The Droitwich Deceivers

Inspector Ravenscroft #5

by Kerry Tombs

AN EVOCATIVE VICTORIAN DETECTIVE STORY FULL OF CLEVER TWISTS

Droitwich, April 1890.

A nine-year-old girl vanishes without a trace from the local churchyard. Her father, the salt tycoon Sir Charles Chilton , is beside himself.

There’s no price he won’t pay for his daughter’s safe return. AND SOMEONE OUT THERE IS COUNTING ON IT.

Sir Charles calls on Detective Inspector Ravenscroft and Constable Tom Crabb to investigate.

Meanwhile, Ravenscroft's wife Lucy meets a distraught mother. She gave her baby daughter away under duress. Now she wants her back.

The cases unravel, leading Ravenscroft and Lucy ever deeper into the darkened world of child exploitation — where lies, deceit and murder are commonplace.

CAN THEY UNCOVER THE TRUTH IN TIME TO SAVE THE ENDANGERED CHILDREN?

Perfect for fans of M.R.C. Kasasian, E.S. Thomson, Oscar DeNuriel or Karen Charlton.

MEET THE DETECTIVE
Inspector Samuel Ravenscroft, unmarried and over forty, is a detective in the Whitechapel branch of the Metropolitan Police. Painfully asthmatic, he is often overlooked by his superiors in favour of his pushier colleagues. But Ravenscroft is keen to prove himself and strives to overcome his physical limitations. His tools are forthright questioning, close examination of the evidence and personal intuition. He often finds that the solution to crimes is buried deep in the past.

With his trusty Bradshaw, Ravenscroft and his colleague Constable Tom Crabb, travel around the Three Counties, overlooked by the Malvern Hills, bringing criminals to justice.

KERRY TOMBS was born near Birmingham, but grew up in various locations in north Worcestershire. After a career teaching in both England and Australia, he moved to Malvern in 1982, where he became a local genealogist, lecturer and bookseller.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT KERRY TOMBS

“I found this story very absorbing and hard to put down .” Berys

“Kerry Tombs knows how to keep your interest until the very end .” Delin

“Another great book in the series. The author kept you guessing the entire time .” Jerry

INSPECTOR RAVENSCROFT DETECTIVE MYSTERIES SERIES
Book 1: THE MALVERN MURDERS
Book 2: THE WORCESTER WHISPERERS
Book 3: THE LEDBURY LAMPLIGHTERS
Book 4: THE TEWKESBURY TOMB
Book 5: THE DROITWICH DECEIVERS
Book 6: THE PERSHORE POISONERS
Book 7: THE UPTON UNDERTAKERS
Book 8: THE HEREFORDSHIRE HANGMEN
Book 9: THE BROMSGROVE BOOKSELLER

Genres: Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Historical Fiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Kerry Tombs was born in Smethwick in 1945, and after a career in teaching in both England and Australia, moved to Malvern in 1982, where he became a genealogist, lecturer and bookseller. He has set THE MALVERN MURDERS in a variety of Malvern locations including St.Ann's Well, Malvern College, British Camp and Priory Church - and in the nearby villages of Colwall and Mathon and town of Ledbury. Kerry moved to Brittany in 2005.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 4.5 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 5 🌟.

This was a stand-out addition to the series! The dual plot lines of an abducted child and Victorian era baby farmers were absolutely gut wrenching and it did my soul some good to see that the perpetrators got their just desserts in the end.

[Caridad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite…

This tale seemed disjointed and was not one of my favorite. I was happy that the author provided Lucy with her own story line, but she appears to be inconsistent in her actions.
Will continue reading the series hoping that if Lucy gets another chance at detecting she will show more backbone.

[Kathy Holm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Droitwich Deceivers

An excellent book...and beautifully written!...loved the story! It covered all the bases from love, jealousy,gentleness,hope, despair and success...Enjoy!💗....looking forward to their next book....

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best one yet. I liked that Ravencrofts wife had an investigation of her own to follow. I look forward to seeing this more often as the series continues.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good old fashioned mystery, with vivid characters, loads of lively dialogue and plenty of surprises. A great Sunday afternoon sort of read.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying this mystery series. Book 5 starts out with a sad story of a young servant girl forced to give up her child to retain her position. Later, this same girl will come to ask Mrs.Ravenscroft for help in finding her daughter, now lost to her after the woman lied to her about her chance to visit the child when she would want. At the same time, another young girl, nine years old, is abducted from a churchyard near Droitwich when her governess is inside the church. Could these two cases be related? Will the young girl, Mildred, be found in time? I actually guessed the end of Inspector Ravenscroft's kidnapping investigation. (Having to do with the girl's age) I will say no more. This was an enjoyable story and I liked that Lucy did some detective work of her own. Another interesting character was Mr. Shorter, the owner/editor of the Droitwich Advertiser. He was colorful and engaging.

[Kymm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really been enjoying this series and with this one being the 5th book, the characters and their stories have gotten better and better. With that said, the editing needs work. I don't normally bring up editing issues as normally they're not bad and can be excused, but for some reason in this series every book has had problems with spelling and grammar. To the extent where it interferes with how I read the story. When I'm in the zone and reading there's a natural flow so when I come on a blaring mistake in either spelling or grammar I have to stop and try to figure out what the author is trying to say. Just seems like with all the checks and balances in editing a book I find it hard to believe this series seemed to have missed that final editing. Just my opinion, of course and I hope you read them for yourselves and draw your own conclusions because the stories are great as are the characters. It's historical mystery at its best. Happy Reading!

[رواية · Rating 3 out of 5]

درويتويتش، أبريل 1890.
تختفي فتاة تبلغ من العمر تسع سنوات دون أن يترك أثرا من باحة الكنيسة المحلية. والدها، رجل اعمال الملح السير تشارلز شيلتون، بجانبه.
ليس هناك ثمن لن يدفعه مقابل عودة ابنته سالمة. وهناك شخص ما يعتمد عليه.
يستدعي السير تشارلز مفتش المخبر رافنسكروفت والشرطي توم كراب للتحقيق.
في هذه الأثناء، تلتقي لوسي، زوجة رافنسكروفت، بأم مذهولة. تخلت عن ابنتها الرضيعة تحت الإكراه..
تنكشف هذه القضايا، مما يدفع "رافنسكروفت" و"لوسي" إلى التعمق أكثر فأكثر في عالم استغلال الأطفال المظلم - حيث تصبح الأكاذيب والخداع والقتل أمرًا شائعًا.
هل يمكنهم اكتشاف الحقيقة في الوقت المناسب لإنقاذ الأطفال المعرضين للخطر

[Steve In Ludlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ravenscroft is called in to investigate the abduction of the daughter of a Droitwich salt tycoon. Meanwhile Mrs Ravenscroft takes it upon herself to follow up on the apparent abduction of another child and the two plots run in parallel for a while before neatly joining up. We get a classic Ravenscroft run in with a petty official, this time a station master come ticket seller. It's a bit more macabre than recent books in the series given the child abduction angle so some might want to give it a miss.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In November 1889 Alice has to give away her baby, Lily, as she is an un-wed servant. To a Mr and Mrs Huddlestone of Cheltenham. In April 1890 Alice Corbett approaches the Ravenscroft home looking for help. Mrs Lucy Ravenscroft decides to help as the inspector is busy on another case. The case of the missing nine year old daughter of Sir Charles and Mildred Chilton of Hill Court in Droitwich.
A enjoyable cozy historical mystery.

[Sue Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Our Bookclub was drawn to this book as it was set in our hometown of Droitwich Spa. A good read that kept you turning the pages with plenty of red herrings to keep you on your toes wondering who the perpetrator(s) were. With Ravenhurst the police detective and his wife too, though endangering herself, doggedly unearthing and following clues he is determined to see that justice prevails.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is only the 2nd book in my lifetime that I have read cover to cover in one sitting such was the enthralling way that it was written. Set in 1889 it was another of the Inspector Ravenscroft series. Dealing with child abduction, infanticide and wrongful incarceration in a lunatic asylum one would think this was a gruesome story. However it was also about love and happiness with some joyful moments. A stupendous, enjoyable police procedural

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Droitwich Deceivers

Inspector Ravenscroft is called in when the daughter of a local business man goes missing.
This latest book by Kerry Tombs is the best in the series so far. Full of twists and turns I found it hard to put down and read it in the course of a day.
Highly recommended.

[Karen Moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book

Another winner in the Ravenscroft series. I'm starting the 6th in just a few minutes. They are really hard to put down.

I know there are 2 more books after this next one (7 & 8). I don't understand why they are not available in Kindle form.

[Justin Kneissler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting case

Ravenscroft and Crabb must find a missing girl. Meanwhile, Lucy is dealing with a mystery of her own. Could these cases be connected? Will they be able to solve them?

You need to read to find out. Another enjoyable Ravenscroft book

[Michael Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Step up in the series

I had read the previous books in the series, and had felt that they were losing a bit of their creativity . However, this book showed a renewed excellence both in story and character development

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still liking these tidy little mysteries very much.

I'm still thinking that Lucy is going to make a fine detective someday and that she will eventually solve a crime with her husband.

[Liz Golub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story. Enjoying the series.

[Robert Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with previous titles in this series, the re-creation of Victorian mystery fiction is right on target. Allowing a woman to actively investigate is a nice touch

[Andrea Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all of these so far. A very entertaining read!

[Annette Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

English canals and countryside

Another group of people with a story to share. Husband and wife work together to give the story more substances

[ann pac · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+

I'll be sorry when I've read all the available books in this series. I will be starting book #6 as soon as I finish this review. Looking forward to it.

[Tater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the series but there is no depth to the characters. If we had descriptions of the characters.

[yvonne bath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not disappointed ! Gripped me from beginning to end .. love the series have now read all 10 👍

[Kerry Embleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed

I really enjoyed this book especially as it is set in my home town. It was paced really well and concluded naturally.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one so far.

[Ginka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite in this series but an enjoyable read, none the less.

[Miss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my least favourite book in the series so far. I like how the author includes real historical characters in the stories. However the main storyline in this book was weak.

[Dirk Schmücker · Rating 4 out of 5]

genau das Richtige für das Krankenhausbett. No 6 wartet schon.

[Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy made some poor choices. I'm surprised she didn't get hurt. I loved the newspaper man. I doubt he'll be in any future books but he should be!