The Chief Inspector's Daughter

Inspector Quantrill #2

by Sheila Radley

The body of a well-known romantic novelist is discovered by Alison Quantrill, daughter of Chief Inspector Quantrill, who--together with Sergeant Tait--enters into a tangle of professional and personal obligations

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Crime, Procedural

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Sheila Mary Robinson was born and brought up in rural Northamptonshire, one of the fortunate means-tested generation whose further education was free. She went from her village school via high school to London University, where she read history.

She served for nine years as an education officer in the Women’s Royal Air Force, then worked variously as a teacher, a clerk in a shoe factory, a civil servant and in advertising. In the 1960s she opted out of conventional work and joined her partner in running a Norfolk village store and post office, where she began writing fiction in her spare time. Her first books, written as Hester Rowan, were three romantic novels; she then took to crime, and wrote 10 crime novels as Sheila Radley.

Reviews

[France-Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt more dated than the first one. I was only 8 in 1980 so I don’t remember how things were in the world at large, it might well have been as described but the story is too much of it’s time. It’s trying to be progressive, but it falls far from where we are now.

Quantrill’s daughter is working as a secretary to a romance novelist when her employer is murdered. The story touches on women’s lib (the expression employed not mine, it seems to be a bad thing in the view of the majority of the characters), how you can be “turned” into a homosexual by rejection from the opposite sex (!) and the reason for the murder is “shocking” (not really, I guessed it and maybe it would have been shocking at the time... who knows?). Though I really don’t know if these things were taboo at the time of publishing... probably. What I did like is seeing Quantrill’s family life more and him trying to rekindle his relationship with his wife.

So I liked the characters and I’m continuing with the series and it was a good read once you immersed yourself in another time. I think the police could have come to the right conclusion quicker, it was a little evident but that might depend on the reader too.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be a rather run-of-the mill English police procedural. Chief Inspector Quantrill investigates the murder of a successful romance novelist, found bludgeoned in her charming home. The twist is that the person who found the body is his own daughter, who was working as the novelist's secretary. There are some interesting psychological aspects to this story, such as Quantrill's humdrum marriage, and his daughter extreme stress reaction. But otherwise the story is full of the types that one has come to expect in novels written in the 1970s : the housewife, the independent career woman, the academic radical feminist, the hippie, the earth mother in a commune. So not bad for a rainy afternoon, but not a book that will be long remembered, either.

[R.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A miserable detective in a miserable marriage in a miserable town. Would-be shocking revelations that don't shock 40 years on (lesbians!). A portrayal of hippy drug culture that reads as if based on an article from the Sunday Times magazine. A murderer who might as well have introduced themselves as such the moment they appeared. The only saving grace, really, is the depiction of a failed Angry Young Man writer (one of the suspects) who lives with his mother and blames critics and the stupid public for his inability to have another hit play.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent series, this one now from Felony and Mayhem.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straightfoward undemanding late 1970s period piece (with some attitudes to match). Not at all exceptional but a decent enough pastime.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"They're back again -- that terrific twosome from Death in the Morning -- Chief Inspector Quantrill, the old-fashioned country police officer, and Martin Tait, the clever, ambitious sergeant with a eye for the ladies.

"When Quantrill's daughter, Alison, returns to her quiet village house after an unhappy love affair in London, she finds a job as secretay to Jasmine Woods, a best-selling author of romantic novels. But one morning Alison finds Jasmine brutally raped and murdered, her valuable collection of jade and netsuke stolen. Quantrill and Tait, who'd warned Jasmine about her collection after an aborted break-in -- and had been attfacted to her -- soon find there is no shortage of suspects. Thee is Rodney Gifford, her cousin, an avant-garde playwright who's had nothing produced in over ten years; her brother-in-law Paul Pardoe, who, with five kids and one of the way, could use the money his wife will inherit; Jonathan Elliott, an intellectual novelist and TV critic, and his wife, Roz, a dedicated feminist; and Gilbert Smith, Jasmine's friend and live-in gardener, a poet and pot smoker who disasspears after the murder, leaving behind some bloodstained clothing. Some people disliked Jasmine's books -- even Quantrill resented the fact that his wife was more roused by Jasmine's fictional heroes than by him -- some envied her money, several had motives, and all of them had the opportunity to ki8ll her.

"Unraveling the strands of the mystery, Quantrill and Tait, who's becoming increasingly interested in Alison, are caught in a tense situation involving their personal and professional obligations. Then Alison, still in shock over Jasmine's death, runs away before giving evidence to Quantrill.

"In a dramatic climax, Alison provides the surprising solution to the murder -- along with a surprising revelation about herself.

"Once again, Sheila Radley has written a totally absorbing story of mystery, love, and death in a small town."
~~front & back covers

I think I'd read this book before, although I didn't remember the plot or characters; I did however remember the author's name and that I had thoroughly enjoyed her books. And I did again,. enough that I'm getting the rest of the series from the library to read them again.

[Eugene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second in the series; I wrote about the first that it was a story about miserable people leading miserable lives, and this effort is largely of a piece with that. Oh, it’s a bit more emotionally elevated but not by much. I’d found used copies of the first three on a shelf in a used bookshop and, never having read Radley, I took them all home. I’ll surely read that third book at some point, but I won’t be looking very hard for others…
Decent marks for plot and characterization (even if repellant), and the writing is good, thus the two stars.

[Glen Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started slow. Gets interesting in the middle. Ends so suddenly and uninterestingly. No details about how she died at all. And why was the daughter such a nuisance. Your dad is a cop. Tell him what you saw.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comfy police procedural - mystery for a read. Feels a bit dated but not too badly given it was written in 1980

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather formulaic plotting, but okay. The demonizing of marijuana is dated, but the view of communes is sympathetic.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://bookcrossing.com/journal/12054...

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Chief Inspector's Daughter by Sheila Radley (1980) looks to be a typical British police procedural set in a small English market town. The well-loved romance novelist Jasmine Woods, beloved by her readers--including Chief Inspector Douglas Quantrill's wife and daughter--was evidently not universally loved among her relatives and neighbors. She is found beaten to death one morning in a particularly brutal crime that has every evidence of a robbery gone wrong. After all, Jasmine's exquisite collection of jade and netsuke has disappeared. But the severity of the wounds leads Quantrill and his Detective Sergeant Tait to believe that hate may have been the driving force behind Jasmine's death. The one small twist that makes this an atypical British police procedural is that the one person who could shed some light on Jasmine's life before the murder is Quantrill's own daughter Alison. Unfortunately, Alison has disappeared and is unavailable for questioning.

Alison came home from London after a love affair gone wrong. In need of employment, she meets Jasmine and has the good fortune to become the novelist's secretary...and, eventually, friend. It is Alison who finds Jasmine's beaten body and, initially, she is too shaken and shocked to be questioned. Her emotional reaction is so strong that she leaves home and goes into hiding rather than be questioned by her father and his team. Her last known whereabouts put her in the vicinity of one of Quantrill's primary suspects and he has to face his fears for her safety as well as deal with his official displeasure that a witness has done a runner.

Without his daughter to help him learn about the novelist's life, he must use the knowledge that he and his sergeant picked up at a party Jasmine put on several weeks before her death. A party where it seemed that the main activity for the guests was to find ways to subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) insult their hostess. Everyone from her brother-in-law and cousin, both of whom resent her success and wealth, to the antiques dealer who resents the value of her oriental collection--some of the pieces which he sold to her far too cheaply--to her neighbor who covets her body and resents that he cannot have it. For more background, Quantrill turns to Jasmine's previous secretary, Anne. But everything he learns seems to provide more suspects rather than narrowing the field. If only Alison would turn up and tell him what she knows....

As I mentioned in my review of A Quiet Road to Death, Sheila Radley (pen-name of Sheila Mary Robinson) writes a decent British mystery. This one has a few more suspects, so it wasn't as easy to spot the killer here as it was in my previous read. There is plenty of suspicion to go around and it is a pleasure to watch Quantrill and Tait work their way through the questioning. There are clues...hard to spot (I didn't), but available if you happen to pick up on them. By the end of the novel, I had decided on just about everyone at one time or another...except the actual culprit. Well done, on misdirection. The motive is also stronger in this one--particularly for the time period (there's a tiny little pointer for you). And Alison is the one who provides the information necessary to really understand the motive.

One quibble I have--is Tait's reaction to Alison at the end. I cannot explain this without spoiling the motive (and pointing the way to the culprit), so I'll just have to say that it's rather offensive that he thinks he can fix everything just by being the wonderful man that he is.

Overall, a solid, British mystery--coming in at ★★★ . I will certainly keep reading the Quantrill series as they come my way.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alison Quantrill has returned home to Suffolk after a failed relationship in London. She has a lucky break and gets a job as secretary to Jasmine Woods, a well-known romantic novelist who lives in the area. But the job doesn’t last for long because Jasmine is murdered a couple of months later. After Alison finds the body she finds the police questioning traumatic and disappears one night. Douglas Quantrill and his wife, Molly find her disappearance brings them closer together.

Chief Inspector Quantrill has to concentrate on his murder investigation and leave other people to search for his daughter though his personal feelings mean he is torn two ways. I enjoyed this complex murder mystery and liked the way the series characters are developing – Quantrill himself, his wife Molly and his Sergeant Martin Tait. The relationship between Tait and Quantrill is gradually turning into friendship and they are starting to respect each other and work well together.

This interesting series, set in Suffolk, makes a refreshing change from many modern crime novels which contain, in my opinion, too much graphic violence and bad language. There is plenty of psychological depth to the characters and their personal problems are interesting as are their motivations. Life in a small community is well drawn and Quantrill is likeable and all too human. I recommend this series to anyone who likes their crime novels cast in the conventional mould.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon rereading this book after many years I found that the daughter in question Alison made me crazy. After leaving her job in the city because of the bad love affair she rapidly finds a new job near home. When her employer is murdered she feels the necessity to keep all the important information she has to herself because no one would understand. Gag me with a spoon.

[Alejandrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ultimately, a good book with a solid mystery story. I did not know where it was going until the end, more or less. That's a plus when describing mysteries :) It's also somewhat unusual in the depiction of the Chief Inspector's beliefs and relationship with his wife. Will certainly read the next one in the series.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Lisa Ladd · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something very comforting about a quiet English Mystery set in the countryside. This series reminds me a bit of the long- running BBC drama Midsomer Murders. There are plenty of suspicious characters and I appreciated the 70's feel of it all.