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Sarah Fortune #2
Perfectly Pure and Good
Sarah Fortune is happy to be sorting out the inheritance problems of the Pardoes, as it promises to distance her from a claustrophobic relationship with Malcolm Cook, and she cannot bear to be a captive. But she soon discovers that guilt, insecurity, unrequited love and a touch of insanity afflict the Pardoes and the seaside town where they live in Norfolk - all a legacy of a suicide of two years before, when a beautiful woman walked into the sea and never came back. And there is another element of the legacy, a white-haired figure some call a ghost and others call a vagrant who roams the beach and harmlessly haunts the until he insinuates himself into the power struggles of the Pardoe children and becomes the mysterious and cunning enemy of all concerned.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
5 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Frances Fyfield
82 books64 followersAka Frances Hegarty.
Frances Fyfield is a criminal lawyer, who lives in London and in Deal, by the sea which is her passion. She has won several awards, including the CWA Silver Dagger.
She grew up in rural Derbyshire, but spent most of her adult life in London, with long intervals in Norfolk and Deal, all inspiring places. She was educated mostly in convent schools; then studied English at Newcastle University and went on to qualify as a solicitor, working for what is now the Crown Prosecution Service, thus learning a bit about murder at second hand. She also worked for the Metropolitan Police.
Years later, writing became her real vocation. She also writes short stories for magazines and radio and is occasionally a contributor to Radio 4, (Front Row, Quote Unquote, Night Waves,) and presenter of Tales from the Stave.
Frances Fyfield is a criminal lawyer, who lives in London and in Deal, by the sea which is her passion. She has won several awards, including the CWA Silver Dagger.
She grew up in rural Derbyshire, but spent most of her adult life in London, with long intervals in Norfolk and Deal, all inspiring places. She was educated mostly in convent schools; then studied English at Newcastle University and went on to qualify as a solicitor, working for what is now the Crown Prosecution Service, thus learning a bit about murder at second hand. She also worked for the Metropolitan Police.
Years later, writing became her real vocation. She also writes short stories for magazines and radio and is occasionally a contributor to Radio 4, (Front Row, Quote Unquote, Night Waves,) and presenter of Tales from the Stave.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 5, 2015
Sarah Fortune is an absolutely delightful character. As so often, I’ve not discovered her in the right order, encountering her first in her most recent appearance in Cast the First Stone where she teams up with one of my top-fave kick-arse chicks Di Porteus to get hold of some hot art. Di’s idea of getting dressed is jeans & a tee till Sarah takes her shopping and shows her that clothes really are art we wear on our bodies & that they need us more than we need them & then as it had been with Di in God Digger, I was instantly in love with Sarah Fortune. I’d got five chapters into her first appearance in Shadows on the Mirror, where I discovered she was a widow & a solicitor but that her principal hobby or avocation was sexual liaisons with nice kind lonely men whose self-esteem needs a boost. She continues that quite delightful occupation in Perfectly Pure & Good - tho’ I expect you need to remember that Sarah Fortune is a character in a story book so perhaps you’d best not try this @ home. Sarah has gone to the East Anglian coast - where she cuts quite a swathe - ostensibly to straighten out the estate of the very dotty Pardoe family only to find herself in a rematch against her adversary & torturer Charles Tysell from Shadows on the Mirror. I’d not finished that one but it really didn’t matter because Frances Fyfield fills us in with enough of the backstory for Perfectly Pure & Good to make sense as a stand-alone. I rank this one amongst the better Fyfields. These are always very inventive with nice dogs & children & bizarre characters, tho’ plots are often slow to develop. After I’ve finished Shadows on the Mirror & Staring @ the Light (which I just nailed @ Half-Price Books) I’ll get back & try to write some more about Sarah Fortune. For someone like me who reads for the relationships, she is indeed perfect.
April 30, 2015
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
May 8, 2015
It’s too bad Frances Fyfield books are no longer published in the US. I’m a very big fan, and this is the book I like best. Sarah Fortune is a delightful unpredictable character, with a past history of abuse and a big enough heart to forgive and give compassion to the worst of the worst.
Fyfield provides a nice alternative to the good guy-bad guy dynamic. She turns it around so the bad guys find redemption through the quirky ministrations of Sarah (or, in her other books, a similar main character,) a flawed but almost Christ-like figure.
Fyfield’s plots are meandering and tangential, and she does a lot of analyzing of her characters, two no-nos in the writing schools. But I love it.
Fyfield provides a nice alternative to the good guy-bad guy dynamic. She turns it around so the bad guys find redemption through the quirky ministrations of Sarah (or, in her other books, a similar main character,) a flawed but almost Christ-like figure.
Fyfield’s plots are meandering and tangential, and she does a lot of analyzing of her characters, two no-nos in the writing schools. But I love it.
May 7, 2019
I did my best to read this in German, but the translation seems very bumpy to me. I'll put this aside for now and wait until I happen upon the English original.
October 22, 2020
This follows on from the first Sarah Fortune book so you really need to make sure you read that first. I enjoyed it though the style of writing takes some getting used too
August 21, 2008
PERFECTLY PURE AND GOOD - Okay
Fyfield, Francis - 2nd in Sarah Fortune series
When Sarah Fortune, with her impeccable qualifications and chequered history, is sent to a small town in Norfolk, she goes willingly. Sorting out the inheritance problems of the Pardoes, Merton-on-Sea's premier family, promises to distance her from a claustrophobic relationship with Malcolm Cook. Sarah cannot bear to be a captive.
But she soon discovers that guilt, insecurity, unrequited love and a touch of insanity afflict the Pardoes and the town, the legacy of a suicide which took place two years before, when Elizabeth Tysall, a beautiful woman with an uncanny resemblance to Sarah herself, walked into the sea and never came back.
More immediately, Merton chooses to ignore another part of the legacy, the white-haired figure some call a ghost and others call a vagrant who roams the beach and haunts the town, harmlessly. Until he insinuates himself into the power struggles of the Pardoe children and becomes the mysterious and cunning enemy of all concerned.
This just didn't do much for me; I just didn't connect with it.
Fyfield, Francis - 2nd in Sarah Fortune series
When Sarah Fortune, with her impeccable qualifications and chequered history, is sent to a small town in Norfolk, she goes willingly. Sorting out the inheritance problems of the Pardoes, Merton-on-Sea's premier family, promises to distance her from a claustrophobic relationship with Malcolm Cook. Sarah cannot bear to be a captive.
But she soon discovers that guilt, insecurity, unrequited love and a touch of insanity afflict the Pardoes and the town, the legacy of a suicide which took place two years before, when Elizabeth Tysall, a beautiful woman with an uncanny resemblance to Sarah herself, walked into the sea and never came back.
More immediately, Merton chooses to ignore another part of the legacy, the white-haired figure some call a ghost and others call a vagrant who roams the beach and haunts the town, harmlessly. Until he insinuates himself into the power struggles of the Pardoe children and becomes the mysterious and cunning enemy of all concerned.
This just didn't do much for me; I just didn't connect with it.
March 26, 2014
I liked this book but not as good as some of her other book. Always a Fyfield fan, she writes great crime mysteries you can't put down. Always page turners. This one is no exception, but I have liked others more. The story lacked a little in this one for me. I did not get into it as much. But don't get me wrong. This was still a great book. This book has a good plot I just didn't enjoy it as much as some of her others. I like Sarah's character but again I like some of her other characters better. A good book just not my cup of tea.I am just conflicted about it. I liked it, it was goo, just not great.
August 20, 2020
If Nicci French and Peter James had a baby it would be Francis Fyfield. While a standard cozy length, her books contain all the suspense as Nicci French, and the true procedural sound of James. Fyfrield manages to pack a lot into a great train read. And, her characters never disappoint for color and depth. Read them in order as they bear a lot of characteristics of series books.
August 9, 2025
Garbage set in a coastal English town, with a slew of unpleasant people and actions. A doctor who kicks a corpse in the ribs. More than one body on the beach. A woman being told by a man that a woman is nothing without her virtue. The attitude to women throughout is appalling. A man says he could hit a woman but not his dog. Which he hasn't even named. At the end, a woman decides to express her free self by stopping her car on a lane, sticking her feet through the open window and smoking a cigarette. Really, this is not helping the cause of women. Why wouldn't she stand for election to the local council or whatever?
I read a paperback. This is an unbiased review.
I read a paperback. This is an unbiased review.
March 23, 2020
I only read up to page 77. I couldn't get a grip on the story and was confused about the time in which the different chapters played off. The book was difficult to read and I didn't finish it although it was well-written.
June 29, 2017
Odd, enjoyable mystery. Interesting female characters.
May 1, 2020
Enjoyed this second book in this series, on to number three now.
Read
July 31, 2025DNF Barely started. I immediately didn't like the author's writing style. I think I don't like how writing in third person distances me from the characters.
April 15, 2011
Summary (from the blurb): When Sarah Fortune, with her impeccable qualifications and chequered history, is sent to a small seaside town in Norfolk, she goes willingly. Sorting out the inheritance problems of the Pardoes, Merton-on-Sea’s premier family, promises to distance her from a claustrophobic relationship with Malcolm Cook. Sarah cannot bear to be a captive. But she soon discovers that guilt, insecurity, unrequited love and a touch of insanity afflict the Pardoes and the town, the legacy of a suicide that took place two years before, when Elizabeth Tysall, a beautiful woman with an uncanny resemblance to Sarah herself, walked into the sea and never came back...
I really don’t know what to make of this one. I don’t have a good history with Fyfield, having abandoned A Clear Conscience for lack of plot or character development.
On the one hand, I had no trouble picking this up again and again and finishing it. There was a good range of characters, all were flawed, so far so good. I loved the character of Mouse Pardoe, quietly insane and loving every minute of it. Sarah turned out to be bizarrely promiscuous (I say bizarrely because it really jumps out of nowhere, there is no reason for it, and it’s brushed off as “she used to be a call girl”), but apart from that was a pleasant and clever protagonist. Most of the rest of them are just a bit strange and undercooked. Whether the intention was to convey the isolation of a seaside village in Norfolk or not, it doesn’t really work. The characters cycled through their emotions very quickly and a little abruptly for my taste.
The setting was beautifully described and constantly evoked, there’s always the sound of waves or seagulls or strong wind off the North Sea, which made up for some of the character weaknesses in keeping a strong background.
In terms of plot, we switch between Sarah’s efforts in Merton-on-Sea and sub-plots including her relationship with Malcolm (who dwindles into such insignificance for the middle half of the book that I was very surprised when he came back later!), her recent history in which she was attacked, and her potential connection to Elizabeth Tysall. I felt that the construct of Malcolm and his family around the main plot was fairly superfluous, but the connection to Elizabeth was an interesting (and chilling) thread to have running through the book.
Readable, but the character development was pretty weak.
I really don’t know what to make of this one. I don’t have a good history with Fyfield, having abandoned A Clear Conscience for lack of plot or character development.
On the one hand, I had no trouble picking this up again and again and finishing it. There was a good range of characters, all were flawed, so far so good. I loved the character of Mouse Pardoe, quietly insane and loving every minute of it. Sarah turned out to be bizarrely promiscuous (I say bizarrely because it really jumps out of nowhere, there is no reason for it, and it’s brushed off as “she used to be a call girl”), but apart from that was a pleasant and clever protagonist. Most of the rest of them are just a bit strange and undercooked. Whether the intention was to convey the isolation of a seaside village in Norfolk or not, it doesn’t really work. The characters cycled through their emotions very quickly and a little abruptly for my taste.
The setting was beautifully described and constantly evoked, there’s always the sound of waves or seagulls or strong wind off the North Sea, which made up for some of the character weaknesses in keeping a strong background.
In terms of plot, we switch between Sarah’s efforts in Merton-on-Sea and sub-plots including her relationship with Malcolm (who dwindles into such insignificance for the middle half of the book that I was very surprised when he came back later!), her recent history in which she was attacked, and her potential connection to Elizabeth Tysall. I felt that the construct of Malcolm and his family around the main plot was fairly superfluous, but the connection to Elizabeth was an interesting (and chilling) thread to have running through the book.
Readable, but the character development was pretty weak.
August 25, 2014
This was my first Fyfield—an author recommended by a friend. Not sure I’ll follow it up. The novel’s full of invention, ingenious, elaborate—but to me it all felt a bit disconnected, jumping around. My imagination couldn’t keep up or hold it together. Perhaps I had the wrong expectations. In spite of the literary title, a quote from Robert Browning’s poem, Porphyria’s Lover, this isn’t really aiming to be literary fiction: it’s a; thriller, so a bit off my beat.
January 25, 2016
The first time I read this book was when it came out. Recently I was in the mood for a good British author--time to re-read Fyfield! Maybe this isn't her strongest offering, but I enjoyed it and will be looking for more.
July 24, 2011
Quite entertaining and a little different from run-of-the-mill crime books.
May 8, 2012
I generally enjoy books by this author, but this book felt somewhat disjointed to me. The characters seemed implausible to me, and the transitions were abrupt and confusing. I couldn't finish it.
January 3, 2016
Extremely well-plotted series of events unravel as Sarah Fortune uses her enviable talents to deal with a number of diverse and well-drawn characters. Thoroughly entertaining
August 12, 2013
Lots of surprises in this novel, not the least of which is the ending.
February 8, 2014
This book was ok. Set in England, second in a series , the characters seemed hard to like . Sarah had some serious issues and as the main thread of the story, it tainted everyone else.
April 22, 2014
All I can say is that it was not worth the read.
July 7, 2015
Fyfield writes some excellent mystery/crime novels all with an unexpected twist. This one was particularly creepy.
July 6, 2016
Good authoress but I don't like the style of her writing. Difficult to get into and overall not satisfying.
Read
April 3, 2018Oh dear. Sadly this book was not up my street.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews