Untimely Graves

Gil Mayo Mystery #13

by Marjorie Eccles

A new novel in the popular DS Gil Mayo series. When the murdered body of a woman is found floating in flooded uplands near an isolated farm and nearby cottage, it poses problems of identification, prompting the press to dub her the 'Mystery Woman.' Who is she? As time goes by, Detective Superintendent Gil Mayo and his assistant Inspector Abigail Moon, begin to fear that question is destined to remain unanswered, until the bursar of a public school, currently involved in controversy over a proposed new entrance to the school, is murdered at his desk. Though the murders are seemingly unrelated, events begin to show that this is not so. As a temporarily unemployed ex-student, Cleo Atkins will do anything rather than take the safe secretarial position her mother has lined up for her, even to taking a job with Maid to Order, a firm of cleaning contractors, something her mother feels she is singularly unfitted for. The firm is much in demand following the trail of destruction left by the floods, and working with the team Cleo comes across evidence from a totally unexpected source, and ultimately finds herself involved in the investigation. With her cooperation, Mayo and Moon are able to follow a chain of events that eventually lead to the identity of the Mystery Woman being revealed, and to the unexpected solution of both murders.

Genres: Mystery

436 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2001

About the author

Aka Judith Bordill, Jennifer Hyde

Marjorie Eccles has written several romantic and crime novels, which have been published both in the UK and in the US. Many of her book shave been translated and serialised around the world. She has one grown up son and now lives in Hertfordshire

Reviews

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The discovery of the body of a woman in the flooded waters of what was normally a trickle known as the river Kyne, poses a problem for Detective Superintendent Gil Mayo, as no one has been reported missing, and identification proves impossible. So, she is dubbed the ‘Mystery Women’ .

George Atkins recently retired from the police has opened his own PI business, but his daughter Cleo just returned from university is restless and reticent. Keen on establishing her independence Cleo moves into her late Aunt Phoebe's home, but something is not quite right. To tide her over whilst she decides what she wants to do and to pay her rent she takes a job cleaning for Maid to Order. Unwittingly this places her in possession of a piece of information.

After three years working as a geophysicist in a research unit on the Polar Ice Cap, Sam has returned to 16 Kelsey Rd, home of his Aunt Dorrie to find that she is being pressured by the bursar of Lavenstock College to sell her home to make way for a new entrance for the school. When the bursar of the school is found murdered, Gil Mayo and his assistant Inspector Abigail Moon find themselves rich with suspects. John Riach, assistant bursar who expected to become bursar last time the job came vacant. Will he this time? Aunt Dorrie, is she as mildly eccentric as she appears? Hannah Wetherby, is she an abused wife? Eventually the investigation into the bursar’s death leads to the identity of the mystery woman.

This is Marjorie Eccles best book to date. Her characterisation is marvellous, and I wanted to follow all the lives of her characters. Eileen Totterbridge, who cleans for Aunt Dorrie, and poor intimidated Vera Bysouth of Covert Farm. Sweet old Mrs Osbourne who used to own the farm and now lives in a cottage nearby. And Tone, who Cleo meets whilst working for Maid to Order.

A complex and fascinating mystery. I was perplexed to the end as to who and why. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

[Vic Lauterbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unable to borrow the first book in this series, so I reluctantly read the only one that Hoopla had which is the last in the series (to date). As I expected, there is considerable background and character backstories that I missed, but the mystery itself is good. The investigation gets moving slowly, there's a plethora of characters, many minor, and the major ones don't get much development (probably because it occurred in the dozen preceding novels). Mayo and his able assistant DI Abigail Moon (the best character in the book IMHO) get some help from a citizen who inadvertently becomes an amateur sleuth, but it's mostly diligent police work that leads to the solution. While I enjoyed this story, it failed to answer the question that spurred me to read it. Namely, how did the books inspire the odd TV adaptation? Keep that in mind if The Gil Mayo Mysteries has you curious about the source material. My rating is actually 3.5 stars (rounded up), but I can still recommend this novel to fans of British mysteries.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, if not particularly original, British procedural. I think I liked it because it was set during a flood, and I read it during a heat wave!

Inspector Gil Mayo is investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was found in the flooded fields. His team is not making much progress with the identification, not until the pompous bursar of a local school is shot in plain daylight and the connection between the two cases becomes clear. The investigation involves a crafty old woman living in a cottage, two brothers running a pig farm and the downtrodden wife of one them, a college dropout making a temporary living as a housecleaner, and a geologist recently returned from the Antarctic. In short : the type of characters we like to read about!

[pdxmaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grabbed in haste off the 'put-away' cart at the library and discovered a new (to me) mystery writer, and British as well!! This one is in the middle of the series featuring Detective Superintendent Gil Mayo -- will go back and read more in order. He values his assistant, Inspector Abigail Moon and the book itself explores issues around domestic violence and low wage domestic workers -- other positives for sure.

This particular book has the challenges of sorting out who murdered an unidentifiable woman found in a stream and the controversial new headmaster of a private (public in England -- so confusing!) boys' school.

[Wilma Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings about this book fluctuated as I was reading it. I think it’s simply a cozy mystery but I kept wanting it to be something more. The writing is good and moves along, but there are too many characters on the protagonist side and not nearly enough development of any of them. I’d be interested to see what would happen with one and suddenly we are focusing on another and then another. No one character, then, was able to grab me. I was left wondering which of them would continue on in the series and which of them I had been left hanging on what might happen with them next. Disconcerting. Also, the plot was okay, but not remarkably clever or particularly startling.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book by Eccles that I’ve read. I am impressed with the way she narrates a story, focusing on characters instead of relentlessly driving a plot line. The police superintendent is just one of many characters, not the main actor, so the solution unfolds through several people. The author manages to develop the characters as people, not just props to push the story along. I’m definitely reading more.

[Gina Ristau · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting Murder Mystery in Quiet England

A young college grad returns home to decide what to do with her future. She ends up working per dime for a house cleaning agency. She is the one to provide some help to this murder mystery. It is a good read. I gave it a 4 because there are many better novels that I have read.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the mystery is good, there seemed to be more time spent on the characters in the area and what they were doing. I never got the sense of the two major police officers. More emphasis was on another character who seemed to be everywhere.

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok but nothing remarkable.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the floods a female body is recovered having been shot. But she remains unidentified. Then another body, of a male, is found shot with the same gun. Superintendent Mayo and his team investigate.
An enjoyable modern mystery

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the Gil Mayo books from Marjorie Eccles. I like most of the books in this series though I don't find the series on the top of my list. This was a fairly good one.

[Ram Kaushik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the pace and relaxed prose of Marjorie Eccles. The plot unfolds slowly allowing us to savor the character development and relationships. A good read!