Tripletree

The Gye Journals #1

by Derek Wilson

"A hot July night in 1994. Sheldon and Juniper Myles are throwing a party - and what a party! The wealthy lawyer couple have invited 150 guests from the celebrity world to a formal housewarming party at their expensively renovated manor house. However, the evening ends in tragedy when a woman's body is dragged from the lake." "The coroner ruled the death "accidental," so when a month later Juniper Myles insists she murdered Tracy Pensham during a mental breakdown, her husband is understandably alarmed. Sheldon urges Dr. Nathaniel Gye to talk some sense into his wife, and stop her from going to the police." Dr. Gye, Cambridge lecturer in paranormal psychology and minor TV personality, reluctantly agrees to investigate the death at Tripletree House. To his frustration, he finds himself drawn into an introverted rural community dominated by witchcraft, feuds, and passionate hatreds whose roots run deep into the past. He must face considerable personal danger to unravel the tightly knotted strands of deliberate evil - murder, mind-manipulation, blackmail, and supernatural haunting. And amid all the sinister personalities in the village the most oppressive presence is Tripletree itself. The house, too, will have to be purged before the truth can be revealed and justice done.

Genres: Mystery

240 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Derek Wilson has been a writer of historical fiction and non-fiction for 50 years. His much acclaimed prize-winning works have largely centred on 16th and 17th century Europe. He has used various pen names for his fiction, his current Thomas Treviot Tudor crime series being written under the name D.K. Wilson. The first 2 books in this series - The First Horseman and The Traitor's Mark are based on real unsolved Tudor mysteries and have received enthusiastic plaudits. Readers have favourably compared this innovative series with the books of C.J. Sansom and S.J. Parris.
Recent non-fiction triumphs include The Plantagenets, Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, and Charlemagne: a Biography.
Derek Wilson graduated from Cambridge and spent several years travelling and teaching in Africa before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1971. He has frequently written and appeared on radio and television and is popular as a public speaker having appeared at several literary festivals,British Museum, Hampton Court Palace, The British Library and other prestigious venues.

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

First in a series featuring paranormal investigator Nathaniel Gye. In this opener, Gye is visited by one Sheldon Myles, who made his fortune in law. His wife, June, it seems, is ready to go to the police to confess to a murder that the police had ruled an accidental death. The death had occurred at a rather flamboyant party held by Sheldon & June at their home, and now June is ready to go and turn herself in. Why? Well, it seems that she's been listening to a hypnotist who took her back in time and now she can "remember" that she killed someone; Myles wants Gye to investigate this hypnotist and convince his wife she killed no one. But once Nat starts his investigation, things heat up with all concerned and there are those who do not want him nosing around. Nat must find out what the heck is going on here.

Not too bad for a series opener; I'd have liked it better without all the turmoil between Nathaniel and his wife in their private life, but that's just me. I'm one of those readers who just want to get to the point. There's a lot of clues, a lot of red herrings, a lot of suspects and to his credit, I thought I had the mystery all figured out early on but I was wrong. The writing is pretty good and the mystery will take you on a very winding road until you get to the finish.

Recommended for those who like mysteries in general, British mysteries, and mysteries that add a wee bit of the supernatural into the mix.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book enough to finish it but I had a few problems with it. SPOILERS!

I spent a lot of the book wondering a) what Dr Gye's job *actually* involved day-to-day and B) who was looking after their kids for a lot of the time. There was also some questionable dialogue and Barny came very much from the stock character cupboard.

Spoiler here - how did nobody notice Sheldon Myles was actually Henry Baker? If he was this famous judge surely his parents would have seen his face in the paper, or the original Sheldon's parents would have heard the name and job title and suspected something - it's not like it's a common name!

That aside, it was an enjoyable read.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really good mystery. My only problem with the book was the side story with his family. The wife was important, but the kids and her job took away from the story a bit.
Dr Nathaniel Gye is a professor who studies, and discredits paranormal occurrences. He ends up at a party which is being hosted in a supposedly haunted house. There is a murder, and the mystery begins.
This story definitely has a lot of twists and turns, and you really have to pay attention.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reads like the author was hoping it would be made into one of those cosy Sunday night ITV dramas. The dialogue was quite hard going (can't believe anyone really speaks like these characters) and the story is neither horror nor crime drama, but stuck somewhere between the two.

[Pam]

rec 10/26 via bookmooch

[Deliasue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a different read for me, it was about witchery and paranormal activities. Takes place in
Britain, haunted mansion, greed, and crazy people. Kept you on the edge of your chair.