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Inspector Peach #6
A Little Learning
One weekend in November, two students at the University of East Lancashire are at a loose end.
After having one drink too many, the idea of committing the Perfect Crime comes up in casual conversation.
But the idea is already fully-formed in the mind of one of them, Paul Barnes.
‘Claptrap’ Carter, the director of the university, is a pompous fool.
Who better to be the victim of a crime that can never be unravelled?
But as Paul and his friend Gary stage a break-in into Claptrap's mansion, they don't realise that his dead body is already waiting for them.
Detective Inspector Percy Peach takes the lead on the investigation but with an endless list of suspects, can he find the murderer amongst them?
There’s Carter’s soon to be ex-wife, his envious colleague and gorgeous mistress in contention, as well as the ringleaders of the campus drug scene…
With suspects holding on to secrets and alibis falling through, Peach needs to dig through the lies and suspicions to find the real culprit.
A Little Learning is an expertly plotted crime thriller from a master story-teller.
Praise for J. M. Gregson
'Peach is as distinctive as Inspector Morse' - Booklist
'A clever mystery' - Kirkus
'Compelling characters' - Booklist
'Stylishly written and suspenseful' - Booklist
James Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare. His other crime novels include Making a Killing, Stranglehold and Body Politic.
After having one drink too many, the idea of committing the Perfect Crime comes up in casual conversation.
But the idea is already fully-formed in the mind of one of them, Paul Barnes.
‘Claptrap’ Carter, the director of the university, is a pompous fool.
Who better to be the victim of a crime that can never be unravelled?
But as Paul and his friend Gary stage a break-in into Claptrap's mansion, they don't realise that his dead body is already waiting for them.
Detective Inspector Percy Peach takes the lead on the investigation but with an endless list of suspects, can he find the murderer amongst them?
There’s Carter’s soon to be ex-wife, his envious colleague and gorgeous mistress in contention, as well as the ringleaders of the campus drug scene…
With suspects holding on to secrets and alibis falling through, Peach needs to dig through the lies and suspicions to find the real culprit.
A Little Learning is an expertly plotted crime thriller from a master story-teller.
Praise for J. M. Gregson
'Peach is as distinctive as Inspector Morse' - Booklist
'A clever mystery' - Kirkus
'Compelling characters' - Booklist
'Stylishly written and suspenseful' - Booklist
James Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare. His other crime novels include Making a Killing, Stranglehold and Body Politic.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
65 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Gregson
64 books50 followersJames Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 10, 2022
When two students decide to commit the perfect crime they did not count on finding a body. How to explain the circumstances to the police.
DI Percy Peach and DS Lucy Blake investigate.
An entertaining modern mystery
DI Percy Peach and DS Lucy Blake investigate.
An entertaining modern mystery
March 15, 2015
Really enjoyed the academic setting of the book. It made a change from the other Percy Peach novels.
Worked out who did it and why, but couldn't get the how. Missed a bloody clue yet again!
This series is fantastic for given the brain a workout.
Worked out who did it and why, but couldn't get the how. Missed a bloody clue yet again!
This series is fantastic for given the brain a workout.
January 6, 2016
Two students at the University of East Lancashire talk about committing the perfect crime. Paul Barnes, one of the students has thought about this for some time and agrees with Gary Pilkington that 'Claptrap' Carter, the Director of the university would make an ideal victim. They plan to break into his house on the campus which they believe to be empty one weekend but someone has got there before them and Carter's dead body is there to greet them.
DI Percy Peach is set to investigate the case and is immediately suspicious of the threadbare story the two students tell him though he doesn't actually suspect them of murder. His investigations soon reveal that Carter was not popular but did anyone really hate him enough to put a period to his existence?
I enjoyed reading this well written and well plotted police procedural crime story set in and around the fictional Lancashire town of Brunton. The book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone novel. Peach and DS Lucy Blake make a good ream - at work and out of it - and their questioning of suspects is very cleverly done.
If you're looking for crime novels without too much graphic violence or bad language then try J M Gregson - who also writes crime novels set in Gloucestershire featuring Lambert and Hook which are every bit as good as the Percy Peach series.
DI Percy Peach is set to investigate the case and is immediately suspicious of the threadbare story the two students tell him though he doesn't actually suspect them of murder. His investigations soon reveal that Carter was not popular but did anyone really hate him enough to put a period to his existence?
I enjoyed reading this well written and well plotted police procedural crime story set in and around the fictional Lancashire town of Brunton. The book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone novel. Peach and DS Lucy Blake make a good ream - at work and out of it - and their questioning of suspects is very cleverly done.
If you're looking for crime novels without too much graphic violence or bad language then try J M Gregson - who also writes crime novels set in Gloucestershire featuring Lambert and Hook which are every bit as good as the Percy Peach series.
April 16, 2018
The mystery itself was intriguing, but his constant references to the appearance of the women in the story was disconcerting. Ok, we know that D.S. Blake is attractive. It’s been established. We know she’s in a relationship with Peach (as if we want to picture her in bed with him and his mustache). She is intelligent and capable, too, but Peach’s highest praise for her is when she behaves *just like him.* Blake doesn’t have much personality of her own.
In this story there was also an oversexed Black woman, which is a not unusual stereotype. Much is made of her promiscuity and very little of the fact that she’s A PROFESSOR.
Gregson is an excellent mystery writer. I just wish he had a little more respect for his female characters.
In this story there was also an oversexed Black woman, which is a not unusual stereotype. Much is made of her promiscuity and very little of the fact that she’s A PROFESSOR.
Gregson is an excellent mystery writer. I just wish he had a little more respect for his female characters.
October 3, 2018
Good
They had been a much larger group earlier in the evening, but the others had their own agendas for the night; they had drifted away when the dancing finished. Lust was usually in the air at that heady hour on a Friday night: as the crashing rhythms of the music ceased, activated hormones began to throb even more insistently than the regular beat of the rock groups. Most of the students departed in pairs towards the dim lights of the residential hostels. But four of them remained, obstinately ignoring the requests for their glasses as the bar gradually emptied.
They had been a much larger group earlier in the evening, but the others had their own agendas for the night; they had drifted away when the dancing finished. Lust was usually in the air at that heady hour on a Friday night: as the crashing rhythms of the music ceased, activated hormones began to throb even more insistently than the regular beat of the rock groups. Most of the students departed in pairs towards the dim lights of the residential hostels. But four of them remained, obstinately ignoring the requests for their glasses as the bar gradually emptied.
August 16, 2022
In this British police procedural, DI Percy Peach and DS Lucy Blake investigate the murder of George Andrew "Claptrap" Carter, the widely-ridiculed Director of the new University of East Lancashire. Several people have motives for the murder, so it takes several days for them to figure out what happened. The author plays fair with the reader; all the necessary clues are given.
May 19, 2017
2 1/2. The story was tedious and while most characters were uncharismatic, a couple were prigs. Peach got his last minute phone call where everything he thought turned out to be true. Then the killer confessed in such detail I'm surprised a trial was necessary.
May 23, 2017
Wild Justice was the book I quit reading by this author but it isn't on Goodreads so this review is just a reminder to not try any other Inspector Peach Mysteries.
May 3, 2016
Love the banter
Great book and characters. Love the banter, it's laugh out loud writing. Clever plots and the cringingly awful Tucker, heavenly.
Great book and characters. Love the banter, it's laugh out loud writing. Clever plots and the cringingly awful Tucker, heavenly.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews