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George Thorne #6
Accident Prone
Muriel Fayne is old and arthritic. So when the local minister arrives for tea and finds her facedown in the shallow lily pond behind her house in the English Cotswolds, no one suspects foul play. The obvious explanation is that the old girl lost her balance and couldn't pull herself out of the water in no time.
But Muriel Fayne is no sooner laid to rest than her daughter Helen suddenly becomes "accident prone" herself.
But Muriel Fayne is no sooner laid to rest than her daughter Helen suddenly becomes "accident prone" herself.
182 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
5 people want to read
About the author
John Penn
81 books6 followersJohn Penn is a joint pseudonym of Palma Harcourt with husband Jack H. Trotman.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 20, 2020
Accident Prone is the sixth and last novel in the George Thorne series, set in the English Cotswolds. The novel starts with the death of Muriel Fayne, an old woman. She is discovered by the local minister, who arrives for tea and finds her face-down in the shallow lily pond behind her house. Nobody suspects any foul play, because she was wheelchair-bound through her arthritis. But then other accidents start to occur, and another character in the novel becomes extremely "accident prone", thus giving us the title.
This is a nicely involved cosy mystery. Interestingly, the viewpoint characters change within the course of the novel. But there are more classic mystery story features than not, such as a secondary murder, and hidden back stories, about which the reader is encourage to speculate. What is the history behind Muriel's daughter, Helen's earlier life in London? What secrets does the minister hide? Are the next generation really as money-grubbing and self-seeking as they appear? What is really going on at the Art and Antiques shop?
John Penn is a joint pseudonym of Palma Harcourt with her husband Jack H. Trotman. Palma Harcourt is an author from Jersey in the Channel Islands. She has written 22 diplomatic thrillers under her own name, having previously worked in various branches of British Intelligence. Meeting her husband during one of these postings, the couple went on to write 21 mysteries, largely police procedurals, under the name "John Penn".
All John Penn's novels make for an undemanding yet satisfying read. They can happily be read in any order, as the home life of the police, whilst evident and interesting, does not form a central component of the story. It does not overwhelm the mystery plot, as tends to happen in some contemporary mystery series.
This is a nicely involved cosy mystery. Interestingly, the viewpoint characters change within the course of the novel. But there are more classic mystery story features than not, such as a secondary murder, and hidden back stories, about which the reader is encourage to speculate. What is the history behind Muriel's daughter, Helen's earlier life in London? What secrets does the minister hide? Are the next generation really as money-grubbing and self-seeking as they appear? What is really going on at the Art and Antiques shop?
John Penn is a joint pseudonym of Palma Harcourt with her husband Jack H. Trotman. Palma Harcourt is an author from Jersey in the Channel Islands. She has written 22 diplomatic thrillers under her own name, having previously worked in various branches of British Intelligence. Meeting her husband during one of these postings, the couple went on to write 21 mysteries, largely police procedurals, under the name "John Penn".
All John Penn's novels make for an undemanding yet satisfying read. They can happily be read in any order, as the home life of the police, whilst evident and interesting, does not form a central component of the story. It does not overwhelm the mystery plot, as tends to happen in some contemporary mystery series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews