*** Book 1, A Fatal Blow, won the John Creasy New Blood Dagger 1988 ***
In this 7-book box set:
BOOK 1: A FATAL BLOW Detective John McLeish is called out to the murder of an elderly Yorkshire man in a quiet London side-street. The poor chap received three blows with a hammer. McLeish’s investigation leads him to a chance encounter with Francesca Wilson, a remarkable young civil servant. Sparks fly as the pair team up to crack this fiendishly tricky case . . .
BOOK 2: A FATAL FALL Detective McLeish and Francesca Wilson are holidaying in the Scottish Highlands when they witness professional rock climber Alan Fraser fall 200 feet — and survive. Later, while working on a building site, Fraser falls again. This time it’s fatal. McLeish and Wilson are determined to get to the bottom of things.
BOOK 3: A FATAL ENCOUNTER Francesca Wilson’s godson unexpectedly discovers a body hidden on an old railway line, and John McLeish is having work troubles. Not only has the fiancée of a Treasury minister gone missing, but a very pretty new detective gets assigned to his case.
BOOK 4: A FATAL POINT Francesca Wilson is working for an all-women college when two students are attacked and a prominent professor is stabbed. John McLeish fails to convince Francesca to leave so must find the killer before his dearest comes to any harm.
BOOK 5: A FATAL CHOICE Shady businessman William Price is already well known to the Fraud Squad. So when his dead body is discovered (by an MP, no less), his death becomes a matter of keen interest to Detective McLeish and Francesca Wilson, who are determined to unravel the mystery.
BOOK 6: A FATAL GASP Murder is on the menu at the fashionable Café de la Paix in Covent Garden. There’s no shortage of suspects for Detective McLeish and Francesca Wilson as they investigate the death of charming restauranteur Selina.
BOOK 7: A FATAL END A troubled young student is found dead at a party, also attended by Detective McLeish and Francesca Wilson. They believe foul play was involved, and vow not to rest until they bring the girl’s killer to justice.
Janet Neel Cohen, Baroness Cohen of Pimlico is a British lawyer and crime fiction writer. She was educated at South Hampstead High School, Hampstead, London, England and graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Honours, Law.
She started to work as a practising solicitor in 1965. She married James Lionel Cohen, son of Dr. Richard Henry Lionel Cohen, on 18 December 1971. She was a Governor of the BBC between 1994 and 1999. She was created Baroness Cohen of Pimlico, in the City of Westminster (life peer), on 3 May 2000 and sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.
As Janet Neel and Janet Cohen she is the author of crime fiction novels.
Missed out on 'the arts' , you will enjoy this then.
McLeish fast rising star in the London Met police force, falls for a long legged Redhead. Who is definitely her own woman and a rising star in Goverment officialdom. He falls book line and sinker but after having a short bad marriage she does not want to get married, or even have a one on one relationship. John's efforts to change her mind are hampered by her 4 younger brothers who are all involved in the art of music. Also hampered by his burgeoning career and working non-stop when a murder case is on the go. Which is pretty much non stop. I dropped a star, not because of the writing, but because I don't like so much personal areas in my crime stories. But saying that I did, mostly, enjoy their journey through life and the peek into the serious side of professional musicians and their journeys. Well written and I would read more by this author.
An excellent series of books. Each episode is in and of its self. The characters bare brilliant and easy to relate to. If you've read other British series this is a MUST. Don't miss them. Step a into the lives of John and Francesca you won't be sorry. It is time well spent!
Great mysteries with well developed characters. The sequence was timely and developed chronologically. My only criticism was the frequent adultery. It was not necessary to the plot development and diminished the characters of the cast.