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Blind Date
Detective Elisabeth Kennedy, clawing her way back from a brutal acid attack, hunts her quarry through a London teeming with malefactors, in a mystery by a British author acclaimed by the likes of P. D. James and A. N. Wilson. Tour.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
15 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Frances Fyfield
82 books65 followersAka Frances Hegarty.
Frances Fyfield is a criminal lawyer, who lives in London and in Deal, by the sea which is her passion. She has won several awards, including the CWA Silver Dagger.
She grew up in rural Derbyshire, but spent most of her adult life in London, with long intervals in Norfolk and Deal, all inspiring places. She was educated mostly in convent schools; then studied English at Newcastle University and went on to qualify as a solicitor, working for what is now the Crown Prosecution Service, thus learning a bit about murder at second hand. She also worked for the Metropolitan Police.
Years later, writing became her real vocation. She also writes short stories for magazines and radio and is occasionally a contributor to Radio 4, (Front Row, Quote Unquote, Night Waves,) and presenter of Tales from the Stave.
Frances Fyfield is a criminal lawyer, who lives in London and in Deal, by the sea which is her passion. She has won several awards, including the CWA Silver Dagger.
She grew up in rural Derbyshire, but spent most of her adult life in London, with long intervals in Norfolk and Deal, all inspiring places. She was educated mostly in convent schools; then studied English at Newcastle University and went on to qualify as a solicitor, working for what is now the Crown Prosecution Service, thus learning a bit about murder at second hand. She also worked for the Metropolitan Police.
Years later, writing became her real vocation. She also writes short stories for magazines and radio and is occasionally a contributor to Radio 4, (Front Row, Quote Unquote, Night Waves,) and presenter of Tales from the Stave.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 1, 2014
I've had mixed results with Fyfield's novels. When @ her best, as in Gold Digger, I rate her as one of the best novelists writing. But when she's not quite got it together, as in Without Consent or The Art of Drowning, her books are never a waste of time but neither inspiring nor worthwhile. So much depends upon her principal characters: a Di Quigley or Sarah Fortune (or both together as in Casting the First Stone) will haunt you long after you finish. Unfortunately Elizabeth Kennedy's not quite in that class & I felt the qualities that made her special were accidentals rather than part of her essence: she's vulnerable, she's been used & abused, she lives in a bell tower. (Like all of Fyfield's sympathetic characters, she relates well to children but I fear that's not a quality I possess in real life enough of to appreciate.)
Very often in Fyfield I feel the narrative jumps about too much. If you're a Booker prize judge you call that transgressive postmodernity; if you're me it's called incompetence & jerking the reader about - hence my love-hate relationship with Sophie Hannah's books. With Blind Date I sensed lots of change of directions & hence loose ends. Some examples:
1. What was the meaning of the clock hands? Having them set @ 10 to 3 like the best known church clock in English poetry felt it ought to be some kind of a clue but Rupert Brooke's poem is not even quoted. Did Fyfield originally intend something then drop it?
2. The American: lots of otherwise good English novelists do spectacularly bad Americans who talk like hillbillies, dress like clowns & are wholly ignorant of proper manners. But I'd think the sort of American (I suspect amongst English people they're referred to as 'nice Americans' when out of earshot) who would be interested in living in a Georgian house in Dorset would be of the sort who dress in tweeds, wear shoes made in Norwich (not the one in Connecticut), & try to modulate their Transatlantic vowels. Not like this character. I wish Fyfield's books were more popular on this side of the pond, but if this is what she thinks of us Yanks . . .
3. Much of the story has to do with something missing, but after all the to do not much is done with it. I always find McGuffin's very frustrating.
I thought the villains were quite good but that Fyfield didn't quite know what to do with them.
Very often in Fyfield I feel the narrative jumps about too much. If you're a Booker prize judge you call that transgressive postmodernity; if you're me it's called incompetence & jerking the reader about - hence my love-hate relationship with Sophie Hannah's books. With Blind Date I sensed lots of change of directions & hence loose ends. Some examples:
1. What was the meaning of the clock hands? Having them set @ 10 to 3 like the best known church clock in English poetry felt it ought to be some kind of a clue but Rupert Brooke's poem is not even quoted. Did Fyfield originally intend something then drop it?
2. The American: lots of otherwise good English novelists do spectacularly bad Americans who talk like hillbillies, dress like clowns & are wholly ignorant of proper manners. But I'd think the sort of American (I suspect amongst English people they're referred to as 'nice Americans' when out of earshot) who would be interested in living in a Georgian house in Dorset would be of the sort who dress in tweeds, wear shoes made in Norwich (not the one in Connecticut), & try to modulate their Transatlantic vowels. Not like this character. I wish Fyfield's books were more popular on this side of the pond, but if this is what she thinks of us Yanks . . .
3. Much of the story has to do with something missing, but after all the to do not much is done with it. I always find McGuffin's very frustrating.
I thought the villains were quite good but that Fyfield didn't quite know what to do with them.
June 24, 2016
I've had this book on my bookshelf for quite awhile now, but I've wanted to try Frances Fyfield just as long. This book was a bit of a slow build. It took me awhile to get used to the characters; who was Joe, or John or Jack??? But I'm glad I took the time to get used to the story. It starts off with the violent murder of Elizabeth Kennedy's sister. You realize that something also happened to Elizabeth at a later date. Was it due to her drunkenness at the time or something else. It was interesting watching the plot develop, to get to understand the connections between the various characters and to gain an understanding of what actually happened. It builds so nicely, the tension increasing, the story clearing up and the ultimate, very satisfying, conclusion. Discovering how and why everything happened was nicely presented. It was a true gem, this story. I grew to like Elizabeth and Joe very much. I even liked the very ending, how the letter that Elizabeth's mother is writing might possibly completely resolve the first murder. Give it a try.
February 5, 2013
I thought the writing was choppy and the story line hard to follow until about half-way through. I almost didn't finish it because of that and the fact that I couldn't get a handle on the characters. There was a complicated back story for the main character, Elisabeth, which was kept rather vague and I was confused about how Joe came to be involved in her life. Also, Joe's friends were difficult to keep straight.
Once a lot of these things became clearer, I began to enjoy the book and I'm glad I finished it. I just think it could have been so much better if the author had been more deliberate in fashioning the plot and identifying the characters.
Once a lot of these things became clearer, I began to enjoy the book and I'm glad I finished it. I just think it could have been so much better if the author had been more deliberate in fashioning the plot and identifying the characters.
October 12, 2016
Honestly, I don't remember much about it except that I read this in May of 2006 and really enjoyed it.
March 28, 2025
This is a very complex story, very cleverly written. Fyfield interweaves multiple strands, and a large cast, to the extent that I was halfway through the book before I got a sense of what was going on; from that point the denouement is looming, intimidating and inevitable - and the ending relatively satisfying.
The one American character was totally unconvincing.
The one American character was totally unconvincing.
July 14, 2016
The premise of the novel sounded good... However, the writing was less than stellar - choppy and hard to follow.
December 20, 2021
Took me a while to get into this as the writing style was choppy, and I found it difficult to keep track of some of the male characters, almost gave up on it, but glad I struck with it as it did improve. Elisabeth Kennedy, is the main character, a prickly ex police detective who is haunted by trying to find her younger sister’s murderer. She was a victim of a terrible attack so is physically and emotionally scarred. Joe, a photographer is attracted to her, vulnerable as she is, and tries to help her as well as helping to find her sister’s killer.
November 12, 2020
I found it a bit hard to follow sometimes. It didn’t have good flow. I really liked Joe and Elizabeth’s little thing going on, they’re perfect for each other. Thought it was cool that she lived in the tower of the church, I think it suits her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2019
Possibly an ok story hidden in there somewhere but I found the writing style to be utterly bizarre
May 23, 2022
Unexpected ending!!!!!!
August 9, 2025
by the time I realised this wasn't going to get any better I had to finish it anyway as I was too far in. I couldn't make head nor tail of this - possibly one of the worst books I've ever read.
July 3, 2014
I have not read any other work by Frances Fyfield, however I did watch and enjoy the TV series of the Helen West Casebook, which was based on her Helen West books. I picked up this book because it was a selection for this month for the Kindle English Mystery Club on Goodreads.
I liked a lot about this book, the characters of Elisabeth Kennedy and Joe, were interesting in themselves and as a relationship. The villain(s) twisted relationship revealed over time was intriguing and well done. I found the setting, Elisabeth’s church tower apartment well done (and it is an important part of the story). The psychology of Elisabeth, the relationship between her and her mother, sister, and nephew is well done.
The mystery has more of psychological thriller feel to it than any other sub genre of mystery. The pacing was well suited to this type of mystery.
The issue I had with this book was with character development. I didn’t really get a sense of Joe’s back story and I had trouble keeping his friends straight because they were not well defined enough. I didn’t even understand entirely the idealization of Elisabeth’s sister, unless that was just some post-mortem “don’t speak ill of the dead” kind of thing but it seemed like an ongoing aspect of their relationship. Even Joe realized that the story of Emma was too good to be true. On the plus side, by eliminating some back story and character development, the pacing is accelerated. This is fast moving and a quick read.
Overall, I did enjoy this and would read another book by Frances Fyfield.
I liked a lot about this book, the characters of Elisabeth Kennedy and Joe, were interesting in themselves and as a relationship. The villain(s) twisted relationship revealed over time was intriguing and well done. I found the setting, Elisabeth’s church tower apartment well done (and it is an important part of the story). The psychology of Elisabeth, the relationship between her and her mother, sister, and nephew is well done.
The mystery has more of psychological thriller feel to it than any other sub genre of mystery. The pacing was well suited to this type of mystery.
The issue I had with this book was with character development. I didn’t really get a sense of Joe’s back story and I had trouble keeping his friends straight because they were not well defined enough. I didn’t even understand entirely the idealization of Elisabeth’s sister, unless that was just some post-mortem “don’t speak ill of the dead” kind of thing but it seemed like an ongoing aspect of their relationship. Even Joe realized that the story of Emma was too good to be true. On the plus side, by eliminating some back story and character development, the pacing is accelerated. This is fast moving and a quick read.
Overall, I did enjoy this and would read another book by Frances Fyfield.
June 6, 2009
This book is written much later than the Helen West books and is a stand-alone rather than part of a series. I found it confusing and never could form an image of the main male character, Joe. It was interesting to compare this to the two Helen West books that I just read. I have one more recent book by this author to read before I'm out of her stuff for now. I hope I like the next one more.
February 26, 2011
This is the first book I read by this author. When starting, I thought it would be another of those romantic shallow novels that I dislike. But it wasn't. Yeah romance comes in, and it's more or less the focus of the book, but it's not the love in se, it's about the search for love, and the lack of love from people resulting in a hate big enough to kill someone...
January 3, 2016
Convoluted and the characters difficult to get a grasp of to start with, and difficult to like too. Had a more old-fashioned feel than others of hers. I think the John Mortimer quote on the front - 'Her most ambitious book ... once you're in its grip its irresistible' is spot-on - perhaps over-ambitious? I'd need to re-read to fully appreciate all its workings-out.
March 14, 2011
Frances Fyfield characters are always flawed and this book was no different. Elisabeth's sister had been murdered and she hunted down the murderer and this leaves her haunted. I will never ever go on a blind date. Interesting ending.
August 3, 2015
I listened to the audio book version of this, and it wasn't broken up very well as it switched between characters, which was often. It was very mystery with very few clues and very British stiff upper lip.
August 15, 2010
ça ressemble un peu à un Hitchcock style "l'ombre d'un doute". ça commence donc bizarrement par rapport à un polar classique. mais plutôt pas mal.
April 28, 2011
I like Frances Fyfield. This was a good one
January 13, 2012
This was okay. Not my usual fare, and not a must see to others she has written, but not bad.
July 1, 2013
I like a good chalenge, and this book was one. The writing was a little opaque, but not so much as to discourage the reading. I loved the strong characters.
July 17, 2016
I like her blend of psycho creepy and procedure...
July 6, 2016
ok, but difficult to read, I didn't complete this.
December 26, 2023
( Biblioteca )
October 21, 2011
It was a free book. It was pretty bad.
January 23, 2017
I really tried but in the end I gave up. Too many characters to keep track of and just when I was getting into a thread, the story would skip to another character /storyline.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews