The Nine Bright Shiners

David Webb #5

by Anthea Fraser

The lost treasures of the Incas appear to hold the key to a bizarre series of murders, in an action-packed tale of betrayal and death

Genres: Mystery, Crime

183 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 1988

About the author

aka Vanessa Graham

Reviews

[Damaskcat]

Jan Coverdale has returned to the UK from Australia to spend Christmas in her old family home at the invitation of her half-brother, Edward Langley, a well known explorer. Edward and his wife Rowena are spending several weeks in Peru and Jan and her children are going to house sit for them until they get back. Jan's marriage is in trouble and she needs time to think what she wants to do so the invitation offers her an opportunity to do this.

When the police find the body of what appear to be a tramp with Edward's wallet in his pocket, Jan's nightmare begins and she finds herself involved in the repercussions of an expedition in which her late father was involved more than thirty years ago.

Death will strike again before the case is solved and for DCI Webb the investigation involves travelling further than he has ever done before to try and work out what is going on. This is a fascinating and well written crime novel in which deeds of the past come back to haunt the present.

I liked the background to this story - which is the Inca civilisation of Peru. I thought it was interesting and well researched. As every the characters are well drawn and believable and the story is well plotted and kept me guessing until very nearly the last chapter. I recommend this novel and this series if you want well written crime stories with little on the page violence and no bad language. This is number five in the series.

[KAY BOSHIER]

Flawed plot, historical inaccuracies, female weakness

Seriously, what is Ms Fraser thinking? She has manipulated historical facts and included inaccuracies about Peru and the Inca empire. It reeks of the historical arrogance of the British Empire, writing about "brave English explorers" who supposedly discovered a lost city. And, again, she portrays women as weak, indecisive characters, dependent on men, supposedly explained by the setting being in the 1980's when times and attitudes were different. Ms Fraser writes well, but her plots and character developments are flawed.

[Cynthia Grove]

The David Webb series by Anthea Fraser are always good. This is perhaps not the best of them but very enjoyable. The characters are well-drawn and generally likeable. I come to them as friends. And yes, they do show weaknesses at times so credible.
This story has several key points and the way they fit together forms the structure of the story. That sounds a bit trite but connections which seem obvious are not always so. The final denoument is reached through the actions of the characters but is also achieved from an external source.
Not an everyday sort of mystery but worth reading.

[Finley McLellan]

"Nine Bright Shiners" Book 5 in the DCI David Webb series by Anthea Fraser is is an interesting and challenging story with several subplots woven together in three generations of three families, all tied together in the first generation being explorers in the Inca Andes jungles of Peru, discovering a lost Inca city and the effect it has on the families and their relationships, including lost treasure and multiple murders.The nine bright shiners are a reference to nine enormous flawless emeralds in a choker necklace, part of the treasure.

[Doug Ward]

DCI David Webb has a puzzling murder case on his hands. The body of a man was found dressed in a shabby jacket with nine green sequins sewn into it. In the pocket of the jacket was a wallet that had been stolen a few months before from from another man who resembled the deceased. But the owner of the wallet was an explorer who had recently left England for the jungles of Peru. What was going on? The search for answers would take Webb and DS Jackson halfway around the world and back in time to events from the 1950s.

[Doreen]

Terrific!

This murder mystery involves expeditions to Peru 30 years earlier, searching for lost Inca cities and treasures. DCI David Webb and his team search clues from the past and present to determine why the murder occurred and who did it. This is an excellent, exciting, tense murder adventure, written by a master of the genre!

[Lexine]

The characters were very good--also good plot twists. The adventure to Peru could have been more fully explored--I think Fraser missed a great opportunity to develop this part of the story. In fact, scenes from Peru could have been interwoven throughout the book. The basic idea is strong, though. I'm going back to Rona Parish for my next one or two, then back to Webb.

[Sophie]

Convoluted back-story and a plot that requires the heroine to be so stupid you marvel she's able to put one foot in front of the other. And would the Shillingham police department budget really cover a jaunt to Peru for two officers conducting a routine investigation? Seemed beyond far-fetched. Definitely the weakest of the Webb series so far.

[R.L.]

Of all the Anthea Fraser books I've read, this is my favorite. It has everything: an old family estate, murder, a missing person, a strange message left with the body, a lot of mystery set at Christmas time. A really good read rivaling anything Agatha Christie wrote.

[Taryn]

I’ve been enjoying the other DCI Webb mysteries, but this one had me bored to tears. I thought the mystery of it was interesting, but getting to the point was slow going, to say the least.

[Shirley]

DCI Webb book 5

[Terri]

Good series set in late 1970's in England.

[W H Nicholls]

Not bad, the plot was quite good but you get suspicions early on as to who the killer was, little about Webb in this one and I though what he did in the end pointless. Happy ending to it

[Susan]

1987 - Jan Coverdale and her two children have been invited by her older half brother, Edward Langley and his wife Rowena, to spend Christmas with them in Britain. Then the Langleys would be off on an expedition to Peru, again leaving jan to house sit. Later a murder occurs, the first. But why and by whom. DCI Webb and his team investigate.
An entertaining modern mystery

[Julie]

Jan has brought her children to England for Christmas to get away from her cheating husband in Australia. She is staying at her brother Edward's house after he and his wife left for Peru. Then a body is found that looks like Edward and has his wallet in the pocket. It turns out it's a journalist, but Chief David Webb and his team are puzzled by many things. Then the housekeeper is killed. How are the bodies connected? How is Edward involved? Or is the case related to something that happened in the past with Jan & Edward's father, Edward's wife's father and one other man?

Great writing and good mystery.

[Shirley]

Enjoying going through this series, easy, light reading, perfect for summer days. Information about explorers and treasures in Peru add to the plot.

[Caroline Kubale]

MTK

[Gillian]

Review

As with all of Anthea Fraser's books I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries.

[Tessa]

Another good read on this series, i can't get enoigh of them.