shopping and shows are elbowed aside in favour of Kendall's camera as he determinedly drags her to, seemingly, every building and monument in his guide book, taking pictures at each one. Until, that is, an acquaintance is found dead in an hotel room and the detective within him simply won't accept the verdict of suicide.
The characters of Molly and Kendall are a delight. He has the assurance of being right, even when he's not, despite what the Scotland Yard detective and others might say as he humbles his way, Columbo -like, through interviews, determined to find the proof for his theories, constantly mentally rehearsing his ideas in his head. And bored Molly endures it all, none too stoically, muttering to herse!f, 'Here we go agakn.'
The relationship between the two, more long married couple than detective and secretary, is sheer delight. She pushes and reprimands, he argues, ignores and feels guilty. The solution to the story might be obvious but it is the getting there which brings such ennoyment.
Unfortunately, the narration was less than excellent. Although Christopher Hunter read well with reasonable inflection and a speed which felt perfect to reflect the character of Kendall, at least initially he sounded as if he were fighting off a cold and his constant pronunciation of 'asked' as 'axed' was both disconcerting as well as distracting. His reading of Molly's conversations brought a slight softening of his voice but there was no apparent attempt to bring different voices for any of the other characters Not that this latter really mattered - it was always obvious who was speaking. Not a bad reading overall but it could have better.
I have become a big fan of these slow paced but absorbing and humorous detective stories, full of character and realistic dialogue, of stubborn nosing around as well as vague memory lapses. My thanks to the author for freely gifting me with a complimentary copy of A Killing in the City, the fourth in the Kendall series and, like it's predecessors, fully standalone.
For all who enjoy detective stories or well developed real-feel quirky characters, highly recommended.
"Like a dog with a bone."
John Holt's doggedly determined detective, Tom Kendall, has promised his long suffering secretary and business partner, Molly, an holiday, an extravaganza of sight seeing and shopping: four weeks in London. It will be his first holiday in years and his first time out of the country, apart from a day trip to Niagara Falls. As Molly packs and grows ever more excited, Kendall desperately searches for their passports and tickets which he knows he put somewhere safe.
Of course, once in Eng!and, Molly's dreams of serious shopping and shows are elbowed aside in favour of Kendall's camera as he determinedly drags her to, seemingly, every building and monument in his guide book, taking pictures at each one. Until, that is, an acquaintance is found dead in an hotel room and the detective within him simply won't accept the verdict of suicide.
The characters of Molly and Kendall are a delight. He has the assurance of being right, even when he's not, despite what the Scotland Yard detective and others might say as he humbles his way, Columbo -like, through interviews, determined to find the proof for his theories, constantly mentally rehearsing his ideas in his head. And bored Molly endures it all, none too stoically, muttering to herse!f, 'Here we go agakn.'
The relationship between the two, more long married couple than detective and secretary, is sheer delight. She pushes and reprimands, he argues, ignores and feels guilty. The solution to the story might be obvious but it is the getting there which brings such ennoyment.
Unfortunately, the narration was less than excellent. Although Christopher Hunter read well with reasonable inflection and a speed which felt perfect to reflect the character of Kendall, at least initially he sounded as if he were fighting off a cold and his constant pronunciation of 'asked' as 'axed' was both disconcerting as well as distracting. His reading of Molly's conversations brought a slight softening of his voice but there was no apparent attempt to bring different voices for any of the other characters Not that this latter really mattered - it was always obvious who was speaking. Not a bad reading overall but it could have better.
I have become a big fan of these slow paced but absorbing and humorous detective stories, full of character and realistic dialogue, of stubborn nosing around as well as vague memory lapses. My thanks to the author for freely gifting me with a complimentary copy of A Killing in the City, the fourth in the Kendall series and, like it's predecessors, fully standalone.
For all who enjoy detective stories or well developed real-feel quirky characters, highly recommended.
September 8, 2021
A Killing In The City (Kendall Book 4) was a great read by John Holt. Tom Kendall, a private detective on vacation in London. He finds out that one of his fellow passengers he travelled on the plane with died. They believe he overdosed on prescribed tablets. Kendall immediately offers his help and Scotland Yard tells him that his services will not be required. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.
April 18, 2021
Between the slow, plodding pace, the grammatical/typing/spelling, editorial mistakes and the factual errors that could easily be checked, this is one of the worst books I've read. It's full of unnecessary dialogue and repetition, obviously to make up the word count and the story isn't even all that good. Do yourself a favour and pick a different book. I can't believe it got some 5 star reviews.
July 24, 2024
The fourth book featuring Tom Kendall, a private detective. In this novel, Tom has gone on holiday to London. He is made aware of the death, an apparent suicide, of one of his fellow travellers. He immediately offers his services to Scotland Yard - who are not interested in his help!
October 5, 2018
PI Tom Kendall bumbles his way through investigating a sudden death whilst on holiday in London.
August 4, 2024
Excellent Read!!
August 10, 2016
Kendall has just completed another case and had promised his hard working secretary / assistant a long holiday in England sight seeing, but he does need to be constantly pushed into actually going.
They're holiday is finally upon them and trouble starts at the airport and Kendall is impatient as there is a big queue due to a hold up which annoys him, finally they board the plane and Mollie jumps into a seat and goes to sleep or so she pretends to. Kendall ends up having a discussion with another passenger as Mollie has got his seat but he says he will sit in another seat as she has quickly fallen asleep. The Man puts his hand luggage in the overhead locker and whilst doing this puts an envelope in Kendall's bag. Why? All will be revealled later on.
Kendall talks more to the man on the long flight over to London and is told that he is travelling on business primarily as it appears someone in the firm he works for has been commiting fraud in a big way and wanted to find out who had been doing this and then he planned on taking some time out to trace some of his family.
Kendall and the man exchanged hotel numbers and arranged to meet for a meal to catch up.
Molly was eager to start sight seeing and lots and lots of shopping but something will pop up and stop this.
Suffice to say that murder and intrigue follows leaving Kendall needing to find out and why as he feels that he needs to.
He has many run ins with Scotland Yard mainly getting told to stop investigating and keep out of the way of the police as he has no place to be doing this, but does he listen? No, which gets him into lots of scrapes along the way in this great read.
Another great from John who creates great characters who work well together
They're holiday is finally upon them and trouble starts at the airport and Kendall is impatient as there is a big queue due to a hold up which annoys him, finally they board the plane and Mollie jumps into a seat and goes to sleep or so she pretends to. Kendall ends up having a discussion with another passenger as Mollie has got his seat but he says he will sit in another seat as she has quickly fallen asleep. The Man puts his hand luggage in the overhead locker and whilst doing this puts an envelope in Kendall's bag. Why? All will be revealled later on.
Kendall talks more to the man on the long flight over to London and is told that he is travelling on business primarily as it appears someone in the firm he works for has been commiting fraud in a big way and wanted to find out who had been doing this and then he planned on taking some time out to trace some of his family.
Kendall and the man exchanged hotel numbers and arranged to meet for a meal to catch up.
Molly was eager to start sight seeing and lots and lots of shopping but something will pop up and stop this.
Suffice to say that murder and intrigue follows leaving Kendall needing to find out and why as he feels that he needs to.
He has many run ins with Scotland Yard mainly getting told to stop investigating and keep out of the way of the police as he has no place to be doing this, but does he listen? No, which gets him into lots of scrapes along the way in this great read.
Another great from John who creates great characters who work well together
June 23, 2013
On starting this book my first thought was 'Hey a real cut & thrust villain, and a banker to boot, great'. The next character I was faced with appeared to be a totally scatterbrained PI. 'Ah, a comedy' I thought. As the plot unfolded it soon became clear what was going on, although our scatterbrained PI didn't seem to have much of a grasp. Once he had met with a real detective all became clear, they were actually two comic characters, 'Dumb & Dumber'. It was soon clear to me exactly who was guilty of what, all circumstantial however. So just wait and see how the forensics pan out. But no! Instead our comic pair and one frustrated female simply reiterate what they already suspect and/or know in endless conversations with each other, themselves, and their suspects, until my poor head is spinning and waiting for some action. The plot is good, the characters whimsical, but the narrative is stretched to the limit. What is basically a short story is drawn ever thinner and longer. This is the first of Mr Holt's books I've read, whether it's the first he's written I don't know. He certainly has the 'gift of the gab'. Is it worth listening to? I'll leave it to you to decide.
September 11, 2012
“This is the fourth of John Holt's Kendall & Molly detective series that I've read. I always enjoy them, as much because of the very real characters than because of the story of a crime and its solving. Very good. For its tiny price, superlative value.”
September 11, 2012
c2012. Well, I am not sure what's up with all the italics. This book did not hold my attention at all and I really struggled to finish it. I felt that the dialogue was stilted and even the vocab was used in an odd fashion. Unfortunately, unable to recommend to the normal crew.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews