Lady with a Cool Eye

Miss Pink #1

by Gwen Moffat

The warden of the Plas Mawr Adventure Centre, Charles Martin, is a weak man whose unfaithful wife, Bett, has driven him to drink.

Then Bett is found dead in her husband’s crashed Jaguar, at the foot of a cliff. At first, it is assumed to be an accident or suicide, but further developments show that it is a murder case.

Tough, middle-aged Miss Pink, one of the Centre’s directors, proves herself to be a shrewd amateur detective. She puts two and two together and realises that the Centre is being used as a cover for something very serious.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Gwen Moffat’s main interests are wilderness areas and the genesis of murder, and all her books have featured one or the other. Moffat has writtenboth travel books and novels.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot was convoluted, and the main setting (and what, after all, is an “adventure centre”?) was not explained or described. The characters - even Miss Pink herself - were nothing more than cardboard cutouts. None had any personality or anything distinctive about them. There was no real motive for Pink to get involved in the investigation and absolutely no reaction by the police when she did.

Not surprisingly, considering the author, far more attention was given to describing the terrain than to anything else. Transitions between scenes were abrupt, and often it was difficult to know which character was speaking. I gave up caring after a while, and only skimmed through the last couple of chapters.

Since I obtained a four volume set of Miss Pink stories for free, I will read the next book to see if the author manages to improve.

Edited to update: Started the second book but really have no interest in it at all. The scenery and topography are the only things given any real attention, which makes sense since the person who wrote the book was (apparently) a famous climber before she decided to be a writer. But the geographical terms she uses mean nothing to me, and after several paragraphs of description with no action I get fed up. Moffat describes climbers as caring for nothing but the next climb, and it certainly shows in her writing.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

A bit slow. I don't know if I would call it a cosy mystery. I kept forgetting who was who. Different mix of things, like climbing murder and nineteen seventies terrorism. It made a change but I did keep drifting while reading

[Clare Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

So that escalated. The first half is pretty slow but the who dunnit is clever.

Early Miss Pink is nothing like Miss Marple - I guess she ages with the series. Rock climbing and dodging bullets is where it's at in book 1.

[Joan Alison Croasdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well crafted

Interestingly woven take on treachery both national and personal. Set in the past but still a current story line. Complex relationships meant I lost my way a couple of times but that is more a result of reading this when being distracted rather than the story.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The wife of the warden of the Plas Mawr Adventure Centre is missing, and then found dead. There is also the problem of the stolen gelignite from the nearby mines. Miss Pink spend a her time asking questions.
Didn't really find the story that interesting.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farfetched

Characters were somewhat interesting, but took some time to get into the story which proved to be a little farfetched. No at bad read but ...convoluted and wordy at times.

[Jill Stirling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a boring book. Not sure if I will try anymore.

[Carolee DeWitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't care for this book at all.

[Rita Rukashaza · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this. it was confusing, with unexplained assumptions.