Close Call

Lambert and Hook #19

by J.M. Gregson

It wasn't the sort of place where anything should happen. Gurney Close was just a small, newly-built cul-de-sac, three nice houses and a bungalow overlooking the river Wye. None of the people who move in - three married couples and a divorcee - expect anything much to take place, beyond, perhaps, some neighbourhood friendliness. With this in mind, they organize a party to celebrate moving in. All goes well, a good time is had by everyone, until one of them is found dead the next morning. Lambert and Hook are faced with a baffling crime. For their harmless, normal-seeming victim turns out to have a darker past than they could have suspected - and enemies everywhere, very close to home...

Genres: Mystery

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a block party, one man is found dead. Lambert & Hook have to figure out what's going on.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small close of four new houses where the occupants all moved in at the same time and are gradually getting to know one another seems the least likely scenario for a murder. But an informal get together for all the residents results in the murder of one of their number - Robin Durkin. He us found dead in his garden by his wife, Alison, on the morning after the party.

As Lambert and Hook delve into the murdered man's background and the backgrounds of the other residents of Gurney Close they discover any number of reasons why all of them might have wished him dead.

I liked the way the evidence was built up piece by piece and gradually fitted into the jigsaw puzzle that was Durkin's life and death. Bert Hook has some domestic problems so he doesn't feature so much in this story but it is still a good read in spite of his absence. I always like the way that suspects and witnesses underestimate his abilities solely on the basis of his appearance.

This is a well written book and a well written series and I recommend it to anyone who likes their crime novels without too much on the page violence and with police characters who basically get on well. The books can be read in any order.

[Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is it so hard for detective stories to have plausible endings? As I was reading this book I was thinking at times "This is pretty good. I must remember 4 stars." There were hints that the detective was beginning to see who done it, but no reasons hinted at. Then at the end all was revealed and there was no reason that pointed to the villain anymore than any other suspect as far as the detective knew. That cost a star.