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False Pretences
When Isabel's god-daughter, Emily, turns up after years of no contact and in need of help, she feels duty-bound to take her under her wing. To her surprise, Emily is determined to be independent and takes a job as nanny. Emily's charge turns out to be the illegitimate child of the naïve daughter of a well-to-do couple and a ne'er-do-well conman who disappeared before the baby was born. And now he is back, intent on exploiting his parental status in return for cash.
Before she knows it, Emily is caught up in his botched attempts at blackmail, trying desperately to protect her charge from harm, while also shielding Isabel from becoming entangled in the drama. But when events beyond her control force her to act instinctively, with horrendous effect, all their lives are put terribly at risk.
Before she knows it, Emily is caught up in his botched attempts at blackmail, trying desperately to protect her charge from harm, while also shielding Isabel from becoming entangled in the drama. But when events beyond her control force her to act instinctively, with horrendous effect, all their lives are put terribly at risk.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 1998
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Yorke
94 books49 followersMargaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 28, 2022
This story is exceptionally well told. It is the story of a young woman, Emily, who has gone astray in life through no fault of her own. The characters in the story are well developed. No one is perfect, everyone seems very real. Many characters will surprise you with what they are capable of - and humanity shines through it all, despite the rather gruesome reality that is also presented. The suspense of the action is well done too. I will definitely read more by this author.
August 25, 2011
I don't know what it is about British mystery books that I love so much. Maybe it is the social distinctions that aren't as apparent here in Canada, or the different turns of phrase that pop up, or maybe I am simply an Anglophile. Here is a book that has a bit of mystery wrapped in life and relationships and judgements and defiances. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Read
January 15, 2009False Pretenses, by Margaret Yorke. B-plus.
Downloaded from audible.com.
Isabelle is very frustrated. She has been contacted by her god-daughter whom she hasn’t seen since the girl was a child. Emily’s mother, Isabelle’s best friend, had died four years ago and she felt guilty for not keeping track of her god-daughter. The reason Emily was in touch with her now was that she had been protesting the building of a road. She and her group were camping in the middle of the construction so it couldn’t go forward. The police came to evict them, there was some violence, and Emily was arrested. She needed someone to bail her out and vouch for her until her hearing. Isabelle went to the jail. She didn’t recognize Emily at all, and physically she looked very different from when she was a child. She brought Emily home with her. Her husband, Douglas was totally displeased that Isabelle was doing something he hadn’t approved of in advance. Emily was an industrious and generous girl. She was hired to look after a little girl in another house in town, and everyone liked her for her generosity and willingness to pitch in. However, Isabelle began to be suspicious that Emily was not really the person she said she was. She came to the conclusion that she was an impostor for her real god-daughter. Then, Alice, the mother of Emily’s charge, got notice that the man who walked away from her before even knowing she was pregnant, now wanted access to his child. He only wanted to get money from the family. These two plots converge in a story which ends in tragedy. This is my first Margaret Yorke, and I liked it a lot.
Downloaded from audible.com.
Isabelle is very frustrated. She has been contacted by her god-daughter whom she hasn’t seen since the girl was a child. Emily’s mother, Isabelle’s best friend, had died four years ago and she felt guilty for not keeping track of her god-daughter. The reason Emily was in touch with her now was that she had been protesting the building of a road. She and her group were camping in the middle of the construction so it couldn’t go forward. The police came to evict them, there was some violence, and Emily was arrested. She needed someone to bail her out and vouch for her until her hearing. Isabelle went to the jail. She didn’t recognize Emily at all, and physically she looked very different from when she was a child. She brought Emily home with her. Her husband, Douglas was totally displeased that Isabelle was doing something he hadn’t approved of in advance. Emily was an industrious and generous girl. She was hired to look after a little girl in another house in town, and everyone liked her for her generosity and willingness to pitch in. However, Isabelle began to be suspicious that Emily was not really the person she said she was. She came to the conclusion that she was an impostor for her real god-daughter. Then, Alice, the mother of Emily’s charge, got notice that the man who walked away from her before even knowing she was pregnant, now wanted access to his child. He only wanted to get money from the family. These two plots converge in a story which ends in tragedy. This is my first Margaret Yorke, and I liked it a lot.
July 6, 2012
Though my mother has read her for years, this is my first Margaret Yorke book. I expected a traditional mystery and was pleasantly surprised with more. There is plenty of suspense, but the story has the full depth of well crafted, fully formed humans working through some of life's tragically real events. I'll read more Yorke now.
February 16, 2015
My first Margaret Yorke and it won't be my last. Not a typical mystery, lots of character-driven interaction, built up to suspense, and well written.
September 28, 2016
I'd like to have given it a two and a half. It was an engaging tale, but the patriarchal society pictured here just grated on me. I know it was set a few years ago (1980's I guess), in a stuffy English village, but the attitudes displayed seemed from another era entirely, say 1950's or something, which didn't sit comfortably with occasional references to 'the internet' etc.
And why does the cover picture show a THIN woman? It is obviously supposed to be Emily with her shaven hair and earring, but a crucial point about her is that she was a fat woman.
And why does the cover picture show a THIN woman? It is obviously supposed to be Emily with her shaven hair and earring, but a crucial point about her is that she was a fat woman.
December 13, 2008
I really enjoyed this Yorke book. I felt sorry for the young girl Emily, and as much as I had guessed that she wasn't the real Emily I had no idea they were going to kill her off. I figured she would get saved from the field and live to explain all about her experiences and how she came to be Emily.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2009
I liked the way this author wrote this.If the stuffy stiffs in this British novel were any stuffier they'd be futons...a little harder and more uncomfortable each day. The characters are wonderfully contrasted. I found the underlying depiction of the class struggles in England interesting.I even felt a desire to put on sensible footwear and go for a brisk walk followed by tea and biscuits.
September 10, 2009
Margaret Yorke never disappoints, at least not me. Though part of the ending not too big a surprise, the final few paragraphs were.
Want to read
July 8, 2012Suggested by Claudette.
July 11, 2012
I "read" this on the drive back from Iowa and found it surprisingly enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews