Death Speaks Softly

David Webb #4

by Anthea Fraser

For weeks, Detective David Webb hasn’t had a case to really sink his teeth into. Then a constable reports the mysterious disappearance of a female student.

Attractive and French, Arlette Picard is Broadshire University’s resident femme fatale . So, exploring the obvious avenues of jealousy, lust, and rejection, Webb easily gathers a list of suspects.

But by the time Arlette’s parents arrive from France, he’s no closer to finding their daughter – dead or alive.

He asks a university professor to act as interpreter. But is immediately perturbed by the man’s oddly vacant face. What could be the need for such iron self-discipline?

Webb has a hunch he’s missing the bigger picture. And if he doesn’t piece things together soon, there’ll be ramifications he couldn’t ever have guessed at.

Genres: Mystery

165 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

aka Vanessa Graham

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young French student - Arlette Picard - disappears. Everyone DCI Webb and his team talk to says how nice she is, pretty vivacious and gets on with people. Who could have wished her harm? Why is Beryl, Professor Bernard Warwick's devoted wife, getting increasingly anxious about her husband's mental state? Others have noticed that he seems not to be altogether with it at times. What does he have on his mind?

This is a disturbing case for Webb who feels that there are things going on that he isn't aware of and his hunch is proved correct when the whole situation proves to have ramifications he couldn't ever have guessed at. This is a well written crime novel with plenty of interesting characters and a believable background. Webb himself is a likeable character and I love the way he gets to grips with the people involved in his cases by drawing caricatures of them.

I can thoroughly recommend this series and even reading them back to back as I am doing I haven't become tired of them. Each book could be read as a standalone novel but it is interesting to read them in order to see Webb develop as a character.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popular French student Arlette Picard of Broadshire University has gone missing. On her own or has she be forced. DCI David Webb investigates.
An enjoyable modern mystery.
Originally published in 1987

[Charles Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another flawed but enjoyable page turner from Anthea Fraser and her detective David Webb. There are coincidences in the story that strain credibility further than it should ever be stretched and, would you believe, a successful psychic. DCI Webb continues his on-off relationship with Hannah, who lives in the same block of flats as he does.

Arlette Picard, a French postgraduate student at a local university has gone missing. A psychic travels from Yorkshire saying he can "see" the missing girl in a remote farmhouse. He uses a pendulum over a map to locate the farm. The police raid the farm, and the psychic's predictions turn out to have been accurate, except it's the wrong missing girl! No further explanation is given, so we must assume the author is asking us to believe that a person claiming to be a psychic gave the police precise details which allowed a young woman to be found and rescued.

Arlette Picard's body is found by Chief Inspector Webb by a road in the middle of nowhere. He wasn't looking for her. He was taking time off and had gone into the countryside to practise his hobby of painting. Was that the elastic band of credibility that I heard snapping, tested far beyond endurance?

We are confronted by another huge coincidence when Arlette's parents arrive from France while the search for their daughter is underway: Arlette's mother turns out to be the long lost lover of the head of the university's French department, Professor Bernard Warwick. And Bernard's behaviour has started to arouse suspicions in his wife and their neighbours.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant complex interwoven story of initially seemingly unrelated incidents. This is a great detective story set in the innocuous environment of a too cosy English modern town complete with in-depth believable characters and rich atmosphere and descriptiveness to add another dimension to the darkening murky plot.

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

Another outstanding murder mystery involving DCI David Webb and his police team. This is extremely involved, with happenings both current and 30 years in the past. Great police procedural involves many diverse people and situations. Time period is late 1980's . Terrific reading experience!

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the plot and the characters for the most part. However, the Kindle version had a lot of punctuation and formatting errors that it was distracting to read and detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. Hopefully the next books in the series won't have the same errors. I do enjoy the Shillingham DCI Webb stories. I feel the setting and characters are very familiar to me.

[elizabeth mcguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detective Webb needs all his experience in this one

A tragic take of unrequited love. Meeting your long list love after 30 years of searching for her was enough to drive him over the precipice to which he was clining.
A different type of story from Antgea.
Webb was also fearing he had lost Hannah, when he saw her with another man.
How do they call fair?

[R.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sweet little French girl has gone missing. Webb makes it his mission to find her. When she is found, there is still a huge mystery surrounding the whys and whats of the mystery. Will his find out who dunnit before another murder is committed? Read the story.

[Doug Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a French graduate student at Broadshire University suddenly disappears, DCI David Webb helps the local police in the search. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ken Jackson and his wife Millie are expecting the arrival of twins at any time, and Webb hopes to patch up his relationship with Hannah.

[W H Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did like this one, young French girl goes missing and a whole host of people come under suspicion, enter the mix one disturbed tutor. Poor Webb worried over his love to boot. Yes it made story worth reading but I did find the ending a little predictable

[Cynthia Grove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between three and four stars. A complex mystery with a denouement which may please or disappoint people. Overall the David Webb series is satisfying but definitely in the cosy subgenre.

[Shirley]

DCI Webb book 4

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting British mystery

Great plotline although a little confusing to follow the characters. Almost as if there were a little too many to keep track of. I enjoyed reading how a missing girl turned into two and one ends up dead leaving for a murder plot to be created out of that one death. I find out interesting that evening though I speak English and this was written in English I was enjoying learning new English words that are not necessarily used in American English. :) I would recommend reading this novel as it did keep me interested and enjoying the chapters to the finish.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story with some strange characters such as Bernard and his wife, Beryl. I was not too impressed with Detective Chief Inspector Webb in the other books in the series, but he is more likable in this one although his personal life is still troubling.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young international university student goes missing in a nearby town. DCI Webb is called in to help with the hunt. The girl's parents arrive and add another aspect to the hunt and subsequent crime.

A good novella. A couple of twists.

[Sharon Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had quite a slow start, and I wasn't sure about it at all, but then it picked up, and the characters all suddenly seemed to gel, and flow together.