Skulduggery

Yellowthread Street #5

by William Marshall

A raft comes floating into the harbor. On it is a skeleton with its feet tied together, a dead fish, some sweet potatoes, and a length of drain pipe. The Yellowthread Street boys investigate what turns out to be a twenty-five-year-old murder.

Genres: Mystery, Procedural

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

William Marshall (or William Leonard Marshall) (born 1944, Australia) is an Australian author, best known for his Hong Kong-based "Yellowthread Street" mystery novels, some of which were used as the basis for a British TV series.

Reviews

[Kathryn McCary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fifth of the Yellowthread Street mysteries. Tightly plotted, and the final explanation is psychologically satisfying, even if not entirely believable.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

a book found in the infamous library discard box. I remember hearing about the Yellowthread Street Mysteries, and I thought to myself, "Great! I can try one for free."

I'm glad it was free. I understand that part of the enjoyment of the Yellowthread books likes in the slightly offbeat characters. Unlike Stuart Kaminsky's Rostinkov mysteries most of the characters did not engage my interest. Oh Auden finally got a little interesting about 2/3rds of the way through to story. I found Auden's imagining himself as the Great Detective amusing. I actually had more fun with Feiffer's Macao counterpart Chagas. Author William Marshall did his best dialogue writing job on Chagas. The mystery really didn't draw me in either.

I don't know. Maybe it was because I think this entry is towards the mid-point of the series, and possibly I'm missing something. After the last two books that I have read just wondering if I'm a curmudgeonly mood lately.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

mysteries can be very surreal..

[Bridget Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great series.
I was delighted to find them in the stacks, way back when.
Not sure what reminded me of these books. I'm guessing I read them about 25 years ago.
Unfortunately my library does not have e-version.