Deceit

by Clare Francis

Ellen seeks a dangerous truth when her husband is lost at sea under suspicious circumstances in this psychological thriller from international bestselling author Clare Francis When MP and successful businessman Harry Richmond is seemingly lost at sea in his yacht, his wife, Ellen, slowly transforms from grieving widow to primary suspect. The handsome Richard Moreland, Harry’s army colleague, is determined to solve the mystery of his friend’s disappearance. When Richard uncovers clues pointing to the possibility of scandal, secrets, and even murder, Ellen insists her husband committed suicide. As she works stoically to protect her children from the emotional impact of their father’s disappearance and its related politics, another revelation awaits—and it could break the case wide open. Rendered in stunning prose, this psychological thriller from international bestselling author Clare Francis is one of the yachtswoman’s finest works. Never has her specialty knowledge of sailing, boats, and the Suffolk coast been so well represented in her fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense

388 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Clare Francis's first novel; Night Sky was published in 1983 to international success. It went to number one in the Sunday Times bestseller list, and spent six weeks in the New York Times top 10.

Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.

Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.

After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.

What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.

In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.

She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).

For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.

Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.

Reviews

[Sharon Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I had it worked out but twists & turns right to the end.

[Martha Alami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by some of the lower ratings for this book because I enjoyed the story very much! The writing style was great and the story unfolded with twists and turns. Just when I thought it was over, it continued with another turn! This is a British story, told with British perspectives and vernacular so as I was reading I had to stop to think of the U.S. meaning for some terms, but I actually enjoyed that. I thought the story would make a good BBC drama and guess what?! It was. I Googled it and found out the book was the basis for a series back in the early 2000s. I recommend to anyone who wants a good suspense book with a little love story mixed in. And well written!

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen is struggling to juggle so much in her life at once, the disappearance of her husband off their boat Minerva, her two children who are both also just barely managing to keep a grasp on reality, mounting debts, the impending loss of the family business and to top off all the stress Harry's body has turned up along with the Minerva but was it suicide or murder?
Dark secrets and past misdemeanours on the parts of the majority of the characters keeps the reader guessing as to how all these explosive details will be revealed and impact on the narrative.
A wonderful engaging thriller with a constantly surprising storyline and characters that touch the heart and empathise with Clare Francis is a master storyteller she blends effortlessly hints and tricks from all genres, there is the constant theme of the growing attraction to Richard Moreland, someone from Harry's past who knows that Harry harboured deep secrets, the excitement of a murder mystery and taut action packed thriller all rolled into one.
All the ingredients for a great read.
This is the first novel I have read by her but will definitely be an author I will now start to avidly collect.

[RickyB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great read. I hated the female protagonist - she was a weak, pathetic woman who garnered absolutely no sympathy from me. I'm not sure this is what the author intended because it does make it a difficult read when you think like that about a character you're supposed to care about.
I skimmed the last third of the book just to find out who did the killing but by then I didn't really care. It could have been such a good story because I liked the little twist at the end but there just wasn't enough of an attachment to the characters through the first half of the book for me to enjoy it.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. I couldn't get into it. I stopped and started it In different places and tried but it was terrible.

[Sudhir]

P ,Harry Richmond - ambitious and a failed politician goes missing in his yatch and presumed dead. Ellen his wife while recovering from her grief discovers that Harry had many secrets which threaten to undermine everything that Ellen holds dear. Story revolves around Ellen and her daughter kaite and son Josh. She discovers that Harry was having extra marital affairs and involved in doubious and illegal money deals loosing lot of money. He became secretive and jittery and went on his yatch in this mood It is not known what happened to him on his boat, whether there was some accident or some thing happened to Harry in that state of mind. Ellen's own role becomes questionable.
The yatch is ultimately found capsized in tha sea. It is retrieved and Harry's body found with a gun shot in the fully locked and secured boat. It is taken to be a case of suicide. Police investigation starts against the role of Ellen particularly in relation to her movements Police feels it could be a case of murder as well and Ellen appears to be main suspect. Ellen had feeling that her husband had sexually exploited her 15 yrs. daughter and her son was also having issues because of her mental conditions. Ellen in her own wisdom was taking unnecessary steps to save the family from stigma of suicide as a result of which she becomes a suspect of murder. During the police enquiry she becomes close to Harry friend Morrison, an ex mariner and with his help she is able to come out of police enquiry through manipulative and half truth replies and is able to save her family from mental stress. In the end her son Josh and daughter kaite disclose that they were aware of her efforts to save them risking her own life. They write to Morrison not to disclose this to Ellen so as to give her mental peace.

[Roz Camplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit surprised by some of the poor reviews as i thought it was a good plot. It was a bit of a slow burner and required patience at times but it was definitely worth plodding on with.

The main character is a bit hard to warm to at first, i thought she was a frustrating and silly woman but i ended up respecting her enormously by the end. i did work out the twist during the last third of the book but the details were still shocking.

I think its an all or nothing book, either give up on it early or persevere to the end and be rewarded by a dark and twisted tale.

[Ahmed Tahé Allala · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is because the plot twist at the end is very interesting, unexpected. It could have been better if it was 200 pages shorter because Francis literally describes everything and anything to the point where it has become annoying. Besides, the story progresses veeeery slowly. Things start to only get interesting after the page 220.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 1 out of 5]

A snails race would have more pace than this. Somebody on Goodreads mentioned that after page two hundred and something it started to get interesting but reaching page 111, I could not subject my eyeballs to it anymore! I imagine, as a BBC drama it may have been more interesting - something I may have watched whilst ironing - but transferred on to paper....not so much.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this as much as other Clare Francis novels, but having read 3 or 4 on tthe trot I've got a bit sick of rich folks on boats. Still, if you don't want to have to use much of your brain it's a damn good read.

[Katie Kenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best examples of the unreliable narrator in modern fiction that I've found. Truly a fantastically twisted bit of fiction that is worth a read.

[Nancy Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably being generous with three stars; however, in all honesty, I did enjoy the premise of the story and the plot as it unfolded right at the end, but it was the in between filler that moved too slow and uneventful for me. My initial thought was that the book was a bit longer than it needed to be and that the only character that was really developed and centered around was not someone I admired, could relate to or even really like. I found her character weak and with no voice when it was called for and then unusually strong and creative when you least expected.

A woman's husband disappears. He leaves under the agenda of taking a short boating trip by himself. The problem is that he never returns. The wife is left with the uncertainty of what has happened to him. Did he drown? Did he run into foul play? Did he merely sail away to avoid his past transgressions? It is when it is determined that he is probably not coming back, that the wife finds their wealth existed only in the eyes of outsiders. Deceit has been running rampant among their debtors, the public, organizations and the wife. But it seems the deceit of wealth is not the only secret hiding in the closet.

The story had potential but just fell short for me and it wasn't a case of too many loose strings; it was more of a case of just too many strings that proved insignificant and meaningless and just created unnecessary tangles.

Well - you win some -- you lose some.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story in this book is pretty good, enough that I finished it to find out what happened. It is a kind of slow mover. It just took so long to read it and there were too many places where it dragged with long explanations of how someone who is not particularly essential to the story feels about this or that. It is not all that original of a plot: a woman's husband is missing at sea and, while going through their business matters, she starts finding out all kinds of things about him that she didn't know before since he handled all the business and money.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable whodunnit / crime thriller from the 1990's.

Well paced and maintains interest to the end.

In a Weintstein age perhaps the story line has increased credibility.

The type of story which makes for a good three of four episode tele-series.

Either way, a recommended read for those enjoying this type of genre.

[Pam Wakelam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I dislike present tense, I found this book an enjoyable read. There are tension and twists enough to keep you turning the page. I'd not read any of Clare Francis' work before despite having this book on my shelves for years (I think maybe 20?) and constantly passed it by in favour of authors I knew or newer novels. It's taken me a while, but I'm pleased to say it was worth waiting for.

[Stephanie Jarman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by far has been one of the best I have read in a long time. I had ideas about what had truly happened the entire time but I was not correct on any of them until I read the final few pages and found out what actually happened to the awful Harry.

[Lisa Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cant believe this book has such a low rating.
It was very well written, a great story and not particularly predictable.
The characters are interesting and have good depth to them as well. It's certainly an author I'm going to look for more from.

[Debi Lodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made the mistake of reading the last pages first. Recommend you read it but do not be tempted to read the end. I really liked it.

[David Portas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just re-read this after a 15 year gap. Great crime novel. 8/10

[Paul Pusal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started slow, and then finished quite fast! A little too fast, Would have done better with a side story and some more sex. All in a I won't be rushing to read another Francis novel.

[Danita · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a brilliantly put together plotline!! Loved it; it kept me guessing until pretty much the end.

[Vera Schofield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant gripping and thoughly enjoyable. Couldn't put it down.

[Chris Payne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Emotionless and unengaging narrator and a plodding and predictable plot made this a turgid read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I kinda guessed who did it but it was a page-turner and I wanted to find out. Like Clare Francis writing and her books.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. Twists and turns right to the end.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Deceit, by Clare Francis, B-plus, narrated by Frances Tomelty, produced by BBC-WW audio, downloaded from audible.com.

This is a book that started slowly. It was hard for me to get into it, or to accept Ellen’s constant backing down to her husband’s ruthless and selfish relatives. She seemed too meek and mild to live. The other unfortunate factor about this book was the narrator, Frances Tomelty. She would whisper large sections of Ellen’s thoughts in a dramatic voice which could barely be heard. Quite annoying. Despite all of this, it was a compelling read once it started moving along. Ellen’s husband, Harry, has supposedly set out on his boat for a vacation. But in the morning his dinghy is found, his boat can’t be reached by radio or phone, and as the days go on he is presumed dead. Then a friend of his from the past figures out that the police were searching in the wrong place and finds the place where the boat sank. It is pulled up, and Harry’s body is found aboard with a shotgun next to his hand and his apparent suicide. But the police don’t believe it. They suspect murder. As for Ellen, after his death she uncovers how deceitful Harry had been and finds they have very little money to live on at all. Plus, Harry has cheated an orphanage out of the funds he raised for charity. But as we go on, it appears Ellen has some secrets of her own as well. This was a book where we just uncovering deceit after deceit, and it is a totally compelling read, albeit I wish with a different narrator.

[James Marinero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to get into - I have difficulty with some authors who take so long to describe a scene. But...it was very well written and the plot had some good turns. The technique and POV was very interesting, telling a historical story in the present tense (most of the time). Good suspense, and not many holes - I'm a sailor - not up to her illustrious standard, but it was a good tale told with deep knowledge of the subject. By 2/3 way through it was grabbing me. I learned a lot about technique. Nearer 4 * than 3, so it gets a 4.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am over halfway through and still waiting for it to get exciting. Yes, I am intrigued at how the various characters will knit together but why does she take so long to write a conversation? Why the need to describe every expression and thought of the speaker?
The back cover says this is Francis' best novel yet - well I won't be reading the others.
Forced my way through to the unsurprising end. The overall story was fairly good just painful to read Francis' writing style.

[Elizabeth Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant page-turning read. I couldn't put it down and I was impressed with the background knowledge until I took in that Francis was the same one who had done solo yachting! Still impressive. More so was the twists and turns that had me wondering all the way through how things were going to turn out. A very clever and fascinating story, well written, full of atmospheric emotive stuff.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this wonderful book and I loved it. It is a mystery but the reader doesn't know who are the bad guys and who are the good guys for the entire book. Oh my gosh! All kinds of false clues and half truths and hidden meanings and misunderstood lines from all the characters. What a fun ride!