Simeon's Bride

Michael McKenna #1

by Alison G. Taylor

Three distinctly different Welsh policemen share one common dilemma--a mysterious death without a clue. Was the dead woman the victim of a political execution or something even more sinister? What they discover is a 200-yeer-old puzzle that adds up to murder, and a conspiracy of silence that haunts the town of Gallows Cottage to this day. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Fiction, British Literature

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 31, 1995

About the author

Alison Taylor never intended to be a crime writer. In 1986 she was working as a senior social worker for the former Gwynedd County Council. Increasingly disturbed by reports of the alleged abuse of children in care, she took her concerns to the police. As a result she was fired. What her actions have helped to expose is one of Britain's worst scandals of institutionalised physical and sexual abuse in children's homes in North Wales. Because of the extent and nature of the allegations, in 1996 the government took the rare step of ordering a Tribunal of Inquiry, which began hearing evidence in January 1997, and is due to report this year. Alison Taylor won two national awards for her selfless work in this area; the first Community Care Readers Award, and the Campaign for Freedom of Information Award in 1996. Disillusioned by the prospect of returning to social work, Alison concentrated on writing. Her first novel Simeon's Bride evolved from a short story written for a national competition and was published in 1995. It won her outstanding critical acclaim and comparisons to PD James and Ruth Rendell. Her second novel In Guilty Night was a compelling story containing the controversial issue of child abuse. And most recently, The House of Women was published in 1998, again to widespread acclaim from the media. A television series featuring Superintendent Michael McKenna is currently under negotiation.

Alison Taylor has a son and a daughter, and has lived in north Wales for many years. Her interests include baroque and classical music, art and riding.

Reviews

[Trina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this arc from Netgalley.

Unfortunately this book suffers from detail overload. Long drawn out unnecessary descriptions, thoughts, etc. I found myself constantly checking to see how far away I was from finishing this book. I can't see myself reading anything else by this author.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok. taylor's writing style is great - very descriptive. but i didn't really identify with many of the characters; they were always sniping at one another and it got on my nerves. how could they work together if all they did was bicker? in addition, at the end of the book, the following sentence troubled me: "...________ was the fly in the psychiatrist's soothing balm, the nasty little Nigger poking up his head from the great woodpile of rationalizations and justifications and defences for the indefensible." what?? this isn't The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; this book was written in 1995... the story was pretty good, but i found it hard to be drawn into the story because of the characters' personalities

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked to have rated this 2.5. I didn't dislike it but I didn't particularly like it either. The characters were a tad annoying as it seemed like people would get testy for no apparent reason. Maybe I'm just not used to small town life in wales.

[Buchdoktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um einen in Wales spielenden Krimi mit düsterer Wirkung zu lesen, geht es. Zum Zeitpunkt der Handlung werden noch PC-Disketten verwendet; die Einstellungen der Leute liegen erheblich hinter dieser Zeit zurück.

[Hege · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a hard book to rate. I really liked the writing style, the location and a couple of the characters. Unfortunately, it was drowned out by a few things I just can't tolerate: bigoted language about the poor, the disabled, the overweight, travelers, gay people, brown people, and so on.

The book was written in 1995, and I know things have changed since then. Language has changed. Maybe I just don't remember how bad it was back then? Either way, couldn't quite finish this one.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1990s Wales. A female corpse is discovered in the forest of Salem, hanging from a tree, and obviously murdered. Then a two hundred year old corpse in discovered in the grounds of a cottage.
Grumpy and baffled police led by D.C.I. Michael McKenna investigate.
An interesting and enjoyable crime story, a good start to the series

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars: Nicely written (too much smoking, though) mystery set in Wales. The identity of the killer isn't a big reveal, but the story keeps your interest due to the personal interactions of the three policemen. There's a slight supernatural air but that is a very minor (and unexplored) aspect of the book.

[Sandy McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

An old man finds a woman hanging in the woods near Bangor, and it appears that she has been there for some time. DCI Michael McKenna, DI Jack Tuttle and their team face several hurdles in the investigation, with the locals leading them astray. At the same time, DCI McKenna is dealing with problems on the home-front.

The characters are excellent; DCI McKenna and DI Tuttle are often at loggerheads; pathologist, Doctor Roberts attempts to smooth ruffled feathers, the locals are uncooperative and quite quirky, and naturally, there are several suspects in this unusual crime.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style, the locations and characters, and look forward to reading more in this series.

[Yassemin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simeon's Bride by Alison Taylor
Kindle Version
272 pages

Plot:

This is the first in the series featuring the main character of DC MCKenna.

John Beti discovers a woman hanging in the woods from a tree, with her hands tied behind her back. At this point, the subsequent investigation takes place. The Police continually hit dead ends, end up with another dead body and really don't have a clue for the majority of the book, which is great because it really does keep you guessing until the end about who did what. In the end everything is nicely tied over in the epilogue.

In the background DC McKenna is struggling with his failing marriage.

Characters:

DC MCKenna. Fab character with plenty of depth. Bit of a short fuse but funny at times. A workaholic with a downward heading personal life. I liked this guy al lot, he exerts a lot of authority and always the right thing do the right thing in the novel and he has a hell of a backbone, standing up to superiors if he feels that the action he wants to take is the right thing to do. He did rant a lot but to be honest the author made most of the characters rant at some point...which is a point that another reviewer made, 'everyone seems to be shouting and moaning in this book' - slightly true (personal arguments develop in the book as well) but I felt that added another layer of depth to the book.

Jack /Dewi. Again very well drawn out. Both with completely contrasting personalities but both lliked by me, nearly the same. I liked Dewi slightly more as he seemed to be a little less negative about things than Jack who had a penchant for shouting and snapping a lot of things rather than just saying. A guy with permanent pmt n my opinion but redeemable in other ways.

The other characters included some I really didn't like at all, that made my skin crawl to be honest but proves this author can do character development well.

Review:

On the face of it, it sounds like nothing extraordinary or special, just anther police procedural. But I loved this more than many others I've read because of the author's writing which was somewhat a bit more special than the rest.

The author tells the story through very descriptive language, which gives you a very good sense of place, I felt as though I was watching this story on a movie screen right in front of my eyes, I could picture rural Wales that vividly. But it's not just the writing, it's the fact she combines this with such good character development also and then a page turning plot makes this a fantastic debut to the series as opposed to a bog standard one. I found that I had difficulty putting this book down, I was that hooked into it.

Definitely not your average police procedural. If you want great imagery, drama, great characters and a multi layered plot combined with a love of all things crime, I highly recommend. I look forward to the rest of the series.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I packed this in at 10%. It was really quite bizarrely written like it was set in the 1800s. I couldn't get on with it at all. I had 2 others downloaded by the same author but I hadn't realised they were part of the same series so I've deleted those as well as they're just not for me.....
I had no idea what a nain was and looking online it meant dwarf which was clearly not what was meant in the book. I didn't understand, either, the odd way of calling a man his wife's name too-like John Beti.....it all seems very small-villagey and really quite peculiar. The writing was all very strange and flowery-"...it was a dry mustiness catching in the throat, and would, he thought, make him feel terribly and inexplicably depressed if it bacame too cloying"......pretty bizarre.
The author chose to go with American spellings, too, which always irritates me and I reached the line "Death wrought violently in these parts was usually fashioned by kith or kin"......(THIS is supposed to be set in the 1990's, bear in mind) and I'd read enough.
It's all just too weird for me.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read quite a few of Taylor's books,I was initially drawn in by location, but stayed around for the stories.
This seemed a little different to the others, though it's some years since I read them.
It's quite slow, very much a first in series book, where characters are drawn, and plot lines are written to unfold more over coming books.
We have three very different policemen,a dead body and a close community, where everybody knows something,but nobody is telling.
If you'd taken any mention of computers out of the book,I would swear it was set in the fifties. But then those little Welsh villages don't change much do they.
It was a twisting path to find the murderer....and although it wasn't a surprise when when we got there,I liked the path taken.
Won't be the last Taylor book I read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The writing is very good with descriptive passages that are insightful, thought-provoking, and include a bit of low-key humor. This is an engrossing mystery that is probably a little overlong with way too much cigarette smoking, but it remains interesting and provocative through to the end. It is not possible to do anything but read every word. The wide variety of characters are very flawed and not all that likable but are drawn realistically with complex multi-dimensional personalities.

[Dorkette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not great, not awful. Most characters lack personality while managing to "rage at" and otherwise mistreat each other with tiresome regularity. The murder victim remains a cipher. She appears to have dual personalities -- emotionally closed off but sympathetic as depicted by the abandoned lover, yet capable of cruelty and the sexual assault on a child.

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taylor is very good at developing atmosphere. Her descriptions have the equal function of placing the reader at the spot and making him ponder the beauty of words. I may forget the storyline by and by, but this sense of foreboding will probably linger longer than I'd care to have it.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 2.5

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

have now read all 5 of her books..brilliant.

[Jonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty creepy - if you are just looking for a mystery, pass this by. This book is the stuff of nightmares!