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Chief Inspector Woodend #19
Dying Fall
'This is a cracking good series, with this latest entry quite possible being the best yet' - Booklist Starred ReviewThis is the latest DCI Charlie Woodend mystery...A charred body is discovered in an abandoned cotton mill, and the crime scene presents DCI Woodend and his team with many questions, but very few answers.Who would want to murder a harmless old tramp, a man with no friends - or enemies - in the world? And why, of all the methods he could have chosen, did the killer decide to cruelly burn his victim to death?As Woodend attempts to solve a murder with no clues, he must also battle against a police authority which is attempting to block him at every turn. And though he does not know it, worse is to follow, because Elizabeth Driver, Inspector Bob Rutter's lover, has almost finished the book which could destroy both his career and everything he has ever worked for.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2008
9 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Sally Spencer
80 books152 followersA pseudonym used by Alan Rustage.
Sally Spencer is a pen name, first adopted when the author (actually called Alan Rustage) was writing sagas and it was almost obligatory that a woman's name appeared on the cover (other authors like Emma Blair and Mary Jane Staples are also men).
Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a teacher. In 1978-79 he was working in Iran and witnessed the fall of the Shah (see the Blog for what it was like to live through a revolution). He got used to having rifles - and, one occasion, a rocket launcher - pointed at him by both soldiers and revolutionaries, but he was never entirely comfortable with it.
He lived in Madrid for over twenty years, and still considers it the most interesting and exciting city he has ever visited, but for the last few years he has opted for a quieter life in the seaside town of Calpe, on the Costa Blanca.
His first series of books were historical sagas set in Cheshire (where he grew up) and London. They were very popular with his English readers, but his American readers find the dialect something of a strain.
He has written twenty books featuring DCI Woodend (a character based partly on a furniture dealer he used to play dominoes with) and ten (so far!) about Woodend's protegé Monika Paniatowski.
His DI Sam Blackstone books are set in Victorian/Edwardian London, New York and Russia, and the Inspector Paco Ruiz books have as their backdrop the Spanish Civil War.
Alan is a competitive games player who likes bridge and pub quizzes. It is only by enforcing iron discipline that he doesn't play video games all the time.
He now lives on Spain's Costa Blanca.
Sally Spencer is a pen name, first adopted when the author (actually called Alan Rustage) was writing sagas and it was almost obligatory that a woman's name appeared on the cover (other authors like Emma Blair and Mary Jane Staples are also men).
Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a teacher. In 1978-79 he was working in Iran and witnessed the fall of the Shah (see the Blog for what it was like to live through a revolution). He got used to having rifles - and, one occasion, a rocket launcher - pointed at him by both soldiers and revolutionaries, but he was never entirely comfortable with it.
He lived in Madrid for over twenty years, and still considers it the most interesting and exciting city he has ever visited, but for the last few years he has opted for a quieter life in the seaside town of Calpe, on the Costa Blanca.
His first series of books were historical sagas set in Cheshire (where he grew up) and London. They were very popular with his English readers, but his American readers find the dialect something of a strain.
He has written twenty books featuring DCI Woodend (a character based partly on a furniture dealer he used to play dominoes with) and ten (so far!) about Woodend's protegé Monika Paniatowski.
His DI Sam Blackstone books are set in Victorian/Edwardian London, New York and Russia, and the Inspector Paco Ruiz books have as their backdrop the Spanish Civil War.
Alan is a competitive games player who likes bridge and pub quizzes. It is only by enforcing iron discipline that he doesn't play video games all the time.
He now lives on Spain's Costa Blanca.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 29, 2019
This series has become one of my all time favorites!
September 23, 2009
Another British police procedural series set in the 1960s with WWII memories still intact & important to the story.
October 8, 2019
Well, darn it. I snagged this off the library shelf because it was a slim volume and I was waiting for my "books on hold" series (three currently in progress) to come in. BUT this is book 19 of the series! NOW I have to go back and read the first 18 installments to get all the back story. I was trying to avoid new series until after the new year!
Set in the late 1950s or very early 1960s, Spencer (writing in 2008) has produced a book that is not only entertaining, it is an almost "must read" in the post-2016 era. Although she calls the young men in the story "hard mods" they were usually referred to as "street mods" (vs. posh mods like Elton John and John Lennon) and are the original (or are one of the original) groups from which today's skinheads and alt-right and white nationalists developed.
The Prologue reports the death of a tramp, and Chief Inspector Woodend and his team are sent to investigate. But the investigation is hindered by the town council, Woodend's superior officer (superior in rank but a foul human being) and the complete incoherence of the tramp community whose members are working hard to be invisible from town folk and each other. It's also hindered by one detective's love life which is of far more interest to him than the case.
If you are looking for a historical police procedural series to start, I'd say give this a try. If you just want to read a book about how the Neo-Nazi party got started in the 1950's read this.
Set in the late 1950s or very early 1960s, Spencer (writing in 2008) has produced a book that is not only entertaining, it is an almost "must read" in the post-2016 era. Although she calls the young men in the story "hard mods" they were usually referred to as "street mods" (vs. posh mods like Elton John and John Lennon) and are the original (or are one of the original) groups from which today's skinheads and alt-right and white nationalists developed.
The Prologue reports the death of a tramp, and Chief Inspector Woodend and his team are sent to investigate. But the investigation is hindered by the town council, Woodend's superior officer (superior in rank but a foul human being) and the complete incoherence of the tramp community whose members are working hard to be invisible from town folk and each other. It's also hindered by one detective's love life which is of far more interest to him than the case.
If you are looking for a historical police procedural series to start, I'd say give this a try. If you just want to read a book about how the Neo-Nazi party got started in the 1950's read this.
October 2, 2021
I admit that I am reading this series out of order, but I still enjoy them as stand alone books. However, there are several life changing events in this book, for Inspector Woodend and his staff of investigators as they hunt for the brutal killer of tramps in Whitebridge. This series does delve into the personal lives of the inspectors, but it is more than evenly balanced with the investigation of the fiery murders. There is also the subplot of a newspaper columnist who is out to write a tell all book that could wreck the careers of the police. There are plenty of goings on, but it is a great read. Recommended.
November 24, 2021
These books are quick reads because they’re good. Part of the time I think the author is recycling the same information from the previous book, and then he does something amazing.
I like the characters, they’re old friends. The plot was interesting but I liked what his characters did especially Pogo, the tramp. I may not have his name correct. Rutter’s action blew my mind as did the epilogue.
I like the characters, they’re old friends. The plot was interesting but I liked what his characters did especially Pogo, the tramp. I may not have his name correct. Rutter’s action blew my mind as did the epilogue.
November 17, 2019
This book was published in 2008, but seems to be set in the 1960's or 1970's. But it has themes concerning bigotry that could be culled from today's news headlines. In any case, a good read.
September 17, 2021
Although there is a prequel to this series, this is the last in the Inspector Woodend series. So disappointing. This has been one of my favorite series right from the first book.
October 30, 2021
😭😭😭🥺
Yup. Sadness. Lots of it. This one hit me hard in the feels. There are a few earlier books in the series I haven’t read yet so…
Yup. Sadness. Lots of it. This one hit me hard in the feels. There are a few earlier books in the series I haven’t read yet so…
ditched-no-rating
February 2, 2022DNF .
January 10, 2015
It's okay, I like the end that was a twist, I just had a hard time keeping interest and no knocks against the British but he language threw me off at times. It's not the author's fault that I don't know my British slang!
March 3, 2009
very good british mystery
August 27, 2010
Inspector Woodend - a good read
November 15, 2011
read for bookclub. Good story
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews