Trouble Brewing

Jack Haldean Murder Mystery #6

by Dolores Gordon-Smith

A missing man leads Jack Haldean straight into danger . . . - Mark Helston, the rising star of Hunt Coffee Limited, was successful and popular, with plenty of money and everything to live for. Yet at half past seven on the evening of the ninth of January, 1925, he walked out of his Albemarle Street flat and disappeared.  Desperate to know what happened to Mark, his uncle, old Mr Hunt, appeals to Jack Haldean. Inspector Bill Rackham of Scotland Yard thinks it’s a thankless task. Perhaps, says Jack, but why should Mark Helston vanish? And then Jack finds a body . . .

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Dolores Gordon-Smith is the author of A Fete Worse than Death, the first in the Jack Haldean series. She graduated from the University of Surrey in 1981. She lives in Cheshire, United Kingdom.

Extra info found on Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this series but sometimes there's a little too much of the jargon of the time. Jack Haldean is asked by the elderly owner of Hunt Coffee Limited to find his nephew who has apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. Jack holds out little hope of finding the young man after 4 months. After checking with his policeman friend and finding the original investigation was definitely lacking in much substance it becomes a challenge. In my arrogance I thought I knew who the killer was before the end. Imagine my surprise...

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

You’ve got to stick with this as it is quite involved. Jack Haldean is asked, by HR Hunt, an elderly man who set up the Hunt coffee business, to find out what has become of his great nephew, Mark. Mark has gone missing and hasn’t been seen for some weeks. He is normally steady and hard-working so this is complete out of character. So far, so straightforward.
Then Jack finds a body but is it Mark or is it possible Mark did the deed.
Lots of other things come into play - the reappearance of a husband thought dead, someone’s life in jeopardy, people on boats to and from Brazil (where the coffee plantation is) mistaken identities, and several more deaths.
Jack is aided and abetted by his friend Chief Inspector Rackham and a lot of the book is them discussing their news and latest theories. I do like their easy friendship, which has grown as the books go on.
The ending and the explanation of everything is quite long but it held my interest, as did the book. I realise some reviewers found it all a bit convoluted but I very much enjoyed reading it.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really two stars but I’ll go three because of the incredible convolutions of a plot that includes missing persons, disguises and doubling, corporate fraud in the coffee industry, multiple wills and inheritance conundrums, custom made letter openers, unidentified corpses, misidentified corpses, more murders than England has in a year and that old wheeze: the soldier, presumed dead, who returns home - to his since remarried, very rich wife - after apparently wandering the world with amnesia before realizing who he really is. Also some unpleasant society people and a nice girl who didn’t deserve it.
It might not be intentional (I don’t know) but this series is effectively a sendup of the Golden Age English society mysteries.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something is rotten at Hunt's coffee. Mark Helston, the apparent heir, has just up and disappeared. Jack Haldean is called in by the owner, Mr. Hunt, to investigate. As he's looking into it, the man's niece, Patricia, is having problems in her marriage and Jack gets pulled in as her best friends is one of his good friends as well. Then, Pat's first husband returns from the dead with a story of amnesia having coincidentally worked at Hunts coffee in Argentina, the same place that Hunt is having difficulties with.
It took me a LONG time to read this book. It's fine but it just didn't capture my attention like some of Gordon-Smith's books have. Luckily, I know that some of the later books are great so I'm going to continue the series.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this series definitely gets better and better. I enjoy stories set following World War I that use the war background as part of the story, and this series does that. Will say that this was a very convoluted story and certainly kept me guessing how it would end even though I spotted the villain fairly early—but then it was fairly obvious and in a way made the mysteries in the story even more interesting.

[Lorna Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the characters in this series of book s which are set in the period between the wars. There were a couple of shocks along the way with this one, but the outcome is always quite satisfying.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a bit slow moving and complicated in places but it was still enjoyable and I would read others in the series. Good cosy crime set between the wars with a good feel for the time and relatable characters.

[Lizzytish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun romp with Jack. A coffee mogul’s nephew has gone missing. It’s been 4 months. Jack figures there’s more than coffee brewing and begins an investigation that percolates to a surprise ending.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable from beginning to end.

[Sara Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a convoluted story line. I almost didn’t finish it, but I did.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may knock this rating down to three stars eventually, but right now I'm thinking about how much I enjoyed this corking good mystery.
It was the cover that attracted my attention in the library. Somewhat plain and yet also attention-grabbing. Still, the printing looked not unlike it had been done by a vanity press, and not a particularly good one at that. Still, it seemed worth a leap. And it totally paid off.
Our hero, Jack Haldean, was a British major in WWI and now makes a living both writing and solving mysteries. On the strength of his previous efforts, he is called to the home of an elderly coffee baron and asked to find the man's missing nephew. Jack isn't sure he can do any better than the police have already done, but he's willing to give it a go. His inquiries lead to all kinds of other story lines. Where was Mark Helston going the night he disappeared? What happened to the man he was supposed to meet? Who would benefit from his disappearance or death? That last question proves particularly sticky, especially when the first husband of Mark's sister shows up after being thought killed in the war. And then bodies start to pop up.
Gordon-Smith keeps a lot of balls in the air. The reader will seem sure about who the real culprit is only to have reason to focus on someone else a few pages later. And it all works very well.
There is a nice sense of period here. I don't know how accurate it is with all the "old boys" and "poor chaps" and everyone popping in and out of their clubs, but I liked it. I liked it so much I am looking very forward to reading more of this series.

[Val Sanford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack's name is getting bandied about as a man who can solve a mystery. His presence is requested with Mr. Hunt, the founder of Hunt Coffee. It seems his nephew has gone missing. Through a troubled tangle of identities, personalities and the vagaries of a rich old aunt, the bodies start adding up. Once again, Major Haldean must find his way through the lies, deceit and greed that plague a family he's come to like. Aided by his Scotland Yard friend and his cousins, Jack unknots the knots and uncovers a dangerous enemy willing to kill for money.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Helston disappeared one cold January night, and the police have not found him, nor explained to his family what might have happened to him. So his autocratic great-uncle asks Jack Haldean, author and amateur sleuth, to find the young man. Then Haldean discovers that another man is missing, too. The 1930's is a perfect time period for the twisty plot, which depends in part on uncertain identifications and slow communication systems.

[Barbara Bothwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. London in the 1920s, Jack Haldean, Inspector Bill Rackham and, of course, bodies, what more could you want? Gordon-Smith has presented us with another puzzle more complicated than the Times crossword.

This is a great read - one you won't want to put down until the end.

A big mystery running through the story is where is Mark Helston?

The threads unravel and all is revealed in this tale involving my favourite brew - coffee.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the very first story that I read in the Jack Haldean series and I was immediately captivated. It seemed that Gordon-Smith was able to capture the sights and sounds of the period. She must have been reading a lot of Christie, Sayers, Allingham ...
I had to go back to the beginning of the series.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written mystery set in 1920s London in keeping with the classic British mysteries. An amateur sleuth is asked to look into the disappearance of a wealthy young businessman. To complicate things, the victim's sister is in a troubled marriage, there is potential fraud in the company, and another missing person is their business manager from the coffee plantation in Brazil.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book began a bit slow for me, however, once it hit it's stride then the tale took off. I enjoyed the police procedural process with Jack Haldean at it's lead. Some of the search scenes were the best I've read. I'll look for more in this series.

[Janet Hannel]

A vain attempt to recapture a 30's atmosphere. Very slow, then very complicated and contrived. Maybe I just didn't care about any of the characters. Christie did it better- and shorter!!

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the read as I wanted something that I didn't have to think about as I read. Plot a bit obvious but I liked the characters and will look for another Jack Haldean Mystery

[Alison]

I'm still reading this, in ebook format from my public library. This is the latest in the Jack Haldean series, set in England in the 20s.

[Kathy Moberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this may be the best Jack Haldean mystery yet!

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good mystery by Dolores Gordon-Smith --- part of her Jack Haldean series I am working through.

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A dependable and entertaining series. This one was fun with quite a clever plot.

[Liz V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost too complicated to be convincing. Reading series out of order, so backtracking.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read with a complicated plot and the story is keeping you doubt till the last chapter.

[Walanski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I figured it out at page 300 of 500. Skipped to the end.