Hope Against Hope

Trevellyan & Hope #1

by Susan B. Kelly

When someone murders Aidan Hope in his hotel room, suspicion falls on his cousin Alison, a successful businesswoman who stood to inherit sole ownership of the family business, and who has no alibi. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Susan B. Kelley was born in the Chilterns and grew up in Oxford. After reading French and English at London University, she worked as a freelance computer programmer for many years. She is now a full-time writer and lives in West London with her solicitor husband and cat.

She is the creator of:
1. 'Alison Hope and Nick Trevellyan', a businesswoman and a Detective Inspector.
2. 'Gregory Summers', Superintendent of the Newbury police force.

Source: http://www.xs4all.nl/~embden11/Engels...

Reviews

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: hope is in good supply! Aidan Hope is killed with an ashtray and his cousin Alison Hope is accused. They had been partners.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade A (3.75)

[Anon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Allison Hope has hope in Nick Trevellyan but not Aidan Hope, well he's dead but poor lad (okay I thought writing a joke involving the book title and a character would go smoothly but maybe I'm against hope as well). I randomly brought this book at a library donation event and well, it's just okay. Let's get some of the negatives out of the way first. A somewhat predictable crime and mystery book. Halfway through reading it, I already figured out the murderer. Motive and suspect pretty much will click in your head after learning information about all the main and re-occurring characters . They try to throw some red herrings but it's not probable enough to believe in those red herrings after now reading several mystery novels. Now for some positives! The book cover is stunning. Wait there's more! I actually thought it was a promising plot line. It flowed very well and the character dynamics are really well done. There is some pretty comedic moments that happen and that is why I didn't quite drag this down to my original score of a 2/5. Kelly has some pretty witty writing and there are a couple of twists(?) towards the end of the book that quite shocked me a bit. I believe there is another sequel that follows Detective Trevellyan and his new adventure but I'm afraid I have no "hope" to read the next one.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aidan Hope is bludgeoned to death in his hotel room in the hamlet of Little Hopford. The prime suspect is Alison Hope, the victim's cousin, a brash, beautiful, wealthy businesswoman who inherits sole ownership of a lucrative software business. Alison maintains she bought Aidan out years ago. So why had Aidan suddenly appeared to claim his rights and his money?

Fighting his growing desire for the red-headed Alison, Detective Inspector Nick Trevellyan undertakes the investigation. Alison has no alibi ... and every reason to have killed her cousin. She can't prove she bought him out. But as Aidan's unscrupulous past comes to light, and a second body turns up, Trevellyan begins to hope that Alison is innocent ... although that may mean she'll be the next to die.

An enjoyable investigation with a touch of romance.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Hoped For Something More!

The title of this book originates with the murder at the center of this mystery novel. Aidan Hope is found bludgeoned to death by a heavy glass ashtray in his bed and breakfast room. His cousin, and former partner in a software firm, Alison Hope, is accused of the murder. (Thus, Hope vs. Hope).

One of the fun things with the book is that it is set in England and is full of British-isms, such as the phrase "Sod you!" which must be about the same as "Screw you!" The mystery itself is not too bad, but the editing job was at times heavy-handed. At times, there is almost an excess of detail. But, at others, it feels like entire scenes have been cut to shorten the book. A smaller font would have been much more preferable to butchering the text.

My final grade is "3 stars", mostly due to poor editing and my irritation at it.

http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/

[Stephanie Whittle]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14196833