Come to Harm

DCS Fran Harman #1

by Judith Cutler

Please note, this book was previously published as Life Sentence.

Months from retirement, Detective Fran Harman should be winding down and planning her move to the seaside. Instead, her boss — a dear friend who’s fast becoming something more — hands her the most baffling cold case of her career.

The victim is dubbed Elise. She was found by a road, battered beyond recognition. A passing man tried to resuscitate her.

She’s been lying in a hospital bed ever since. Visited by the man who gave her the kiss of life. He was the prime suspect, but he has a cast-iron alibi.

With doctors about to switch off Elisa’s life support, Fran will stop at nothing to get justice for her. But how much can one woman handle?

And in a case where nothing — and no one — is what they seem, Fran will need to watch her back.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Ebooks, Murder Mystery, British Literature, Mystery Thriller

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Judith Cutler was born and bred in the Midlands, and revels in using her birthplace, with its rich cultural life, as a background for her novels. After a long stint as an English lecturer at a run-down college of further education, Judith, a prize-winning short-story writer, has taught Creative Writing at Birmingham University, has run occasional writing course elsewhere (from a maximum security prison to an idyltic Greek island) and ministered to needy colleagues in her role as Secretary of the Crime Writers' Association.

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fran Harman is struggling to cope with weekend trips to Devon from Kent to help look after her elderly parents as well as holding as working as Chief Superintendent during the week. Burning the candle at both ends and in the middle is taking its toll on her and old friend and her superior Mark Turner finally realises he must do something about her workload. Fran is put in charge of trying to find out why a woman - known only as Elise - was attacked and left for dead beside the road two years ago. She is in a Persistent Vegetative State with no hope of recovery and the hospital are seeking to turn off her life support which would make her attacker a murderer.

Why is the nurse in charge of Elise's care being obstructive? And why is a stranger visiting Elise and talking to her? Fran must answer these questions as well as the pressing questions of what to do about her parents who are clearly both sliding into dementia and becoming more and more difficult. In addition it seems her relationship with Mark is changing after thirty years undemanding friendship just when she can do without any further complications in her life.

This is a well written and absorbing mystery with some very well drawn characters and some challenging situations. I thought the problem of elderly parents and other family members was very well drawn and I could sympathise with Fran in her dilemma. The office politics side of policing was also well done and I really like Fran as a character.

This is the first book in the series but the series titles can be read in any order as standalone novels. If you like crime novels without graphic violence and bad language then you may enjoy this series.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 40% felt like an ode to menopause.

The chemistry between the main character and her boss/lover was non-existent.

I'd say crime/police procedural is one of my favourite genres, and part of a good crime series is the rapport between the core team, again non-existent.

There weren't any clues or foreshadowing. The plot seemed to focus on the main character's menopause, physique, credentials, how great she was, her ailing parents and their demands/insults, and then all of a sudden it rushed into the arrests and conclusions.

I won't be committing to any more in this series or by this author. I can recommend much better crime/police procedural books.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable and well written mystery. I found it very easy to empathize with the embattled Chief Superintendant in this British detective story. Central to the story is the theme of the problems experienced by women in late middle age dealing with frail elderly parents. This detective is intelligent, literate and very human. I think a better title would have been something like " Elise" since the name is a central part of the mystery and refers to more than one thing or person.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Police precedural. The plot was a bit weak and the ending unremarkable, with just a quick explanation of who the murderer was, like an afterthought.

It was, however, refreshing to have only one timeline, a female main protagonist who is nearing retirement, and who DOESN'T have a tyranical boss, so I think I'll try reading the next novel in the series to see if the characters are developed.

[Patricia Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read

I can't remember the last time I read a police procedural and enjoyed it so much!
Why? Because it was so different, it had humour and a super side story away from the crime, a personal story from both cops which you don't hear about, they were in their fifties.
It just gelled from the beginning right to the very last word.
How many readers can say that now a days .
I'm forever getting bored by the end by repetitive nonsense......like word fillers , I find it so refreshing to have enjoyed a book so much.
Obviously I'm now going to get my next addition, I don't know what its about, I do know it will be a really great read if this one is anything to go by.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadfully wrote book.
Took me months to get through as it was painfulll to read.

Notes

- the plot line darts everywhere, confusing the reader and itself it seemed

- boring characters who lacked meaning or feelings apparently

- "cheap" writing in the sense that the sentences were basic and uncomplicated, aside from the few sentences that only proved the author had used the thesausarus one time too many

- literal typos and repeated words in the text

I dont recommend.

[Jean C.]

A most frustrating book; the main character Frances is such a pathetic doormat, I nearly gave up on her. Won't be reading the rest of this series.

[Linden · Rating 2 out of 5]

DCS Fran is thinking of retiring from the police because she wants to care for her very demanding elderly parents. She's assigned to a case which was never solved: a woman who was beaten and raped and is now in a vegetative state. She's also got a new man in her life, a widower who has been her friend for years. Many of the people in this book are obnoxious, and there are several complicated, confusing cases. Even though Fran is a DCS, she is spoken to disrespectfully be several people in the book— I would think she would report the men who obviously missed the sensitivity training. And the verbal abuse she takes from her elderly parents made me wonder if she had any boundaries at all.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read by this author and, despite my initial struggle to get used to the writing style, I really enjoyed it. The plot itself is highly unusual, with the investigation into the attack on an unknown woman, who becomes known as Elise due to the car she appears to have owned, who is left in a coma. Due to there having been no leads the original investigation goes cold and, only once a decision is due to be made on turning off her life support, does the case get re-opened to try and find her attacker/killer. Enter the, near to retirement, DCI Fran Harman – a highly competent and hard-working officer who will stop at literally nothing to solve the case. This coupled with her complicated private life, her even more complicated love-life and her drive to try and solve not just one crime but two at the same time, makes her a character worth getting to know. As the story moves on and the action hots up things start to get frustrating as Fran seems to be pushed from pillar to post by both the police force and her aging parents, who keep demanding her presence down in Devon – a drive of more than 200 miles each way – something she could well do without. The really interesting and unusual thing about this plot was the regular visits that Elise receives from the man who tried to resuscitate her by the roadside. Whenever he visits, he sits and talks to her, regardless of the fact that she is in a vegetive state, and continually tries to urge her to wake up – to the extent that at one point he even slaps her but then instantly regrets it. In many ways, I felt that to a certain extent the crimes investigated were merely a side-line to the story about Fran’s life and the ending seems to enforce that. It was certainly an anti-climax as far as Elise was concerned, but at the same time, left me wanting more purely to find out what will happen to DCI Fran Harman in the future.

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow, and not as dramatic or 'gripping', but the writing was... intelligent? I think, for a crime fiction book especially. I'm surprised this is the first in the series, it seemed to reference past stories that had happened (how had she gotten to know West Midlands' ACC) and been solved, Ian as well seemed fully fleshed out as though he had been a character in other stories.

[Elizabeth m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely will be reading more in this series.

[Emma Cope · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many typos in this book!! I liked the storyline but thought the author could have made more of explaining the killer at the end, it felt like an afterthought or a rush to explain what happened.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love police procedurals, and this is a well written one.

The characters are likeable and act age appropriate.

The plot is very clever, a cold case where the victim has been in a coma for several years, and the powers that be are ready to pull the plug on her.

An accomplished detective is put on the case to 1. identify the victim and 2. find out what happened.

I enjoyed this book and since my public library only has books 4-6 of this series in their system, I ordered books 1-3.

I will enjoy recommending this to my mystery reading friends.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurrah. A book with a menopausal woman dealing with aged parents as the heroine. And she not only gets the murderer but gets a man ass well. An entertaining read.

[Caroline Ingvaldsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtul Chief Superintendent of police manages the prosaic challenges of middle age as she unravels an inexplicably brutal assault.

[Denise Zendel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fran Harman, Detective Chief Superintendent of the Kent Police is menopausal, overworked, spread too thin, and caught between the needs of her frail, elderly parents and her impending retirement. Her boss (a dear friend and possibly more) hands her the baffling cold case of a hit and run where the victim is in a persistent vegetative state. The doctors are about to switch off life support, so Fran works feverishly to bring justice to the victim.

This was an excellent start to a new series (and new author) for me. I found Fran easy to relate to, with many admirable qualities. She’s got a fully developed spine, she doesn’t take stupid chances, she’s good to her employees, skilled at navigating office politics, and the glue that keeps her station together. And she’s human – she doesn’t have any horrible habits or addictions, just normal concerns: her parents and her obligations to them, what that relationship with her boss could mean to both of them personally and politically, a nagging sense of duty to the coma victim, etc. I do like my detectives flawed, but it was a nice change of pace to find someone relatively “normal.”

The story is told in alternating viewpoints between a shadowy visitor to the woman in the coma and Fran and her team. The author does an excellent job of building tension and providing clues, all while giving a picture of police work and the private lives of the officers. It completely captured my attention and made the time at the gym just fly by.

I highly recommend this series (and am pleased to see there are several for me to catch up on). If you like Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter, Angela Marsons, or Helen H. Durrant, give this series a go.

[Carole Gourlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d forgotten I’d bought this one, and I went onto buy the box set when on offer on Amazon. Well I started reading it and couldn’t put it down, what a fabulous book and author. Judith is exemplary in her story telling, lots of detail and so eloquent. I do love authors who make you think and don’t just churn books out.

As this is the first book I’m delighted that there are more in the series as the characters are likeable and have a sense of humour and Fran is very compassionate both in and out of work. She is also human, and struggles with her job and looking after elderly parents 200 miles away, down here in Devon. I could relate to the places down here as I live just up the road from her parents.

The book starts off with a girl battered beyond recognition and the man who found her comes under scrutiny only to be able to provide a cast iron alibi.

With time against them, the police need to find the culprit before the hospital turn off her life support.

What follows is an exciting read, a long book nearly 5 hours on kindle, but a fabulous one.

Poor fran is menopausal too which doesn’t help matters and she is a kind and sympathetic soul, one that reader warms to immediately.

I personally am thrilled to have bought the box set,and I’m sure I’ll enjoy each and everyone. I hope Judith writes some more in the series.

[Nancy]

An unidentifiable woman is found on a roadside - beaten into a coma and raped. The man who finds her, troubled by his inability to resuscitate her, spends hours at her hospital bedside, talking to the woman everyone calls Elise. Two years later Elise's condition is downgraded to persistent vegetative state - if the hospital takes her off life support, Elise's attacker will be guilty of her murder. Now, months away from retirement, Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned to investigate Elise's case. This is stacked on top of Fran's growing obligation to her elderly parents, a duty that takes her from Kent to Devon, and back, every weekend. Fran verges on overload as she takes on more and more responsibilities - her parents, Elise, the abduction of a child, the disappearance of her only witness, and the growing affection that she and her long-time colleague Mark Turner seem to share for one another. In a satisfyingly complex story of deadly crime, kidnapping, disappearance, and identity theft, can this warhorse of a detective beat the odds, the stress and the danger that may just be too much for one woman to handle?

Great.

[Michael Cordery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love my UK Police procedurals. I don't think this met that genre.

DCS Dr Fran Harman is a flying doormat. Treated poorly by her parents and also by other senior officers who take advantage of her good nature and generosity she flies from one office to another then spends every weekend travelling 270 miles (and back) to her ailing parents in Devon. She is looking to retire asap so she can go to Devon permanently to look after them despite her mother suggesting that she lacks any of the looks, smarts and general well being of her 10 year older sister who is married to a minister and resides on Stornoway.

The fact that anybody with her abilities allows herself to be treated as a doormat defies logic and one could presume somebody unable to do the jobs she does. How can a doormat be a great policewoman? The first 40% of the book is is dedicated to peri-menopause, the next 20/30% to be saved by her senior officer, Mark Turner, a recent widower and now love interest. She finally solves a very old unsolved crime. Her father falls off the peg and her mother moves to Stornoway. A happy ending!!!!!!

In lots of ways the book covers the two very important hurdles that middle aged women in particular face, menopause and how to do your best looking after aging parents. For that the author is to be admired. However I'm looking for real police procedurals and Joffe should not sell this book as one. The other problem with Joffe is that having acquired Lume Books it is taking the opportunity to promote much older books from Lume's collection. You really do not know what you are getting until you read the book. I'll pass on rest of the the DCS Harman series.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elise - Intensive Care an ordinary ward, Persistent Vegetative State;
Chief Superintendent Frances Harman, hot flashes;
Mark Turner, Chief Constable, wife Tina died several years ago;
Alan Pitt - kidnapped Rebecca;
Going down to Devon every weekend to take care of her parents;
Chief Constable;
Detective Chief Superintendent - Henson
Old case, almost a dead file: middle aged woman, found in the undergrowth just off a lay=by on the B2067, northbound. 2 years prior...Elise; Alan Pitt found and attempted to resuscitate her. She had severe head and thoracic injuries; also evidence of a vicious rape; she never recovered consciousness;
Pitt visits her, usually weekly;
DC Tom Arkwright - assists Fran;
A child, Rebecca was abducted, by Alan Pitt, he didn't hurt her, has some mental issues
DCI Jill Tanner;
Real name of Elise, Marjorie Gray, she was targeted, hit by a car, then her identity was stolen to be used in an international prostitution ring, people trafficing among other crimes, Sonja-Marjorie and Dean Roberts, he will be charged with MURDER.
Fran's father died. Her sister, Hazel and brother-in-law, Grant will take care of her mother.......

[Judith Cranswick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Cutler provides not only an unusual, highly intricate and intriguing plot that keeps the reader guessing until the final pages but also creates an untypical protagonist. Fran is run ragged attempting to balance the demands of a stressful job based in Maidstone and those of her aged difficult parents living on the other side of the country in Devon who she visits every weekend who then have a never-ending list of jobs they require her to do. As her parents’ condition continues to decline and they refuse all the outside help Fran arranges for them, she feels obligated by a sense of duty to consider early retirement from a job she loves and excels at to look after them. To make matters worse, her move to Devon will put paid to her one chance of happiness with the man with whom she is falling in love. How can any romance survive when the two of them are separated by two hundred miles?

[Kate Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more than a fun holiday read and with a little more subtlety could have been even more again.

Harmer is not your usual senior police detective - single, perimenopausal and actually a nice person! She's doing a juggle between work and caring for aged and difficult parents that is not uncommon for her stage of life. She's a character the reader warms to quite quickly.

What I'd have liked more of: scene setting; uncertainty regarding love interest rather than it being obvious from the first page and a build up of clues regarding the Elise case. It was a lot to take in in a short space of pages.

What I'd have liked less of: being bludgeoned with the bleeding obvious; clues driven home with a sledgehammer and repetitive statements about tiredness, blah, blah, blah.

[Barbara Deeprose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Read

Detective Chief Superintendent Fran Harmen is thinking of retirement. Her parents need help and she thinks she should be the one to provide it, even though they treat her badly and don't even seem to like her. Before she finishes though, she is handed a cold case that no one could solve. A woman had been found almost battered to death, no identify on her and no one has reported her missing. Her only visitor is the man who found her. Fran is determined to find out who she is and what happened to her. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Chris Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I found it well written with believable characters and situations. The criminality was believable too, not too many silly plot twists and turns trying to grab attention.
My eyes lit up when, early on, Lenham , the village where my mother grew up and my grandfather was a policeman, was mentioned as the central characters home. I was disappointed when Lenham wasn't mentioned or described in the prose but that is a personal thing.
I can recommend this book as a good read and I look forward to trying more of the series in the future. Thank you Judith.

[Mrs J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing crime thriller

An unusual case of someone injured and in a persistent vegetative state. With the decision to withdraw support looming, Detective Fran Harman is tasked with one last look at the case of the non-responsive woman known only as Elise, whilst she juggles looking after her elderly parents.
Great characters, an interesting twist on a murder mystery and even a bit of romance. Fully invested in Fran Harman and will look for more of the series.

[Geraldine Niven · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read

A senior police detective is trying to juggle her own job while covering for a college and caring for elderly parents who live miles away. As the pressure mounts, her bosses realise she needs a break and move her to review a two-year old case with fresh eyes. Then a child goes missing. kCan she help draw all of the strings together in her professional life, or will her personal life defeat her?

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doormat DCS Fran is thinking of retiring to care for demanding elderly parents. She's assigned to a case. She's also got a new man in her life

She runs about back and forth hundreds of miles when mum has a simple infection for instance, bulk cooks, gardens, cleans, rushes back again, works on case...repeat.

And it's filled with sexism. Even Mr New Man, a colleague refers to her as "MY Dear Girl".
Right. Then again she invites it with her demented behaviour.


Rubbish.

[Gordon Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Come To Harm has an interesting set up - the case of an assault victim in a persistent vegetative state with few clues or leads is reviewed by a soon to retire senior officer, DSC Fran Harman. But the plot fails to develop and most of the novel revolves around Fran's parents' failing health and her feelings for her boss. The mix of domestic problems and romance takes over - and when the case is eventually solved it is almost by accident.

[johnanimalantics.net, Margaret G Conlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Absolutely amazing read right from the beginning to the end. I thoroughly loved everything about it. The plot was truly inspiring to keep me turning the pages quickly to see what would happen next. It did not disappoint. I overlooked the slight discrepancies of swearing and blasphemy due to the brilliance of the author holding my attention throughout. Thank you for a few days of happiness 😊

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first story in the box set I have and I immediately like Fran, although, her life commitments were awful, especially regarding her parents.

I liked how the story showed how women survived in policing, and how she related to others. Her relationship with Mark was blossoming and it was good to see her journey as an older woman.

A well-written British crime drama that focused on Fran and her reactions.

Engaging and enjoyable.