Dead Serious

Superintendent Bone #7

by Susannah Stacey

Investigating a series of serial killings that has taken place in the reputedly haunted village of Biddinghurst, Kent, Superintendent Robert Bone uncovers an unlikely but disturbingly plausible scenario for the crimes. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Cozy

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

AKA Elizabeth Eyre, Susannah Stacey is the pseudonym of the couple of writers Jill Staynes [1927-] and Margaret Storey [1926-].
Jill Staynes writes her own novels as well as writing under the name of Elizabeth Eyre and Susannah Stacey with Margaret Storey. They were pupils at the same school where they invented bizarre characters and exchanged serial episodes about them. Their first book together. at the age of fifteen, was called 'Bungho, or why we went to Aleppo'. It was not offered for publication. They have both written stories for children, and together created the highly praised Superintendent Bone modern detective novels as well as this series of Italian Renaissance whodunnits.

Reviews

[Jacqueline Vick]

This was my first Superintendent Bone novel by Susannah Stacey.

For me, the story took a chapter or two to find it's footing, and I almost put it down. I'm glad I didn't, because I wound up with a traditional British mystery, the type of book I enjoy.

The story takes place in Biddinghurst, a village with a reputation for being haunted. It's also the village where Superintendent Bone is house hunting with his pregnant wife and daughter, so he's on hand when an overbearing village "leader" finds a corpse in her car.

The suspects range from the corpse's own actress sister to a group of teenagers bent on revenge, and the author keeps us guessing right up to the end. The various story threads tie together nicely in the end, wrapping up raised questions and letting us know where the characters stand.

The book is a mix of the old-fashioned, rigid village and the more contemporary, morally casual teens. (I find I prefer reading about the former in my mysteries, but Stacey doesn't go overboard with crudities.)

I will definitely look for another mystery in this series, preferably an earlier book so I can get to know the Bone character.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been binge-reading this series and really enjoying it. But this one was just difficult to get involved in until almost the middle. Don't know if it was the book or me, but just not as enjoyable as the previous in the series. There's only one more to go.

[Ria Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

KIM BURDEY IS THE MURDERER?????!!!!!!!
THIS BOOK IS A TERRIBLE LOSER!!
I SIMPLY WASTED MY TIME READING IT!!
BTW, I DIDNT EVEN GET THE MOTIVE OF THE MURDERER.
UNLESS IM MUCH MISTAKEN, BONES IS A BADLY CROOKED DETECTIVE WITH NO HINT OF A MYSTERY!!
HOW LAME!!
WHAT ABOUT THAT BARBARY????
THIS IS A HECK-ON-CUE-WHY-DID-I-READ-IT BOOK!!
LITERALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good