A Fatal Fall

Wilson & McLeish #2

by Janet Neel

Please note this was previously published as Death on Site

Detective John McLeish and Francesca Wilson are holidaying in the Scottish Highlands when they witness professional rock climber Alan Fraser fall 200 feet — and survive.

Back at the hotel, Fraser brushes it off as an accident. He’s in Scotland with his climbing partner, Mickey Hamilton, and the Vernon family, owners of the London-based building site where both men work.

But Fran is convinced she saw someone above Fraser just before he fell.

Behind the jovial holiday mood McLeish detects a more sinister undercurrent. Robert Vernon’s company has been targeted by thieves, and Fraser is the prime suspect. Fraser’s also having an affair with Vernon’s daughter — right under the nose of her fiancé.

Tensions are mounting.

Back in London, Fraser has another accident. He falls from scaffolding at Vernon’s building site. This time it’s fatal.

Fraser was drugged.

This was murder.

Both McLeish and Fran are plunged into an investigation of greed and corruption. But is this a case of ruthless ambition, or does the killer have more personal motives? And if so, who is next?

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, British Literature

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Aka Janet Cohen

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.

Reviews

[Denise Spicer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 239 page interesting read features a New Scotland Yard Detective -- Chief Inspector John McLeish and his girlfriend Francesca Wilson. On holiday in Scotland, they witness a rock climbing accident. When that climber is later killed during a construction site accident McLeish investigates. Interesting settings (London and Scotland) and characters. This is the second in a series of seven McLeish mysteries.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If it weren't for John McLeish and Francesca Wilson, on a hiking holiday in the Highlands, veteran mountain climber Alan Fraser might have never survived the 200-foot fall from the rock the locals called 'The Wall.' As it was, Fraser escaped with no more than a bad fright and some nasty bruises. In three weeks he was fit enough to work at Vernon Engineering's big construction site in London, as foreman to a crew that included his best mountain-climbing partner -- and rival -- and a pair of hulking Irish brothers. But when one of the four fell from an 8o-foot scaffolding tower onto a pile of steel pipes, there was nothing Detective Chief InspectorMcLeish or anyone else could do to save him . . .

"What McLeish could do was smell murder -- and with help from the well-connected Francesca and her irrepressible family, he would sort through a tangle of greed, scandal and unrequited love that reached from Scotland to London to the treacherous peaks of the Himalayas . . ."
~~back cover

I really enjoyed this mystery! So well plotted it keeps the reader guessing until the very last page. And wonderful characters with shifting motives and alibis ... certainly this book isn't your average cozy. In fact, it's not a cozy at all, which is just the way I like them. I'll certainly be reading the rest of the series!

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's CV shows that she has worked in the DTI and in the construction industry, and her knowledge shines through in this very good book. It feels somewhat contrived, in the Agatha Christie sense, that the same six suspects are feasible fr two crimes, one in the Highlands and one in London: but, once past that cavil, the writing is convincing, the central relationships feel very real, and the plot moves along nicely. Recommended.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good mystery and good characters. There were surprises at the end, which is always nice in a mystery. I loved Francesca's family and how they interacted. Of course, one of their encounters underlies the motive in this book. People who have things come easily to them do not know what it is like to want something so badly but not have an easy time to achieve it.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

1997: The second in the Francesca and Insp. McLeish series, where they investigate the murder of an old holiday flame of Francesca’s. I really enjoy this series, but the attitude of many of the main characters towards women—including Insp. McLeish—irks me greatly at times.

[Wilfred Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stunning story

I am amazed at the work she must put in for the descriptions. I will read the rest of her repotoire

[Carola Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read!

I am really enjoying this series. The Wilson boys are such fun. The characters are really well defined. I will certainly continue reading this series .

[Dgoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another goodie from Janet Neel

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of Janet Neel's Detective Chief Inspector John McLeish's series thus far. Excellent plot, well written.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd in the series. Nice. Francesca is very overwrought. Good solid mystery.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

complex relationships

[Dharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair to middling British murder mystery. Decent.