Death Prone

Thames Valley Mystery #9

by Clare Curzon

MALICE AND AFORETHOUGHT

When ancient Hadrian Bascombe summons his heirs to his bedside to announce he's bequeathing his vast fortune to just one of them, his malicious intent is to set them at each other's throat.

And it worked. Superintendent Mike Yeadings and his Thames Valley coppers now have their hands full investigating this cultured family whose members are meeting untimely deaths.

Greed appears to be the primary motive, but in stripping away the various facades, secrets are revealed that turn the tables in bizarre ways. With a stubborn refusal to accept the usual, Yeadings follows an intuitive thread that ends in confrontation with an embittered killer.

Genres: Mystery

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Eileen-Marie Duell Buchanan (1922-2010) was a British author who specialized in writing literature belonging to the mystery, suspense, or detective genre. She wrote under a number of pseudonyms, including Marie Buchanan, Marie Duell, Clare Curzon and Rhona Petrie. She studied French and psychology at King's College in London.

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this (1st of the Mike Yeadings mysteries I’ve read) altho’ I thought it a bit slow to start, but it did come along nicely. The extended Bascombe family genealogy was daunting, it was maybe halfway through the book before I had them down in my mind; happily, Curzon provded a family tree which one could reference as needed. My personal feeling was that the ending was a tad bit unsatisfying, but it may be me and not the book - others may feel differently about it, and I’d accept that. Certainly still a good read, I’ll look for others.