Choked Off

The Falconer Files #2

by Andrea Frazer

Choked Off is the second installment of Andrea Frazer's Falconer Files, a detective series chock-full of picture-postcard villages, dastardly deeds, and a delightful slice of humour. The villagers of Stoney Cross were bustling about like hyperactive ants. In gardens, houses, and the village hall, figures flitted to and fro, making last-minute preparations for their 'Great Event': the first Stoney Cross Arts Festival, which was due to commence on Saturday. The enlisting of a local radio presenter to advertise then review their efforts had added an extra frisson of excitement. But the delight soon turns to dismay when the broadcaster, Marcus Willoughby, actually moves into a house in Stoney Cross the day before the Festival. He turns out to be someone from various people's pasts; someone whom they had hoped never to see again, and who greets them with recognition - and malice - in his eyes. To those he had never met before, he simply proves to be a smarmy, spiteful bigot, who proceeds to take great delight in verbally shredding their artistic efforts. When he is found dead at his desk in his new home, no crocodile tears are shed. His demise is even presented on air, during his pre-recorded radio show Marcus having been 'choked off' for good while in full flow. His arrival in the village had obviously caused a few already guilty hearts to beat faster, and precipitates the hasty confessions of dark deeds thought long since buried. Into this welter of emotions is dispatched DI Harry Falconer, his erstwhile Acting Detective Sergeant, 'Davey' Carmichael riding shotgun, as they enter 'bandit' country once more.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Procedural, Cozy, Detective, British Literature

204 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2011

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]

Stoney Cross is organising its first ever arts festival and Marcus Willoughby, radio presenter and art critic, has been persuaded to give the festival some advance publicity and to report on the events in person. But Marcus Willoughby is also moving into the village and some people get a horrible shock when they actually meet him as he turns out to be someone they hoped never to see again.

Willoughby's style is to rubbish everything in a malicious and spiteful way so when he is found dead - and his death is actually broadcast in his radio programme - no one is too upset and DI Harry Falconer and Acting DS Davey Carmichael find themselves with a village full of suspects.

Both Falconer and Carmichael have problems wearing appropriate clothes for the occasion in this amusing and light-hearted murder mystery. There is plenty of humour and some marvellously eccentric characters - none of whom the reader really wants to feel could be a murderer. The corpse is totally dislikeable - as all good corpses should be.

This is the second book in what promises to be an entertaining series of murder mysteries and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read crime novels with plenty of humour and some likeable main characters.

[Debbie Towell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free through Goodreads.

This is my first time reading the Falconer series of books and I really wanted to like it. I just couldn't. I love mysteries and nothing better than those with a cozy village setting and a good cup of tea. It isn't a particularly strong representation of that particular genre, indeed I found it quite weak. This is the 2nd in the series but you don't need to have read the first to understand the main detective characters: DI Harry Falconer and Acting DS Carmichael. There are a great many characters in this very short novel - so many that I was very glad of the author's choice to include a list of the residents in the village of Stoney Cross as I found myself having to repeatedly refer to it. The story is very slow moving - the murder doesn't occur until a third of the way through. The author seems to go to great lengths to direct the reader away from the murderer, so much so that you can easily see the misdirect. Disappointing as I would like to have to work for it. There is also a bonus short story which I found much more fun and entertaining. Alas, I could easily determine who the murderer was and how it was done before DI Falconer did. Even though there is a Falconer series, I can't be bothered with the rest of them - too bad really.

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this. It was stupid, especially the ending. The structure of this book is almost identical to the previous book in the series and is very repetitive in nature. The police in this are hopeless bumbling idiots who do surprisingly stupid things and behave in a highly inappropriate manner. The book is all over the place and doesn't follow any logical progression when investigating a crime. This might be okay if the main character was quirky and eccentric, but this is not the case. The surprising thing about this is that the main character in the book, Harry Falconer, doesn't appear until half way through. I can only hope that things improve with this series.

Unfortunately, I have another 12 books in this series to read as they are sitting on my shelf ready to go. I don't think I will rush into them.

[John Hardy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in an English village, the villagers are certainly a bitchy lot, as per my first impression. There are so many that the author saw fit to include a list of Dramatis Personae! A radio presenter and critic rides into town and begins to annoy certain inhabitants. This is a cliche murder set-up, but the deed is not done until well into the story. DI Falconer investigates along with DS Carmichael, a sympathetic character. Falconer is not so sympathetic - he rants and raves uselessly at a witness who has "obstructed the police". He also goes and falls in love at first sight with another witness - ooh aah!
The action flows rather slowly, and every now and then the author breaks the fourth wall with personal comments in square brackets. I don't see the point of this, and I don't like the idea, it seems a bit lazy. A character could be used to make the statement instead - there were enough of them.
The author let a few Americanisms slip in, such as "buddy" and "hightailed it" which would almost certainly not be used in England.
The ending is a bit weird and disappointing, whodunnit lovers may very well guess this one (I had my suspicions).
I doubt that I will look for any more from this series, unless curiosity gets the better of me.
Rating 2.3.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok this was an interesting one. I was a bit disappointed in the end but it was because it didn’t end how I wanted but it was a surprise and good book!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

I figured out who did it say before the end of the book. A disappointment. The book in general is light reading. A beach book.

[Nancy Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a decent series, but in this case I knew how did it from the moment the character was introduced. It is interesting to watch the characters develop.

[Paula R. C. Readman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters and a brilliant twist

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Art Show in a small village. A radio art critic with a poisonous tongue. A murder. A police duo finding their rhythm together. I enjoyed it.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough village mystery where the first half is spent setting up all the characters and the actual murder and the second half with the inspector and his assistant investigating. The solution seemed pretty obvious but it was a nice enough way to spend a couple of hours - especially since I read this while flying.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book in the Falconer Files series, Death of an Old Git, was a delightful surprise, filled with humor and wit, and I looked forward to reading this second book in the series. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as enjoyable. The plot of Choked Off follows the one in the first book exactly. The scene in a village filled with artistic residents is set, the villagers are introduced one by one, and some obnoxious soul whom everyone hated is killed off. In walk Falconer and Carmichael who proceed to interview all the villagers silly until the killer is uncovered. Way too much formula for my taste.

The humor that I enjoyed so much in the first book is lacking in the second, which was a huge letdown, although I was glad to see that good-natured Carmichael is coming into his own despite the grumblings of the fastidious Falconer. Falconer falls in love for the first time, and his experience in the romance department reminded me of the fate of so many heroes in the television shows I watched as a child. As for the killer... for readers who don't take everything-- and everyone-- at face value, the reveal will come as no surprise.

If I hadn't enjoyed the first book so much I might not have finished this one. I've seen this author's way with words, and I don't find all that many writers who can make me laugh out loud, so instead of continuing with the Falconer Files, I'm tempted to sample her other series in a quest to recapture that sparkle.

[Bruce Gargoyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.

I found Choked Off to be a pretty standard cosy mystery and I would recommend it for lovers of the genre or those looking for a light read that doesn't ask too much. I hadn't read the first book in this series before tackling this one, but that didn't affect my understanding of this one. The author seems to go to great lengths to outline the major players in the village and their back stories - weirdly, I still had a bit of difficulty keeping them straight, but this could have just been because there were quite a few characters.

The plot moved reasonably slowly, with the murder not occurring until about a third of the way through. I don't know why, but I was expecting a slightly more sensational murder but this one was pretty low key. The detectives were interesting enough and the final resolution of the case was satisfying.

Overall, the pace oft he book was probably a little slower than I would have liked, but the setting was enjoyable and the characters idiosyncratic, I'd be interested to go back to the first book in the series to see where it all began.

[Anthony Frazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the first book in this series was good, but this was even better. I got totally hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down. I was actually IN Stoney Cross and was watching all the shenanigans going on around the village to do with the Art's Festival. What a bunch of back-stabbing two-faced toe-rags they were! It reminded me of my experiences with clubs, societies and amdram type stuff! I ended up laughing like a drain and I also was cheering on the murderer of the particularly awful victim. Again I was surprised by the conclusion, bearing in mind the plethora of potential murderers. A thoroughly good read and highly recommended. I look forward to the next Falconer book from Andrea Frazer.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I love the characters in the Falconer Files series, I also dislike the way Ms. Frazer puts herself into some of the stories. In this one she puts her own comments/opinions about the story and characters in square brackets as she tells the tale. Of course she can write whatever she wants into her own stories, I just find it a bit annoying and detracting, and wonder why there would be a need for her own opinion of the story and characters, as it's all hers anyway!
Otherwise, another good mystery, another small English village with its own quaint characters, and the characters of Falconer and Carmichael become more and more lovable with each book.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this second instalment in the Falconer Files series. We are learning more about Ms. Frazer's detectives, as they strive to solve another murder. Parts of this book (the parrot!!haha) made me laugh out loud. There were hilarious parts but also parts which were sad. I'm moving right on to the third book in the series now!

[Ann James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first one but skipped many pages after reaching half way and working out the culprit. The bumbling, often funny detectives from the first book, had become insipid. Couldn't get emotionally involved with any of the characters - possibly they were a bit too self-serving for my taste. Having said all that, it may suit someone looking for a light, summer's read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series and it's characters very much. This novel was a quick read with an entertaining premise ad a nice dollop of humor. It was not hard to pick out the murderer or the motive but that didn't detract from the story.

[phyllis barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't understand

If this is the second book. Why are there so many things different in the first book.The # of cats and dogs . And a lot of other things. I may have gotten the # wrong.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this much more than the first in the series. The detecting duo have grown on me. It was too easy to pick out the murderer but an enjoyable read.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first of this series but not this one.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this first book, but this one not so much.

[valerie setzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agatha Christiesque

Lots of characters with lots of motives. Fast paced. British village life adds warmth. Differences between two detectives adds humor.

[Diana Shropshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable..

This was an ok read. The best and most interesting part of the book was the few chapters before the end.....

[Carolyn L. Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointing!

I loved the first The Falconer Files and was so let down by book2. The plot was so predictable and the alibi glaringly obvious!

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a long while to get to the murder, and it became clear who the murderer was, but I like this series so far; especially the rapport that is growing between Falconer and his sergeant.

[Mandy Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good easy fun read

[Anne Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mystery solved but no justice

Not as good as the first book. Too much setting the scene, not enough intrigue. Will try the next one in the series.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow off the blocks

I felt that the author took too long to develop the characters and conditions for this mystery. I hope the next book gets back to the charm of the first one.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most enjoyable with lots of humour, a good holiday read.