Changelings

Castlemere #7

by Jo Bannister

A TOWN GRIPPED BY FEAR

It begins with contaminated yogurt in a supermarket. Next, the tampering of showers in a girls' locker room. Caustic soda in baby powder. Cholera in cough medicine. An anonymous note promises much more--unless the town of Castlemere pays a ransom of one million pounds.

Superintendent Frank Shapiro, recovering from a bullet wound, has been cleared for desk duty. But with Sergeant Cal Donovan on holiday cruising the Castlemere Canal, he must rely on Inspector Liz Graham as hysteria rises and the fine line between savagery and civility grows narrower by the day.

The situation worsens when the detectives learn Donovan's abandoned boat has been found near the tiny village of East Beckham--and that the volatile sergeant is believed dead by the hand of the blackmailer. Yet stranger twists are still to come, for guilt and innocence wear ever-changing faces, as does evil.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Procedural, British Literature

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2000

About the author

Jo Bannister lives in Northern Ireland, where she worked as a journalist and editor on local newspapers. Since giving up the day job, her books have been shortlisted for a number of awards. Most of her spare time is spent with her horse and dog, or clambering over archaeological sites. She is currently working on a new series of psychological crime/thrillers.

Reviews

[Watchdogg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Changelings (Castlemere #7) by Jo Bannister
First published in 2000

GR blurb -
While investigating a series of anonymous threats to contaminate Castlemere's food, medicine, and water supply, the Castlemere detective team is thrown into turmoil by the disappearance of Cal Donovan, and his partners, Liz Graham and Frank Shapiro, begin to fear for his safety as they search for a dangerous and elusive madman.

My thoughts -
Another from my shelves that has lingered there for about two decades. Through the first two-thirds of the book I was quite impressed and intrigued by the dual unique story lines. But as the novel proceeded to what should have been dual heart pounding climaxes, my efforts at suspension of disbelief snapped and I wound up thinking that each of these story lines were simply preposterous. The author painted herself into dual corners and had to resort to unbelievable circumstances and endings to wrap up what I have to rate as only a two-star rating - meaning (in accordance with my rating system) near good - less than average. What a disappointment!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to rate this mystery. Two mysteries entirely unrelated and both far fetched. It was a good enough read on a Sunday afternoon though.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not presented as a series finale, but the last of the Castlemere books. Two twisty narratives running parallel; one of them was pretty unbelievable. Also, the dog dies. (More accurately, is poisoned.) *sad face*

I will retain my fond memories of this series but do not think I will read it a third time.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

(Holiday reading so my comments are a bit minimal)

Latest in the Castlemere series, I think it's the seventh. Very moving and Bannister is taking her characters to new levels.

[Judy]

I love the trio of Detective Superintendent Frank Shapiro, Detective Inspector Liz Graham, and Sergeant Cal Donovan so much that I have begun to visit them for the second time because Bannister abandoned them in favor of the Brodie Farrell series. This time out Donovan is ostensibly on vacation but his boat is found abandoned and no one has a clue where he is; even his unruly dog Brian Baru is missing. In the meantime the town of Castlemere is panicking because an unknown person is leaving potentially lethal clues claiming items on the shelves of local stores have been tampered with. Eventually asking the terrified residents to pay a million dollar ransom to get him to stop. The hunt for the blackmailer goes on while, in a parallel story, Donovan has been taken prisoner in an ingrown, small village with a large secret, at the heart of which is a small, mentally disabled girl.