One-way Tickets

A Case For Willows And Lane #2

by Peter Grainger

When a local man, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, goes missing, his parents have good reason to be concerned. Emily Willows is a friend of the family and says that she knows just the person to find him – and, as Summer Lane soon points out, the fact that this also fits in with Emily’s plan to set up her very own detective agency is surely just a fortuitous coincidence. But it isn’t long before the former detective inspector finds herself on a train heading back to London, and back into situations that she thought she had left behind. Some old acquaintances are renewed and some difficult memories must be confronted as Lane searches for the missing soldier and discovers the shocking truth about what happened to him five years earlier.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Thriller, Suspense

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2018

About the author

A British author, the writer Peter Grainger is a well known novelist of mystery fiction, largely focused on detective lead investigations. This his been the prime focus for much of his career, as he takes much of his inspiration from that of other infamous British detectives, such as Inspector Morse. The influence is clearly evident here, as he brings his own detective, DC Smith, to life, along with other books as well. Setting his mysteries firmly within the world of British detective fiction it is clear where his tastes lie as an author of his increasingly popular stories, stories that only increase in popularity as time goes on.

Reviews

[Laur]

3.5 Stars
The character Lane is mostly acting solo in this case, which was slightly disappointing since Emily Willows was hugely apart of the 1st in series which produced great chemistry with this pair’s relationship in a critical situation.

The plot was still an interesting one, but not quite as good as #1 missing the nonstop roller coaster thrills.

Henrietta Meire is brilliant as the narrator.

[Mike Finn]

'One-Way Tickets' was a slightly disappointing book. Parts of it really shine but I was left with the feeling of having read something that, with another few passes to tighten up the narrative and round out a couple of the characters, could have been a very strong novel.

The first book in this series 'Lane' was a tense, action-packed story that was enriched by having two very different women, Willows and Lane, having to find a way to work together to survive.

'One-Way Tickets' picks up the story of these two women but in a tentative way, as if Peter Grainger couldn't quite decide what to do with them now that the threat to their lives has passed. This might have come off as a realistic post-adrenalin-rush kind of reaction if the writing had been sharper but I found the use of shifting points of view distracting. It kept me at arms-length from the characters and made me feel that I was reading an outline rather than a novel.

Everything changed for the better once Lane got to London. The emotional focus was clearly on her and it was amplified by the similarities between the trauma in Lane's past and in the past of the man she set out to find. Her search for the missing man worked well, building both the tension and my understanding of who Lane had been before an unlooked-for change in her life had taken her out of the Met and into a quiet cottage in a small Cornish village.

The best scenes in the book where the confrontation between Lane and the gang threatening the family the man she was searching for has come to London to protect. The action scenes worked and there was just the right amount of 'waiting-anxiously-for-something-bad-to-happen' time to allow backstories to be shared and bonds to be built. The trauma in the young ex-soldier's life was shared with empathy and care, putting the emphasis on the emotional impact while not backing off from sharing the gruesome details.

What disappointed me were the things that were left hanging: I'd like to have seen more of the ex-soldier whose family was under threat. He is introduced in a way that piqued my interest and then gets side-lined by the plot and disappears. In a similar way, it felt as if the links back to Willows in Cornwall were a necessary conceit to keep this story as part of a 'Willows and Lane' series but that Peter Grainger really wanted to focus only on Lane and the ex-soldier she was sent to find.

If I hadn't read anything else by Peter Grainger, I'd have marked 'One-Way Tickets' as an interesting read written by a writer with potential, but the other books I've read by him make 'One-Way Tickets' seem incomplete - something more than a sketch but less than a completed painting.

Still, I had a good enough time that I'm going to read the third and final book in the series: 'Arcadia'.

[Cindy Rollins]

Not my favorite Grainger but not horrible either.

[Kathy]

This author imagines characters I find it easy to care about. I had forgotten about Lane and her widowed neighbor Willows introduced about a year ago, so I was happy to discover this second book of the series. It was particularly soothing after having read several dreadful books in a row.
I confess I had to download the first book from last year to remind myself of the circumstances that brought Willows and Lane together. The action in this book takes Lane back to London due to a connection of Willows who needed help in finding a son, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan and came back home a troubled man. A complex web of criminals awaits her special handling.

[Cheryl]

I enjoyed the first book in the series so much I thought I would jump right into the second one straight away.

The stories are a bit miss marple/Thursday murder club except one is a retired professional and one is an amateur. The amateur is apparently middle aged but as I listened to the book on Audible the narrator made the woman sound older than she was and so in my head I pictured a 60 year old.

We begin with Lane & Willows and I love the way they interact with each other. Sadly though most of this book was more Lane than Willows (more ex cop than old lady) which was a shame as I like the relationship between the two unlikely friends. Once again Lane is all action which is good but the main storyline here felt more gritty and more realistic and hence more serious.

It’s still good, there is still much going on and the author writes really well, and keeps a decent pace going so you wouldn’t be bored reading this but I just wanted more Willows & Lane in a book called Willows & Lane.

[Julia Buckley]

Loved it! Can't get enough of this series.

[Helen Ahern]

Willows and Lane (2)

A definite improvement on the first of this new series although anything by Peter Grainger will be in my favourites. This one is mostly Lane and a new character that I can see maybe being part of the team.

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd]

Another excellent crime thriller

My second read in the Willows and Lane series. I’m not usually one for gritty crime but Grainger’s is an exception. I follow him into the mind of his main character, Summer Lane (yeah, kind of hokey but that’s where any hokeyness ends), and live the adventure. This one centers on London, the seedy area of Camden. Gangs and racism, and overarching all, the story of a few British soldiers in Afghanistan. I skipped the gruesome parts, I usually avoid war novels.
For those who love crime thrillers, I would recommend Grainger. Especially if you love crime thrillers as exemplified by Britbox series. Grainger puts on the page what we see on the screen, the advantage being that we can create our own scenes in our head, slow the action down, devour it at our own pace.
My one disappointment is that Emily Willows plays only a very minor part in this book; Emily is my alter ego, the older woman with time on her hands, learning about a whole different world from the younger Lane. Still, from the way that Grainger is positioning Emily, I have the feeling I will see Emily develop into a kind of modern Miss Marple in the next few books. Can’t wait.

[Antigone Walsh]

Although I really enjoyed the first novel featuring Willows and Lane, I found this one disappointing. wealthy widow Emily Willows is trying to convince ex-cop Summer Lane to join her in establishing a private detective's agency. Lane still has hopes of returning to a police force somewhere somehow. but still, she agrees to look into the case of a missing possibly suicidal veteran. Lane tracks him to her old hunting grounds in London. there she becomes embroiled in a conflict with a ruthless gang.

This novel was okay. It is relatively fast paced. I didn't find the plot especially riveting. there was very little of Willows: this was Lane's show. Too bad because it was pretty much a generic tough girl and guys fight bad guys. Willows Adds dimension and a much-needed softness. She is older but intelligent and resourceful. Hope the next in the series is better.

[Nilesh Jasani]

For someone who has generally enjoyed almost every book by the author, this one was disappointing. It does not matter that the story was effectively about only one protagonist and centered around one encounter. Even with likeable characters in need of a rescue, the scenes appear incredibly stretched. With the author, one knows it is never about the action itself, but the underlying human drama, but even there, there is a lot lacking.

[François]

For me personally, Lane and Willows lacks the unifying presence of Grainger’s wise, contemplative, non-violent DC Smith.
Lane’s past and her current personality are both unbelievable. Willows is a caricature of an English cosseted, pie baking old lady
DNF due to boredom and scenes of misery.

[Virginia B]

Second Willows and Lane, as in the DC books, you-are-there written, the main character, formerly in the police, and missing the action, jumps onto this new challenge, along with others in the same boat.

[Gregoire]

Intéressant pour le traitement du syndrome post traumatique dont souffrent les anciens soldats mais pas seulement

nota : lire la série dans l'ordre M. GRAINGER faisant évoluer ses personnages ...

[Gail Radka]

Great second book, characters building new people coming in, good interesting storyline. I loved it, my only criticism is not enough Emily….

[Pat K]

2nd i. The Willow and Lane series. I love thecharacters. The stories start a little slowly then build into something you can’t put down.

[Mary]

Willows & Lane Thumbs up

I read all Peter Grainger's DC Smith books, and I love that he fleshes out his good mysteries with compelling characters. I was sorry to see DC go; looking forward to more Willows & Lane.

[Annette]

This series is Peter Grainger "lite" -- not quite cozy mystery but more homespun than the Kings Lake crew. Emily Willows is over-played as somewhat of a silly woman in this story, which doesn't ring true after her stoic endurance of the harrowing experiences she had in the first installment, "Lane". Lane is a well-formed and believable character though the set-up with a potential love interest (for the next story?) is tiresome and obvious. It's a bit of a leap from the Kings Lake series to this one, and I think I'm at the end of it with this first-two-novels outing of the Willows and Lane team.

[Victoria Taveras]

I'm so sad I didn't like this book. The first one was just ok but at least the pace was better. I think my problem, like I read in another review, is there wasn't enough Willow. Lane is too brooding and unlikable to me and this story was so slow paced I checked out and only finished it out of respect for Peter Grainger but I don't think I'll revisit this series. I'm done

[Tammi Stuhldreher]

Good, solid read. I feel like this series is starting slow and building the characters slowly. The actual thriller/mystery in this one was almost forgettable, it felt like an introduction to another story that never happened. I'll probably continue this series as I really like the characters but hope future books include an actual storyline/crime/mystery/something...

[Laura]

For some reason, these Willow and Lane books remind me of Mrs. Pollifax.

[Susann]

Sorry, I can't stand this series.

Struggled through the first one. Gave up on this. Emily again and a stupid plot cobbled together. Too bad. His other two series were suoerb.

[Kris Matlack]

amazing book with an important message

Peter Grainger , already skilled and popular with his readers , really matures as a writer w this book .
A page -turning plot is no surprise , but the characters will amaze the reader . “DC “Smith is already a wonderful Detective character in his other books .In the 2nd volume in this new series he has hit a gold vein . Ex -DI and Met copper Summer Lane is a great character .
So is Emily Willows as an upcoming modern tough Miss Marple who puts an end to Summer’s boredom problem since leaving the Met due to severe injuries on the job.

But in creating Nick Pascoe who served with British forces in Afghanistan , Grainger has done us all a service . He explains the returning combat veteran’s terrible cross to bear of PTSD better than any book or medical paper I have ever read, and I’m a doctor married to a Viet Nam veteran.
Up to 44 veterans a day kill themselves in the US -twice the official VA estimate .
This book explains why .

In the USA veterans just don’t get the help they need .
Some , like Nick Pascoe , are unable to tell their full stories . Some never get to the VA because they need regular medical help first.
However, the VA no longer offers free care unless one’s condition was caused by events during one’s service . That is breaking the promise made when the VA was founded. The 2 billion dollar expense of our US election process should have been spent to modernize the VA . The VA is not staffed or organized to do the job well .
As of Dec 2024 , Trump’s pick to head the VA is a chaplain , and Trump’s announcement said
“ Active serving” Armed forces personnel are to be the focus of the VA . He is abandoning combat veterans, and the public has no idea how this will affect the now living 16 million veterans who have nowhere to go for help . Paper case files are stacked on desks at the VA - it is not even computerized .

I hope the British Government is doing a better job for their veterans returning to a complicated society packed onto a small island .

This book is a Brilliant work to shine a light on the US government’s humanitarian failure to care for these people as they were once promised. It is not honorable.

Peter Grainger deserves a special prize for this book .
Therapists , spouses , and families of veterans should read it .
I hope he keeps writing .

[L. Whitt]

5+ weepy stars. The relationship between Emily and Lane is tenuous in the beginning, and Lane wants no part of starting a new detective agency with her bored neighbor. However, another adventure begins when Lane gets begrudgingly sucked into a disappearance of the nephew of a friend of Emily Willows. The legwork is beautifully and meticulously (as always) laid out by Grainger, although this book also goes DEEP into the psychology of PTSD and the enormous costs that PTSD survivors face. It also addresses the fact that PTSD, from which both of the two main characters suffer, can be suffered by individuals both inside and outside of the war zones.

This story focuses almost exclusively on Lane’s effort to locate Nick Pascoe, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who has gone missing. His parents have good reason to be concerned as Nick had suffered terrible PTSD, lost his family and had tried once to take his own life. As Goodreads reviewer Kris Matlack notes, “in creating Nick Pascoe who served with British forces in Afghanistan , Grainger has done us all a service . He explains the returning combat veteran’s terrible cross to bear of PTSD better than any book or medical paper I have ever read… Up to 44 veterans a day kill themselves in the US -twice the official VA estimate. This book explains why. In the USA veterans just don’t get the help they need. Some, like Nick Pascoe, are unable to tell their full stories. Some never get to the VA because they need regular medical help first.”

We finally learn the entirety of the horror that Nick endured in Afghanistan, and I had to sit down and weep through the retelling. Having served in Afghanistan, and lost friends and colleagues there, this one hit me hard. In fact, I’m tearing up right now just writing this review. He lays out the aimlessness and isolation that a warrior (both Lane and Pascoe) suffers when cut off from their former tight knit teams and the weight of making decisions based on grief and morals, not just instructions from above.

[Guy Wheatley]

I read a review before reading the book that gave some good advise. Check out the glossary for a list of characters and terms. You’ll need to know a lot of acronyms.
This is a police procedural. As it takes place in a Country I haven’t been to since I was in grade school, and I’m not familiar with their laws, I can’t comment of the authenticity. It did seem plausible to me though.
This seems to be at least the second in a series as the protagonists,Thomas Ritter, comes to the plot with a lot of baggage. His former boss is apparently going down for some malfeasance. We get the impression he may have done the wrong (illegal) thing for the right reason. He saved our protagonist by making it look as thought he snitched on him. The former bosses last move was too have Ritter transferred. But there must be more to it than that. Ritter makes it clear to the reader that he is playing a role. I never was completely sure why that was. It seems that Ritter is on a mission, but I never was clear what that mission was.
Ritter is the typical good cop on the street, trying to do his job despite interference from the political animals higher in the department.
It was a good story with a lot of action and suspense. I did find the dialogue hard to follow sometimes. I often got confused about who was saying something, or whether the phrase was just a thought never spoken.

[Mark Robison]

The author reminds me of my relationship with indie rock bands: he puts out good stuff that I thoroughly enjoy, he's never going to do something extreme that garners attention from hipsters, he's never going to create a best-seller — and that's all right. For the crime fiction fans who stumble upon him, he can be your little secret.

The author is clearly not worried too much about following expectations. He has two very different women who come together in the first book now setting up a sort-of detective agency — and he forgets about one of them for three-quarters of the book and doesn't even have her show up at the end with something crucial that saves the day. He truly tosses her out of the story without a second thought.

The plot involves a young man who buys a one-way ticket and disappears. His family is worried about him because he's an ex-soldier with PTSD who once tried suicide. A reluctant private detective travels to London to track him down.

The action is persistent but laid back in a Graham Greene kind of way (without the Catholicism). The societal angst about soldiers finding it hard to readjust to civilian life is handled thoughtfully without interfering with the action.

I liked spending time in Lane's world and look forward to Willows maybe showing up in Book 3.

3.5 stars rounded up.

[Tuesdayschild]

3-* (audiobook, narrated by Henrietta Meire)
It’s hard not to compare the characters, and the narrator, in One-Way Tickets to those in the D.C. Smith series narrated by Gildart Jackson. D.C. Smith is much better.
While the narrator was okay in One-Way Tickets , I do find her a bit difficult to listen to and so that affected my take on the story from the get-go. I haven’t listened to the beginning title, Lane, in the series, I just jumped straight in here – Grainger gives enough detail about prior events for me not to feel like I need to back up and read that first book.
The storyline is interesting enough for me to want to READ the next in the series.

Extra: A few f-bombs. General profanity, and, using Christ as a swear word.
This book touches on quite a few current times issues such as;
a lesbian with a younger jealous lover,
PTSD in soldiers returned from Afghanistan, and, in ‘retired’ Police Officers,
torture ‘administered’ by the Taliban on a British Army Captain,
fake weed and gangs,
the struggle to find the correct term for African Brits, and, the topic of those that are bi-racial choosing to ‘pass as white’.

[Nancy Brown]

Detective Agency for Willows, Maybe Lane

These women are both dynamos in their own way and when Emily Willows gets it in her stubborn head that they need to open a Detective agency because they both need to keep busy, Lane says No about 50 times, Willows goes out and gets their first client and has Lane hooked before she can say no one more time. Searching for a missing man with a history of 11 years of service to his country. He has a good job, home, family that love him. What would make him leave so abruptly? I love the writing of Mr Grainger. He writes as if he has recorded and seen every detail of human suffering during war, gang intimidation and violence, immigrants dilemma of attempting to integrate in their new communities unsuccessfully due to prejudice. I have now read everything he is written and hope to see more from these women and DC Smith books. Lane has to confront war buddies, gang members and their boss, help immigrants escape!! Read this book second to get how the bonding occurred with these 2 women in the first book called Lane.

[Jeni]

Although I realized that switching gears between DC Smith, the Kings Lake series, (which I really, really enjoy) and this one focused on two women would be different, I am not sure I can continue the series. I don’t know why it is called the “Willows and Lane” series, since Willows is confined to a stereotypical old-ish woman and Lane is by far the main character. I had hoped that Emily Willows would somehow show that she has some value or talent that would contribute toward the detective agency she is trying to start, but she continues to just wring her hands and complain that Lane doesn’t tell her enough. Well, dearie, why would she when she gets her knickers in a twist over everything?

While Lane is a wounded loner with extraordinary skills (both mental and physical), she needs a balance. So far, Emily is not it. Lane’s human side is being slowly revealed, but unless Emily is going to develop into more than a tea maker and receptionist, I don’t see much of a future for this series.

[Tj]

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one grabs and holds your attention to the very end.

Emily Willows is bored. She is a middle-aged widow with too much time on her hands. She is convinced she and Lane can start a PI agency, and she has found their first case. A friends son is missing, and Emily thinks she and Summer Lane can "solve" the case.

Lane doesn't want to go into the PI business. She points out the all paperwork and legalities involved, however, she does agree to meet with Emily's friends. After speaking with the couple, she goes to London to look for their son. He is an army vet with PTSD. Thus begins the wild ride of One-way Tickets.

Lane impresses in the first book but even more so in this one. If you like action packed books with strong female characters, who are practical, sharp and focused on what has to be done without being overly sentimental, then give this one a try.

I look forward to another book in this series.

[Jean]

This is the 2nd in the Willows and Lane series. Summer Lane retired from the Met in her thirties due to injury in the line of duty has moved to Cornwall to recover. Summer is a woman of mystery and has rebuffed all efforts of her neighbor, Emily Willows, to learn her back story. Emily is a middle aged widow, slightly bored but quite bright. Emily wants to set up a detective business with Summer to show her appreciation for Summer saving her life in “Lane”, the first in this series. Totally not interested, Lane nevertheless agrees to try and find a former soldier who has left home mysteriously. His parents are friends of Emily and have asked for her help. Lane agrees to try and track Nick and see what she can learn which leads to London where she finds him in “a spot of bother”. Fun, fast paced Lane is a formidable protagonist! Not sure how I feel about Emily at this point, she is definitely a pussy cat to Lane’s tiger and we will see how she progresses in future stories.