Deathtrap

Hennessey & Yellich #2

by Peter Turnbull

George Hennessey has always been proud of being Detective Chief Inspector at Micklegate Bar Police Station in the Vale of York. Until, that is, the body of ambitious newshound Cornelius Weekes is discovered, and what at first looks like a cut-and-dried case of suicide soon opens up a gruesome can of worms. But with the help of his faithful right-hand man, Detective Sergeant Yellich, London-born Hennessey is quick to get to the bottom of things.And eventually one apparent suicide leads to a whole host of unsolved deaths from the past: the murder of a mentally ill woman from a rich family, the bloody slaughter of another go-get-it journalist and the untimely end of a young man haunted by something just too murky for words.

Hennessey and Yellich have their work cut out but, once they unravel the mysteries surrounding a wrongful conviction of a woman imprisoned for shooting dead her 'love rival', the pair start to see a frightening theme of corruption and greed emerge.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2000

About the author

Peter Turnbull is the author of nineteen previous novels and numerous works of short fiction. He worked for many years as a social worker in Glasgow before returning to his native Yorkshire.

Reviews

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young man is found in his car, parked in a remote area around York with gas pipes through the only open window. Suicide is the obvious conclusion, but soon Detective Chief Inspector Hennessey and Detective Sergeant Yellich learn that the young man had everything to live for: a new engagement, enrollment in a Master’s program at a local university, a job he loved as a freelance journalist, and a mystery he was investigating involving a murder nearly 20 years earlier. The evidence he has been gathering suggests a gross miscarriage of justice, and the framing of an innocent woman; was his investigation the reason for his death? Hennessey and Yellich must retrace his trail to discover the truth…. ”Deathtrap” is the second in the long-running Hennessey and Yellich series by Peter Turnbull, and in it we begin to get a better sense of the relationships between the two leads and other recurring characters, while at the same time learning about the value of keeping evidence intact, how to reopen a long-closed case, and how one person’s need for perfection can lead to disaster. I’m not convinced yet that one needs to read these books in order, given that this is only the second one I’ve read, but I am convinced that it is a series that I will continue to hope to find; recommended!

[Tmac32]

I enjoy this series, the two lead characters are likable. As I'm now roughly the same age, early fifties, I can understand the approach/beliefs/feelings on things of the lead detective. I suppose I may now want to go back and re-read other books from when I was younger to see if I better identify with some of the characters.

[Monica Bond-Lamberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun mystery, got the title from the list of movies that helped inspire Glass Onion (but note this was not related to the movie.
Good procedural piece.
Didn't read the first now, not sure I would read the second one, but definitely want to visit York!

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose this is considered a police procedural. I'd be more likely to call it a police file - pretty much just a recounting of the way this particular case was investigated by the police. No characterization, no real plot, just the outline of what they did to solve the case. No sale.

[Linda Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Hennessy and Yellich murder mystery. Good.

[Katherine Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many problems with this book. Probably the most exasperating was all the deposition (extraneous and unnecessary explanation). And I figured way too much out before the end. And I didn't care.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Fairly good.