A Fatal End

Wilson & McLeish #7

by Janet Neel

Please note this was previously published as O Gentle Death.

A troubled young girl is found dead in the bath at a party attended by John McLeish and Francesca Wilson.

The victim is Catriona Roberts, a pupil at the prestigious Faraday Foundation school for the musically gifted. But Catriona was not gifted. She was an outsider.

There is no shortage of suspects. Catriona’s complex relationships give McLeish plenty of leads, and he finds himself looking to the school for answers.

The Faraday Foundation is a hotbed of ongoing feuds and love trysts between staff and pupils. The deeper McLeish digs, the more scandal he unearths.

In this prestigious school of academic excellence someone also has a talent for murder. Now McLeish must use his expertise to reveal the killer — before anyone else meets their fatal end.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, British Literature

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

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

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had such promise; a murder of a school girl with a Chief Inspector on scene. You had to plough through a third of the book before the murder occurred. Which isn't necessarily a problem except wading through that first part seemed like repeating the same actions and unnecessary scenes.

Overall the book was boring, I only finished it because I hoped it would get better and the ending was unsatisfactory.

Investigating the author, I found that this is the seventh book involving the policeman and his wife. Although it reads as a stand alone it does explain why some scenes were included that had no relevance to the story.

Also it is interesting that I found this book unsatisfactory and it is the last book she wrote with this couple.

[Carola Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

I was very sad to finish this series. I enjoyed McLeish and Francesca Wilson enormously. The characters were well defined. I liked the family interaction in the first books, when McLeish realises he has become a Wilson brother to the four boys. I would want another book. I want to know more about the new baby and the family and about Matt Sutherland. Well it’s not to be but what was, was excellent.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written police procedural that centers around an English private day school that’s very strong in the arts, which allows Neel to highlight the musical accomplishments of her detective McLeish’s wife Francesca’s brothers and their friends. I love the ambience.

[S. Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot say enough about this series

Ms Neel has made the characters come alive. Their interactions are believable. I wanted to get to know everyone of them. When reading you cheer and you cry. Most often you’re surprised by ‘who done it’!

[JodiP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the faintest idea how I came across this author, but if this work is any indication, I am in for a treat. This book was a complex web of characters all involved in a private school, Faraday's, catering to the artistic. At first I worried about keeping about a dozen main, active characters sorted out, but it wasn't a problem. I thnk the resolution was every day tawdry--the step-father's the culprit--but I mean this in a compimentary manner. It's was a believable crime in that way.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of Janet Neel's novels that I have read. Detective Chief Inspector McLeish was a most interesting man and he and his team did a fine job of unravelling what became a suspenseful conclusion to this case.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the characters and the book. Almost a cozy mystery.

[Eegore James · Rating 2 out of 5]

too many characters... too many interpersonal relationships
seemed to take forever to get anywhere...lousy payoff