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Inspector Vignoles Mysteries #4
(The Marylebone Murders (The Inspector Vignoles Mysteries)) [By: Done, Stephen] [Feb, 2011]
October 31st 1949. Smog chokes London as the body of Jack Pym floats in the oily waters of the Regent’s Canal near Marylebone station.
Presumed a suicide, it looks a simple case, but D.I. Vignoles of the British Railways detective department suspects foul play. Pym’s wife is telling lies, and nothing is quite what it seems.
As the Pyms' private lives are uncovered, darker and more deadly truths are revealed – and there are those prepared to kill to keep these secrets safe.
The story races between Marylebone and Leicester behind grimy steam engines on the Great Central line, reaching a dramatic conclusion in Southampton docks …
Presumed a suicide, it looks a simple case, but D.I. Vignoles of the British Railways detective department suspects foul play. Pym’s wife is telling lies, and nothing is quite what it seems.
As the Pyms' private lives are uncovered, darker and more deadly truths are revealed – and there are those prepared to kill to keep these secrets safe.
The story races between Marylebone and Leicester behind grimy steam engines on the Great Central line, reaching a dramatic conclusion in Southampton docks …
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First published February 1, 2011
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November 7, 2017
The scene for 'The Marylebone Murders' is admirably set by Stephen Done in the prologue, 'The water of the Regent's Canal lay like grey gloss paint between its grubby banks ...' It certainly was a filthy night, one that Charles Dickens would have labelled 'A London particular' and the suspense throughout the novel continues with much of the action taking place in the grubby underbelly of London, four years after the end of the Second World War.
As the title tells us, there is a death in Marylebone early on when Jack Pym's body is discovered floating in the oily waters of the Regent's Canal close to Marylebone railway station. But has he committed suicide or was there foul play? No-one is sure so Detective Inspector Vignoles, a British Railways detective, is called in to investigate.
Pym, an insurance assessor, was from Leicester and was in London to sort out a claim, so Vignoles has to commute between the two cities to further his investigations. And as he does so he uncovers a whole hornet's nest of intrigue with people close to Pym, some unsavoury characters from the underworld, a number of young railway workers, seemingly innocent, and one or two young ladies all apparently involved in one way or another.
Vignoles and his sergeant have to sort the wheat from the chaff and this is not an easy task as everyone has their own agenda and wishes to protect their own interests, some quite honest, others somewhat nefarious. Vignoles goes through great hardship as he tries to determine what has happened and who is involved. Indeed, he is almost killed at one point as this splendidly paced thriller unravels with the life and mores of post-war Britain extremely well captured.
It is a veritable page turner, atmospheric, gripping and evocative in turn and the series seems to be a winner; this is number four so I must find the earlier three and any others that are now out.
As the title tells us, there is a death in Marylebone early on when Jack Pym's body is discovered floating in the oily waters of the Regent's Canal close to Marylebone railway station. But has he committed suicide or was there foul play? No-one is sure so Detective Inspector Vignoles, a British Railways detective, is called in to investigate.
Pym, an insurance assessor, was from Leicester and was in London to sort out a claim, so Vignoles has to commute between the two cities to further his investigations. And as he does so he uncovers a whole hornet's nest of intrigue with people close to Pym, some unsavoury characters from the underworld, a number of young railway workers, seemingly innocent, and one or two young ladies all apparently involved in one way or another.
Vignoles and his sergeant have to sort the wheat from the chaff and this is not an easy task as everyone has their own agenda and wishes to protect their own interests, some quite honest, others somewhat nefarious. Vignoles goes through great hardship as he tries to determine what has happened and who is involved. Indeed, he is almost killed at one point as this splendidly paced thriller unravels with the life and mores of post-war Britain extremely well captured.
It is a veritable page turner, atmospheric, gripping and evocative in turn and the series seems to be a winner; this is number four so I must find the earlier three and any others that are now out.
Displaying 1 of 1 review