Keeper's Gold

by Judith Cook

The third title in the John Latymer mystery series Recovering from a bad bout of flu and the humiliating failure of his second marriage, former policeman John Latymer is feeling distinctly low. When a regular customer of the bookshop in which he is now a partner suggests that Latymer make use of his holiday cottage in Cornwall, John takes little persuading. He could do with the break. But the cottage fails to live up to expectations, and Latymer's mood is not improved by the news that a TV crew will be filming nearby. Apparently Keeper's Tump, a legendary prehistoric barrow said to be guarded by the mysterious Keeper, is to be the subject of a televised archaeological dig. Latymer's professional curiosity is aroused, however, when a dead body is found at the entrance of the burrow, and the local museum curator goes missing . . .

208 pages, Library Binding

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Judith Cook was a lecturer in theatre at the University of Exeter. She wrote several mysteries based on the casebooks of Dr Simon Forman, an Elizabethan doctor and astrologer.

Reviews

[Ronell Warren 'Brooklyn' Alman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character John Latymer appears to be in a melancholy tone here. Lots of things have not gone his way now that he is a former police officer. He suffers and suffers a great deal on all accounts. Not much is used here to develop the character in my opinion.

[Brenda Hawley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another English mystery series I tried looking for soemthing along the lines of Martha Grimes or Elizabeth George. This one was a disappointment. One of the things that bothered me was that prior cases were mentioned assuming the reader had read them which I had not, so details were not given. Also, it was pretty clear from the start who the villain was so it was not a surprise at the last chapters when it was reealed. Not much time was spent developing the main character who had been divorced twice and retired early from the Police due to personal problems. I wanted to kmow what had happened to him in the past which made him take the directions he was now chosing, but never found out other than superficial statements. Not worth the time or moeny.