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Jennie Redhead Mystery #1
The Shivering Turn
"Spencer scores another top-notch hit with this new series, which features her usual skilful writing, clever plotting, and intriguing characters"
Booklist
Introducing Oxford-based private investigator Jennie Redhead in the first of a brand-new mystery series.
'My daughter's not just run away - she's dead!' When Mary Corbet walks into private investigator Jennie Redhead's rundown Oxford office one pleasant spring day in 1974, she is a desperate woman. Although she's convinced her daughter has been murdered, she can get neither the police nor her husband to agree with her.
Jennie is not convinced either, but more out of compassion than conviction agrees to take the case. The only clue she has to go on is a fragment of an obscure 17th century poem she finds in Linda's bedroom: Or will you, like a cold and errant coward/Abandon all and make a shivering turn. But from that one clue Jennie's investigations will lead her beyond the city's dreaming spires to Oxford's darker underbelly, in which lurks a hidden world of privilege, violence and excess.
Introducing Oxford-based private investigator Jennie Redhead in the first of a brand-new mystery series.
'My daughter's not just run away - she's dead!' When Mary Corbet walks into private investigator Jennie Redhead's rundown Oxford office one pleasant spring day in 1974, she is a desperate woman. Although she's convinced her daughter has been murdered, she can get neither the police nor her husband to agree with her.
Jennie is not convinced either, but more out of compassion than conviction agrees to take the case. The only clue she has to go on is a fragment of an obscure 17th century poem she finds in Linda's bedroom: Or will you, like a cold and errant coward/Abandon all and make a shivering turn. But from that one clue Jennie's investigations will lead her beyond the city's dreaming spires to Oxford's darker underbelly, in which lurks a hidden world of privilege, violence and excess.
218 pages, Hardcover
Published February 1, 2017
4 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Sally Spencer
82 books152 followersA pseudonym used by Alan Rustage.
Sally Spencer is a pen name, first adopted when the author (actually called Alan Rustage) was writing sagas and it was almost obligatory that a woman's name appeared on the cover (other authors like Emma Blair and Mary Jane Staples are also men).
Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a teacher. In 1978-79 he was working in Iran and witnessed the fall of the Shah (see the Blog for what it was like to live through a revolution). He got used to having rifles - and, one occasion, a rocket launcher - pointed at him by both soldiers and revolutionaries, but he was never entirely comfortable with it.
He lived in Madrid for over twenty years, and still considers it the most interesting and exciting city he has ever visited, but for the last few years he has opted for a quieter life in the seaside town of Calpe, on the Costa Blanca.
His first series of books were historical sagas set in Cheshire (where he grew up) and London. They were very popular with his English readers, but his American readers find the dialect something of a strain.
He has written twenty books featuring DCI Woodend (a character based partly on a furniture dealer he used to play dominoes with) and ten (so far!) about Woodend's protegé Monika Paniatowski.
His DI Sam Blackstone books are set in Victorian/Edwardian London, New York and Russia, and the Inspector Paco Ruiz books have as their backdrop the Spanish Civil War.
Alan is a competitive games player who likes bridge and pub quizzes. It is only by enforcing iron discipline that he doesn't play video games all the time.
He now lives on Spain's Costa Blanca.
Sally Spencer is a pen name, first adopted when the author (actually called Alan Rustage) was writing sagas and it was almost obligatory that a woman's name appeared on the cover (other authors like Emma Blair and Mary Jane Staples are also men).
Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a teacher. In 1978-79 he was working in Iran and witnessed the fall of the Shah (see the Blog for what it was like to live through a revolution). He got used to having rifles - and, one occasion, a rocket launcher - pointed at him by both soldiers and revolutionaries, but he was never entirely comfortable with it.
He lived in Madrid for over twenty years, and still considers it the most interesting and exciting city he has ever visited, but for the last few years he has opted for a quieter life in the seaside town of Calpe, on the Costa Blanca.
His first series of books were historical sagas set in Cheshire (where he grew up) and London. They were very popular with his English readers, but his American readers find the dialect something of a strain.
He has written twenty books featuring DCI Woodend (a character based partly on a furniture dealer he used to play dominoes with) and ten (so far!) about Woodend's protegé Monika Paniatowski.
His DI Sam Blackstone books are set in Victorian/Edwardian London, New York and Russia, and the Inspector Paco Ruiz books have as their backdrop the Spanish Civil War.
Alan is a competitive games player who likes bridge and pub quizzes. It is only by enforcing iron discipline that he doesn't play video games all the time.
He now lives on Spain's Costa Blanca.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
February 6, 2017
I was a bit doubtful when I started this book. I had some problem getting into the book (sometimes going from one book to another quickly can be a bit hard), however, slowly as the story progressed I really started to enjoy the book. As a big fan of British crime TV series did the sound of a book series set in Oxford really appeal to me and I really loved that the book is set in the 70s.
Jennie Redhead is a PI, she is also red-haired which makes her name quite fitting. She recently left the police force after some problem that will be revealed in the story and now she is trying to find her footing as a PI. When the women of a missing girl approach her is she a bit hesitant to accept the case, but there are things with the case that doesn't sound like the girl just up and left. And could the17th century poem she finds in the bedroom have something to do with her disappearance.
The Shivering Turn is the first in the Jennie Redhead series and as a detective novel did this book feel refreshing. As I mentioned before is the book set in Oxford in the 70s and that was a nice change from all the present time crime novels I tend to read. The music, the events of the time and the lack of technological progress that we have today made this book feel quite nice to read. I also came to like Jennie Redhead quite a lot. She is a gutsy woman. The case took turns that I did not expect, and there is a moment when I together with Jennie realized the truth about something. A sad, sad truth.
The Shivering Turn was very refreshing to read and I will definitely read more books in this series!
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
Jennie Redhead is a PI, she is also red-haired which makes her name quite fitting. She recently left the police force after some problem that will be revealed in the story and now she is trying to find her footing as a PI. When the women of a missing girl approach her is she a bit hesitant to accept the case, but there are things with the case that doesn't sound like the girl just up and left. And could the17th century poem she finds in the bedroom have something to do with her disappearance.
The Shivering Turn is the first in the Jennie Redhead series and as a detective novel did this book feel refreshing. As I mentioned before is the book set in Oxford in the 70s and that was a nice change from all the present time crime novels I tend to read. The music, the events of the time and the lack of technological progress that we have today made this book feel quite nice to read. I also came to like Jennie Redhead quite a lot. She is a gutsy woman. The case took turns that I did not expect, and there is a moment when I together with Jennie realized the truth about something. A sad, sad truth.
The Shivering Turn was very refreshing to read and I will definitely read more books in this series!
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
July 12, 2017
This is a new series featuring Jennifer Redhead (yes..she also has red hair). Jennie was once a police officer, but now is a Private Investigator. She couldn't handle the corruption she encountered within her department.
Mary Corbet walks into her office and announces that her daughter is missing and she "knows" she is dead. Mary's husband, ironically also a police office feels that his 15-year-old daughter packed a bag and has left. The police, obviously, agree with him.
There's nothing that points to foul play, but Jennie decides to give it a couple of days to see what she can dig up. What Jennie finds is a clue ... one that leads her to the local college, and The Shivering Turn Society. But the society is not exactly what everyone thinks it is.
The closer Jennie comes to discovering where the teen is, the more danger Jennie faces. And someone certainly doesn't want her poking her nose where it doesn't belong.
This is a really good detective story. It's well written ... characters are not made of cardboard. Jennie makes a wonderful PI ... she's strong willed, she's stubborn, and she wants to do her best for the missing teenager. She has 2 close men friends that always seem to help her when it counts most. There's lots of movement ... suspense slowly builds from the first pages and explodes as the story concludes.
Even though there is a second book in this series (DRY BONES), there is no cliff hanger. This is a very satisfactory read. Looking forward to see more of Jennie Redhead.
Many thanks to the author / Severn House / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expresses here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Mary Corbet walks into her office and announces that her daughter is missing and she "knows" she is dead. Mary's husband, ironically also a police office feels that his 15-year-old daughter packed a bag and has left. The police, obviously, agree with him.
There's nothing that points to foul play, but Jennie decides to give it a couple of days to see what she can dig up. What Jennie finds is a clue ... one that leads her to the local college, and The Shivering Turn Society. But the society is not exactly what everyone thinks it is.
The closer Jennie comes to discovering where the teen is, the more danger Jennie faces. And someone certainly doesn't want her poking her nose where it doesn't belong.
This is a really good detective story. It's well written ... characters are not made of cardboard. Jennie makes a wonderful PI ... she's strong willed, she's stubborn, and she wants to do her best for the missing teenager. She has 2 close men friends that always seem to help her when it counts most. There's lots of movement ... suspense slowly builds from the first pages and explodes as the story concludes.
Even though there is a second book in this series (DRY BONES), there is no cliff hanger. This is a very satisfactory read. Looking forward to see more of Jennie Redhead.
Many thanks to the author / Severn House / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expresses here are unbiased and entirely my own.
December 10, 2017
"The Shivering Turn" introduces ex-policewoman turned private investigator, Jennie Redhead, and is set in the historic British city of Oxford. From the northern county of Lancashire, she studied at Oxford herself and got her degree in English Literature. And guess what? She IS a redhead! She views the fact that her hair matches her name to be a curse she is forced to endure.
Of her family Jennie says: "We allowed our worries and fears, our angers and resentment, to quietly fester away beneath a veneer of amiability". Her emotion-starved home life has made her distant in her relationships. Of her father she said that he lived a life "in which joy was sacrificed on the altar of respectability". Of her mother, when she is being annoyingly repetitive "She repeats, as if repetition can easily kick the shit out of logic any day of the week."
Jennie left the Thames Valley police when she discovered one of her superiors to be corrupt. She still has a few contacts within the police, one of whom is DS George Hobson, her friend and former lover.
Not yet thirty years old, Jennie is struggling to make ends meet when she is hired to find Linda, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Mary Corbet, who just happens to be married to Tom Corbet, an inspector with Thames Valley Police.
Jennie reluctantly begins investigating and discovers that Linda was somehow involved with one of the University's myriad student societies named "The Shivering Turn Society". The society was named for a poem by metaphysical poet Robert Cudlip.
"And dare you face your urges and desires,
Embracing both the good and bad you own,
Or will you, like a cold and errant coward
Abandon all and make a shivering turn?"
Jennie enlists the aid of Charles Swift, St. Luke's College's bursar, an old friend from the time she was a student there herself. Travelling about the historic city on her trusty bicycle, Jennie also visits the Bodleian Library to do some research on the poet.
While interviewing members of the Society, Jennie discovers them to be arrogant, privileged, wankers. Their leader, Crispin, excels at making others feel inferior, and he delights on showing everyone how clever he is.
I loved how the author inserted a brief line or two to connect Jennie Redhead to Monika Paniatowski, one of his other successful series protagonists.
Written with finesse and a 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, "The Shivering Turn" was a very enjoyable mystery with more than one ironic plot twist. The setting was an integral part of the story line, and the characterization was well wrought. This is a series I plan to follow!
4.5 stars rounded up for GoodReads.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from the publishers, Severn House via NetGalley in consideration of my honest review.
Of her family Jennie says: "We allowed our worries and fears, our angers and resentment, to quietly fester away beneath a veneer of amiability". Her emotion-starved home life has made her distant in her relationships. Of her father she said that he lived a life "in which joy was sacrificed on the altar of respectability". Of her mother, when she is being annoyingly repetitive "She repeats, as if repetition can easily kick the shit out of logic any day of the week."
Jennie left the Thames Valley police when she discovered one of her superiors to be corrupt. She still has a few contacts within the police, one of whom is DS George Hobson, her friend and former lover.
Not yet thirty years old, Jennie is struggling to make ends meet when she is hired to find Linda, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Mary Corbet, who just happens to be married to Tom Corbet, an inspector with Thames Valley Police.
Jennie reluctantly begins investigating and discovers that Linda was somehow involved with one of the University's myriad student societies named "The Shivering Turn Society". The society was named for a poem by metaphysical poet Robert Cudlip.
"And dare you face your urges and desires,
Embracing both the good and bad you own,
Or will you, like a cold and errant coward
Abandon all and make a shivering turn?"
Jennie enlists the aid of Charles Swift, St. Luke's College's bursar, an old friend from the time she was a student there herself. Travelling about the historic city on her trusty bicycle, Jennie also visits the Bodleian Library to do some research on the poet.
While interviewing members of the Society, Jennie discovers them to be arrogant, privileged, wankers. Their leader, Crispin, excels at making others feel inferior, and he delights on showing everyone how clever he is.
I loved how the author inserted a brief line or two to connect Jennie Redhead to Monika Paniatowski, one of his other successful series protagonists.
Written with finesse and a 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, "The Shivering Turn" was a very enjoyable mystery with more than one ironic plot twist. The setting was an integral part of the story line, and the characterization was well wrought. This is a series I plan to follow!
4.5 stars rounded up for GoodReads.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from the publishers, Severn House via NetGalley in consideration of my honest review.
November 25, 2016
I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Severn House.
As indicated by my five star rating, I absolutely loved this novel. I try to be cautious about handing out five stars for a novel because - since I'm inherently a picky reader - I can usually find things to complain about if I just look hard enough. The thing is, with this book, I didn't even want to look hard because I was so caught up in the totally unconventional main character Sally Spencer has invented.
I've read other novels written by Spencer and usually enjoyed them enough that I was willing to give the first novel in the Jennie Redhead series a try. Jennie is best described by me as a fighter. Show her corruption within the police force in which she's serving and she's going to try to out the bad cop. She didn't even hesitate. Show her a client who wants her to take a case as a private investigator and she will tell them right away there is no case. Except......she keeps on digging just a little bit more and a little bit more and keeps coming up with the smallest of indications that her client may be right after all. Then you add in the situation of the title of this novel. I have to confess that I tried my level best (before I began reading the book) to figure out why it kept catching my attention. Spencer does a fabulous job of turning that element of the novel into a mystery of its own and then challenging the reader to solve it. Give it a try yourself before you read on and discover the explanation. You will feel soo good to figure it out yourself, but then feel so bad because you will know the book has just turned in a new direction and what you thought you had figured out might as well be thrown out the window.
The Shivering Turn is going to stay with me for a long time because of the excellent way the characters are portrayed. I can't wait to read the next Jennie Redhead case and I don't even feel the least bit guilty to feel that one of the characters got just what they deserved.
As indicated by my five star rating, I absolutely loved this novel. I try to be cautious about handing out five stars for a novel because - since I'm inherently a picky reader - I can usually find things to complain about if I just look hard enough. The thing is, with this book, I didn't even want to look hard because I was so caught up in the totally unconventional main character Sally Spencer has invented.
I've read other novels written by Spencer and usually enjoyed them enough that I was willing to give the first novel in the Jennie Redhead series a try. Jennie is best described by me as a fighter. Show her corruption within the police force in which she's serving and she's going to try to out the bad cop. She didn't even hesitate. Show her a client who wants her to take a case as a private investigator and she will tell them right away there is no case. Except......she keeps on digging just a little bit more and a little bit more and keeps coming up with the smallest of indications that her client may be right after all. Then you add in the situation of the title of this novel. I have to confess that I tried my level best (before I began reading the book) to figure out why it kept catching my attention. Spencer does a fabulous job of turning that element of the novel into a mystery of its own and then challenging the reader to solve it. Give it a try yourself before you read on and discover the explanation. You will feel soo good to figure it out yourself, but then feel so bad because you will know the book has just turned in a new direction and what you thought you had figured out might as well be thrown out the window.
The Shivering Turn is going to stay with me for a long time because of the excellent way the characters are portrayed. I can't wait to read the next Jennie Redhead case and I don't even feel the least bit guilty to feel that one of the characters got just what they deserved.
October 25, 2016
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.
This is the first book in a new series and very good it is too. Set in Oxford, it features private investigator, Jennie Redhead. She is ex-police and for various reasons set out to make a career as a private investigator. A distraught mother walks into her office one morning and asks her to look into the disappearance of her only daughter, Linda. She is convinced Linda is dead but no one will believe her and the police won't take her seriously.
Jennie is reluctant to take the case but in the end feels sorry for the woman and agrees to look into it. The only clue is a line of poetry which Linda was embroidering on a blouse when she went missing. Using her contacts at the university, Jennie starts to investigate and finds that turning over stones is apt to produce rather more nasties than she might have expected.
This is a well written mystery set in Oxford in 1974. Jennie herself is a really interesting character and I love the background. I didn't see most of the twists in the story and I didn't work out who the murderer was until very close to the end. There is no graphic violence or bad language so if you are tired of graphic violence and gritty settings then try this. I shall look forward to reading more in this series.
This is the first book in a new series and very good it is too. Set in Oxford, it features private investigator, Jennie Redhead. She is ex-police and for various reasons set out to make a career as a private investigator. A distraught mother walks into her office one morning and asks her to look into the disappearance of her only daughter, Linda. She is convinced Linda is dead but no one will believe her and the police won't take her seriously.
Jennie is reluctant to take the case but in the end feels sorry for the woman and agrees to look into it. The only clue is a line of poetry which Linda was embroidering on a blouse when she went missing. Using her contacts at the university, Jennie starts to investigate and finds that turning over stones is apt to produce rather more nasties than she might have expected.
This is a well written mystery set in Oxford in 1974. Jennie herself is a really interesting character and I love the background. I didn't see most of the twists in the story and I didn't work out who the murderer was until very close to the end. There is no graphic violence or bad language so if you are tired of graphic violence and gritty settings then try this. I shall look forward to reading more in this series.
October 5, 2020
Fast paced and haunting
January 3, 2017
Sally Spencer's new series featuring private investigator Jennie Redhead is off to an auspicious start. The Shivering a Turn is a compelling mystery set against the rapidly changing culture of 1970s Oxford. I like Spencer's other novels, but I think The Shivering Turn is her best thus far. It does an excellent job of capturing the flavor of the time.
Jennie's investigation into the disappearance of a young woman leads her into the murky world of Oxford's privileged classes. Before her disappearance, Linda was spending time with members of an exclusive Oxford student club - The Shivering Turn. Money and connections make the young men practically unassailable, but Jennie is convinced they were involved and is determined to prove it.
Jennie is far from perfect, but she is principled and determined - part of the reason she is no longer part of the CID and is instead working as a PI. It is easy to admire her grit and integrity and equally easy to despise the protections enjoyed by the privileged classes and their casual disregard for those they see as lesser.
The Shivering Turn has appeal for both traditional mystery lovers and those who like mysteries set against the unique backdrop of Oxford. (Such as the Inspector Morse mysteries). I look forward to Sally Spencer's next novel.
5/5
I received a copy of The Shivering Turn from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Jennie's investigation into the disappearance of a young woman leads her into the murky world of Oxford's privileged classes. Before her disappearance, Linda was spending time with members of an exclusive Oxford student club - The Shivering Turn. Money and connections make the young men practically unassailable, but Jennie is convinced they were involved and is determined to prove it.
Jennie is far from perfect, but she is principled and determined - part of the reason she is no longer part of the CID and is instead working as a PI. It is easy to admire her grit and integrity and equally easy to despise the protections enjoyed by the privileged classes and their casual disregard for those they see as lesser.
The Shivering Turn has appeal for both traditional mystery lovers and those who like mysteries set against the unique backdrop of Oxford. (Such as the Inspector Morse mysteries). I look forward to Sally Spencer's next novel.
5/5
I received a copy of The Shivering Turn from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
November 9, 2016
I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for this ARC which I voluntarily reviewed.
What a brilliant start to what I hope will be a long series of books.
This is set in Oxford in 1974 and features ex-policewoman turned PI Jennie Redhead.
This book has everything you want in a thriller. It pulls you along at a cracking pace with great dialogue, characters you care about and plenty of twists and turns.
It certainly makes a pleasant change to read a book with no, or very little, bad language or gratuitous violence.
It was a genuine pleasure to read and I am eagerly awaiting Sally Spencer's next book.
What a brilliant start to what I hope will be a long series of books.
This is set in Oxford in 1974 and features ex-policewoman turned PI Jennie Redhead.
This book has everything you want in a thriller. It pulls you along at a cracking pace with great dialogue, characters you care about and plenty of twists and turns.
It certainly makes a pleasant change to read a book with no, or very little, bad language or gratuitous violence.
It was a genuine pleasure to read and I am eagerly awaiting Sally Spencer's next book.
February 10, 2018
3 1/2! I was reading a recommendation about this series on Kirkus, and thought I'd read the first one. A second one has been published. The series is about 29 year old private investigator Jennie Redhead. It's set in Oxford, England during the early 1970's. I quite liked Jennie. She's an English major from Oxford with not quite a first in English literature. That alone would have got my interest as there are many references to literature in this story. She was a police officer, but was asked to leave because she was trying to expose corruption in the top echelons of the police department. She decided to set up her own private detective agency. In this book. a distraught mother comes to Jennie to ask her to find her 17 year old daughter's body so that she can have a proper burial. As Jennie digs, she finds just what happened to this innocent girl, and she traces it all the way back to Oxford University itself, and into a posh literary club made up of priviliged upper class young males. She discovers some horrifying details, and as she tries to find justice for Linda, she steps on some pretty big upper class toes. I really liked Jennie. She was earthy, honest and a no-nonsence G&T drinking young woman who is very aware of the depravities that the human race can sink to. But I did find the mystery fairly easy to figure out, so that brought the book down from a 4 to a 3 1/2 for me. The other book in this series might be worth a read, just for Jennie's sake.
December 24, 2016
The Shivering Turn
A new series set in Oxford
by Sally Spencer
Severn House
Severn House Publishers
Mystery & Thrillers, General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date 01 Feb 2017
I am voluntarily reviewing The Shivering Turn through the publisher and Netgalley:
The Shivering Turn takes us to a spring day in 1974 when Mrs. Cobert's daughter.
It is May.08.1974, they are in Oxford England whenwhen Mary Cobert's walks into Private Investigator Jennie Redheads run down office, needing help finding her seventeen year old daughter who went missing, but the Police feel Linda is a run away so her Mother turns to Private Investigator Jennie Redheads for help.
She learns that Lindie wanted to be with doctor.
The only clues seem to be is sing Canvas bag, and an obscure 17th Century poem. As well as a book she hollowed out.
Crispin Hetherington is the President of the Shivering Turn Society, a small group. Crispin refuses to cooperate and answer questions about the missing man.
Will Jennie Redhead be able to find out what happened to Linda? Find out in The Shivering Tirn.
Five out of five stars.
Happy Reading
A new series set in Oxford
by Sally Spencer
Severn House
Severn House Publishers
Mystery & Thrillers, General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date 01 Feb 2017
I am voluntarily reviewing The Shivering Turn through the publisher and Netgalley:
The Shivering Turn takes us to a spring day in 1974 when Mrs. Cobert's daughter.
It is May.08.1974, they are in Oxford England whenwhen Mary Cobert's walks into Private Investigator Jennie Redheads run down office, needing help finding her seventeen year old daughter who went missing, but the Police feel Linda is a run away so her Mother turns to Private Investigator Jennie Redheads for help.
She learns that Lindie wanted to be with doctor.
The only clues seem to be is sing Canvas bag, and an obscure 17th Century poem. As well as a book she hollowed out.
Crispin Hetherington is the President of the Shivering Turn Society, a small group. Crispin refuses to cooperate and answer questions about the missing man.
Will Jennie Redhead be able to find out what happened to Linda? Find out in The Shivering Tirn.
Five out of five stars.
Happy Reading
May 23, 2019
A new series by a favorite British author, Sally Spencer (aka Alan Rustage). I've enjoyed the previous series and this one will be another favorite. I found it difficult to put down, but I was a tad bit put off by the ending which was a fascinating surprise. Sometimes a novel has a certain pleasant flow as the story unfolds -- and Spencer does that masterfully. However, the tempo suddenly changes at the very end which upsets the rhythm for me. This often happens in tv shows or novels where you think that the author has just decided, "I want to end this now. What shall I do to get myself out of this mess?" I am not suggesting this was the situation in The Shivering Turn, but the ending did seem slightly gratuitous. Otherwise, it was five stars all the way!
February 20, 2018
Jennie Redhead, not so recently of the local police department, is asked by a client to find her daughter, who has disappeared. At first Jennie - who is redheaded by nature as well as by name, investigates, and along with other people, comes to the conclusion that the girl, who was 17, had run away. But upon pleas from the mom, Jennie delves deeper in to the case, and finds layers of depravity under the surface of Oxford's undergrads.
Taking place in 1974, it gives a different picture of the daily life in Oxford's university town, the class structures that existed then (and may still exist.), plus the changes in technology! Currently reading the second book in the Jennie Redhead series, Dry Bones.
Taking place in 1974, it gives a different picture of the daily life in Oxford's university town, the class structures that existed then (and may still exist.), plus the changes in technology! Currently reading the second book in the Jennie Redhead series, Dry Bones.
February 2, 2018
Oxford P.I. Jennie Redhead doesn't want to take the case of the missing teenager. Linda's mother may be sure that her daughter is dead, but her policeman father is sure that Linda is a runaway, and he seems more stable and sensible. But Jennie is guilted into giving two days to the case, and soon discovers that the girl was going out with an Oxford student who is part of a mysterious society dedicated to the work of a poet who--Jennie finds out with a little research--doesn't exist. Did something happen to Linda at their meeting that caused her to flee Oxford? And how can Jennie find out what it was?
February 24, 2017
1974 Oxford and Mary Corbet hires Jennifer Redhead a private investigator to find her missing seventeen year old daughter. Redhead is not totally convinced that the girl has not just runaway but on finding a clue in her bedroom she seeks further information from a friend at the University.
I really enjoyed the story as it unfolded, a well-written tale with characters I look forward to seeing more of as the series develops.
A NetGalley Book
I really enjoyed the story as it unfolded, a well-written tale with characters I look forward to seeing more of as the series develops.
A NetGalley Book
July 31, 2017
Sally Spencer is always a peasure to read. This time, on top of plain good writing, I found the depiction of the importance of social class at Oxford quite compelling. I also enjoyed the fact that the investigation was not so much about finding the perpetrators of the crime (we learn who they are pretty soon in the book, with a final twist) and more on how to make them confess. That is a format that leaves room for better character development and I thoroughly enjoy that.
April 19, 2018
Less Holstine reviewed the second book in the Jennie Redhead series, and I thought I'd start with the first. The Shivering Turn seemingly is not the first, however, as reference is made to DCI Paniatowski, a series of its own, which in turn is a spin-off of the Woodend series.
Not sure that I shall try to work my way through from the beginning, but sampling some of the earlier books may be worthwhile.
Not sure that I shall try to work my way through from the beginning, but sampling some of the earlier books may be worthwhile.
October 4, 2022
Oxford, 1974. When seventeen-year-old Linda Corbet goes missing, the police dismiss her as an obvious runaway. Only Jennie Redhead, recently driven out of Oxford's police force, is prepared to dig deeper.
She suspects that something truly dark and depraved drove Linda from her beloved home and doting parents. Jennie's investigation leads her to a secret Oxford society and to a clandestine world of violence, excess and desire, hidden behind the city's dreaming spires.
She suspects that something truly dark and depraved drove Linda from her beloved home and doting parents. Jennie's investigation leads her to a secret Oxford society and to a clandestine world of violence, excess and desire, hidden behind the city's dreaming spires.
April 15, 2022
I enjoyed this first book in a new series introducing private investigator, Jennie Redhead. As Jennie investigates the disappearance of a seventeen year old girl, the story is set in the beautiful city of Oxford and one clue leads her to a secret Oxford society which seems related to the missing girl.
I look forward to reading book two in this series.
I look forward to reading book two in this series.
January 10, 2025
There's something dreadful about this book. Whether its the awful denouement, or the sympathy lavished on a terrible person, or the hurried wrap up, or whether its the editing in what could have been a decent book but has some very odd false starts and repeated bits, as if no editor saw it? Such a shame as there was potential.
March 4, 2018
After a slow start, the book turned out to be the beginning of what looks like a good series. Jennie Redhead, a former cop, is a private investigator. The case was fresh and Jennie was a good investigator.
March 16, 2024
This is the first book I've read by Spencer and she has several series! I enjoyed this because Jennie Redhead (who does have red hair) though a former dectective and now private investigator, also has a kind heart and a distinct sense of justice.
May 19, 2017
New series from a classic British procedural author...well worth reading even if this isn't your favorite genre!
October 12, 2017
The debut of Jennie Redhead, Oxford graduate turned police detective and turned again into private investigator, is a persuasive evocation of Britain in the swinging seventies.
July 7, 2018
Quite good. A detective story with an interestingly messed up P.I. in a town that every mystery fan only thinks she knows - Oxford. A mystery inside a mystery within a mystery.
October 14, 2018
Okay
Okay mystery, but the characters, especially the main character just didn't seen to connect with me very much. Probably won't read another in this series.
Okay mystery, but the characters, especially the main character just didn't seen to connect with me very much. Probably won't read another in this series.
March 1, 2019
GREAT writing, characters, and gripping movement. I do not recommend the book, however, for lifestyle choices of characters and the focus of the plot.
April 3, 2020
Horrible public school students
April 9, 2024
Last of excellent series
Read
May 16, 2024DNF
September 3, 2024
Loved it. A crime mystery set in Oxford. What's not to love.
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