What do you think?
Rate this book
John Coffin Mystery #22
Coffin and the Paper Man
The brutal murder of a young girl polarizes the inhabitants of the newly gentrified London neighborhood under the jurisdiction of police chief commander John Coffin.
Victim Anna Mary Kinver belonged to a working-class family long resident in the area, while one of the suspects, Tim Zeman, is the son of a well-to-do doctor. Although a blood-soaked vagrant seems a more likely suspect at first, anonymous letters signed "Paper Man" threaten vengeance if the police don't arrest Tim.
The mental breakdown of Anna's father, the deaths of two members of Tim's family and then his apparent suicide add further complications. While neighborhood turmoil escalates, Coffin is forced to unravel this complex skein of events while fulfilling the day-to-day requirements of his new position and conducting a love affair with actress Stella Pinero, who runs a nearby theater workshop and knows the families involved in the murders.
Victim Anna Mary Kinver belonged to a working-class family long resident in the area, while one of the suspects, Tim Zeman, is the son of a well-to-do doctor. Although a blood-soaked vagrant seems a more likely suspect at first, anonymous letters signed "Paper Man" threaten vengeance if the police don't arrest Tim.
The mental breakdown of Anna's father, the deaths of two members of Tim's family and then his apparent suicide add further complications. While neighborhood turmoil escalates, Coffin is forced to unravel this complex skein of events while fulfilling the day-to-day requirements of his new position and conducting a love affair with actress Stella Pinero, who runs a nearby theater workshop and knows the families involved in the murders.
250 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1991
8 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Gwendoline Butler
89 books18 followersGwendoline Williams Butler (aka Jennie Melville)
Gwendoline Williams was born on 19th August 1922 in South London, England, UK, daughter of Alice (Lee) and Alfred Edward Williams, her younger twin brothers are also authors. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read History, and later lectured there. On 16th October 1949, she married Dr Lionel Harry Butler (1923-1981), a professor of medieval history at University of St. Andrews and historian, Fellow of All Souls and Principal of Royal Holloway College. The marriage had a daughter, Lucilla Butler.
In 1956, she started to published John Coffin novels under her married name, Gwendoline Butler. In 1962, she decided used her grandmother's name, Jennie Melville as pseudonym to sign her Charmian Daniels novels. She was credited for inventing the "woman's police procedural". In addition to her mystery series, she also wrote romantic novels. In 1981, her novel The Red Staircase won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Gwendoline Williams was born on 19th August 1922 in South London, England, UK, daughter of Alice (Lee) and Alfred Edward Williams, her younger twin brothers are also authors. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read History, and later lectured there. On 16th October 1949, she married Dr Lionel Harry Butler (1923-1981), a professor of medieval history at University of St. Andrews and historian, Fellow of All Souls and Principal of Royal Holloway College. The marriage had a daughter, Lucilla Butler.
In 1956, she started to published John Coffin novels under her married name, Gwendoline Butler. In 1962, she decided used her grandmother's name, Jennie Melville as pseudonym to sign her Charmian Daniels novels. She was credited for inventing the "woman's police procedural". In addition to her mystery series, she also wrote romantic novels. In 1981, her novel The Red Staircase won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 1, 2023
Just OK. I've deleted the others in the series from my free Audible books...
August 17, 2022
Crisply written, well-constructed murdr mystery told through an exercise in social fiction as the rape and murder of a young woman strikes at the heart of a community in the process of what we'd now call gentrification, and was probably called yuppification back in the early eighties, when this was published. Excellent narration in the audio book.
August 13, 2023
A good plot .
August 31, 2014
A young woman is raped and murdered in an alley and her parents feel their world has been shattered. Her father, Fred, finds the death most difficult to deal with and vows vengeance on her killer, believing he knows the identity of the colour. Coffin wants the crime solved as soon as possible as he senses unrest on his patch. Then the anonymous letters start coming - and the deaths.
The book is well written, the characters believable and interesting and there are plenty of suspects and red herrings and I got it completely wrong though the solution is there if you pay attention to the right clues! I like Coffin himself - quiet, something of a loner, one who likes his own space but is not immune to clever, professional women.
The book is part of a series but it can be read as a standalone novel as there is enough information about Coffin's back story so that it is easy to understand what is going on in his private life. Recommended to readers who like authors such as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.
The book is well written, the characters believable and interesting and there are plenty of suspects and red herrings and I got it completely wrong though the solution is there if you pay attention to the right clues! I like Coffin himself - quiet, something of a loner, one who likes his own space but is not immune to clever, professional women.
The book is part of a series but it can be read as a standalone novel as there is enough information about Coffin's back story so that it is easy to understand what is going on in his private life. Recommended to readers who like authors such as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.
August 13, 2012
This book is an entry in the continuing series featuring Commander John Coffin of the London Second City Police Force. A young girl is found murdered and sexually assaulted in an alley but has time before dying to mutter an oblique clue to the killer's identity. The victim's father, thinking he knows who the guilty party is, goes off the rails and the trouble starts. Things get more complicated when members of a local family begin dying.......are they also being murdered and is the father taking revenge or is there someone else out there with an axe to grind?
An interesting story in which the author also gives the reader some local color on the Docklands area of London, although the concept of the Second City is fictional. Short and satisfying.
An interesting story in which the author also gives the reader some local color on the Docklands area of London, although the concept of the Second City is fictional. Short and satisfying.
May 15, 2012
Ein "gemütlicher" Krimi, der in London spielt. Ein junges Mädchen wird tot aufgefunden und sorgt somit für Unruhe in dem Viertel von London. Der neue junge Polizeichef John Coffin muss nun schnellstmöglich den Mord aufklären. Es gibt viele Indizien, jedoch keinen Beweis. Schnell wird ein junger Mann zum Tatverdächtigen und selbst seine Familie steht nun unter Beobachtung. Bis ein weiterer Mord begangen wird und der Polizeichef einen Brief erhält. Eine kurzweilige grundsolide Krimigeschichte, die sich gut und schnell lesen lässt. Bis zum Schluss ist man als Leser unschlüssig, wer es gewesen sein könnte.
October 27, 2014
I don't remember what led me to download this book ...but I liked it and as I read, didn't go back then to check the date. It's locale was 'New London' so I assume the South Bank in early development. At any rate, liked Coffin; liked the understory of people and times; intersting enough mystery and since this was another of my 'interim' reads between 'heavier' tomes, I've downloaded some more.
A bit chagrined to see that some are published by Harlequin Press...but I go forth... but I see I AM a snob about this - so much so that I had to insert the ISBN for the copy I READ...ha
A bit chagrined to see that some are published by Harlequin Press...but I go forth... but I see I AM a snob about this - so much so that I had to insert the ISBN for the copy I READ...ha
August 8, 2011
My first Coffin mystery and I can understand why there are more than 20 in the series. If you like an old fashioned British murder mystery interspersed with regular characters you'll like this one. Am going back to see how John Coffin got to the top of the heap and enjoy the other 19 that precede this one.
Read
February 20, 2016This author has a strange, brief, style but I find it intriguing. The series is set in London's "second city" a fictitious newly-redeveloped part of London. The detective is a police officer (Inspector Coffin), who is in a relationship with a former actress who runs a theater.
September 2, 2009
Not a bad book at all. Takes place in the UK. Held my interest so I didn't fall asleep after a few pages. For me this is really improtant.
April 2, 2012
it was a nice enough read but it wouldn't set the world on fire!
Read
December 22, 2016dull weird book did not enjoy at all,,
February 6, 2017
TBrev later.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews