Malice in the Highlands

Erskine Powell #1

by Graham Thomas

Crime, investigation and punishment are all in a day's work to Detective-Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell of New Scotland Yard's Murder Squad. Now, seeking distance from criminal concerns, Powell embarks on a salmon-fishing competition in the Scottish Highlands. But there, in the castle-dotted countryside along the picturesque River Spey, a cold-blooded murderer soon turns Powell's haven into a busman's holiday - and a quiet anglers' paradise becomes just as deadly as the mean streets of London.

Genres: Mystery, Scotland, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Mystery Thriller

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1998

About the author

Pseudonym of Gordon Kosakoski, 1950-2008.
Wrote five novels.

Reviews

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the book jacket: Detective Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell of New Scotland Yard [is] a member of the New Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad in London. Now, seeking distance from criminal concerns, Powell embarks on a salmon-fishing competition in the Scottish Highlands. But there, in the castle-dotted countryside along the picturesque River Spey, a cold-blooded murderer soon turns Powell’s haven into a busman’s holiday – and a quiet anglers’ paradise becomes just as deadly as the mean streets of London.

My reactions
Thank heavens the author’s writing is NOT so overwrought as the book jacket blurb!

This is a police-procedural mystery with a likeable lead character. It’s clear that Powell needs a vacation and really wants nothing more than to enjoy his holiday in peace. But he’s drawn in when the wealthy Canadian owner of an estate next to the resort is fished out of the river by one of the tourists, and the local coroner determines that his death was NOT an accidental drowning. The laird’s daughter and servants aren’t very forthcoming or cooperative, the resort lodge’s staff and owner are similarly tight-lipped, and Powell gets drawn into the case however reluctantly.

There are plenty of suspects, and a mishmash of clues and subplots to keep things interesting. I did not solve the case ahead of Powell and was happy to be surprised by how things turned out. At least as far as whodunit is concerned. What happened after the reveal was a little less satisfying, as I didn’t feel it showed how a true Yard detective would have behaved.

Still, it was a thoroughly satisfying mystery, and I would read more of this series.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I turned with some relief to this after struggling with a ridiculous bit of experimental modernism that wasn't working for me at all, and this crime novel was exactly what I expected it to be--solid, unsurprising, functional, snack food for the mind. Nothing wrong with that once in a while.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Crime, investigation, punishment. They're all in a day's work to Detective-Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell of New Scotland Yard. As a member of the Yard's Murder Squad, Powell tracks miscreants all over London.

"Now, seeking distance from criminal concerns, Powell embarks on a salmon-fishing competition in the Scottish Highlands. But there, in the castle-dotted countryside along the picturesque River Spey, a cold-blooded murderer soon turns Powell's haven into a busman's holiday -- and a quiet anglers' paradise becomes just as deadly as the mean streets of London."
~~back cover

Oh boy! (Insert picture of me rubbing my hands in glee.) A murder mystery in the Highlands. My favorite genre in one of my favorite parts of the world -- it doesn't get any better than this! And it is indeed a lovely mystery ... no clues making sense throughout the entire book, until the twist at the end. It just doesn't get any better than this!

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st in the Scotland Yard Detective Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell mystery series. Powell is taking his yearly salmon fishing vacation in the Scottish Highlands and it quickly turns into a busman's holiday with the murder of the wealthy owner of a near by estate. He is brought in to help local Scottish authorities investigate the murder.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the police procedural aspect of this one. I liked the setting. The tired, disillusioned police man felt a little over done.
The solution was a bit of a surprise, but other characters seemed to have known it for a while. So I was left feeling like I missed something.
Overall, not awful, but not a favorite.

[Graham Mowbray]

This is a sort of throw back story, I had to check a couple of times that it hadn’t been written early last century. It has a Sherlock Holmes feel. There is a large cast of characters yet the story takes a slightly unbelievable twist in order that, things come together in the end.

[Meagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book did not make sense at all I recommend ready to go back to school

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fly fishing in Scotland. The married detective on holiday, Erskine Powell, seems on the verge of infidelity.

[Liette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a first book and it’s not set in a large city, which brought a little extra to the plot.

[Kabrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the first book by a new-to-me author always is an exciting experience. Will I like the style? Will the story be well-plotted, the characters believable and interesting?
This one had me hooked as soon as I came upon this paragraph in the prologue:
When she was certain that she had it right, she sucked in her breath and began to flail about with her salmon rod in yet another attempt to fling her fly into the river where the salmon resided, as opposed to the bushes behind her. In a final climactic thrust, accompanied by the sort of spirited grunt usually associated with American tennis stars, she let fly. When the leaves had settled, her line looked like a cat's cradle woven amongst the brambles.


Also, I already had to look up two words in a dictiononary!
- Framed by steep headlands were three perfect arches of pink granite, spanning the river like the trajectory, frozen in space and time, of some leaping Brobdingnagian salmon.
- Powell and Warburton were enjoying a postprandial smoke when Barrett joined them.

[G. Munson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with the thought: "I wonder if mysteries are really about making everyone look guilty and throwing in random newly discovered information from time to time to mix it up". Turns out, with this book my thinking was right on. It was a bit like reading a game of clue, really. Anyone could have been guilty, but in the end it all felt a bit random. I still liked it but felt a bit disappointed when it was over. There seemed to be nothing wholly original about it, and this is from someone who has never read a mystery before. Having lived in the UK, I did love the little reminders of British life so I have every intention of reading a couple more of his books (and not just because I've already bought them...well, maybe a little bit). Not a bad read, really.

[Pontiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the one in Cornwall, which was a bit off the wall.

Fun friendship/rivalry between Erskine and Alex, neat characters running the inn they stayed in, and a view into salmon fishing to boot.

I like how the victim was seen as evil, honest, and sober/drunk, depending on who told the story. I really like John Sanders, the Canadian reporter, and Nigel, the inn owner and friend. I hoped neither one of them was the killer.

The murderer wasn't on my radar, I had someone else pegged, not any of those mentioned as suspects specifically. But, all of the theories of the detectives were wrong, as well as my own guess, until Erskine finally figures it out at the end.

Good story, have one more to read, looking forward to it.

[F · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was persistent and I finished every word of the novel to find out who murdered Charles Murray, the Canadian millionaire who had recently retired to the Highlands. Some of the previous book reviews online mentioned the overkill on the subject of fly fishing, and I am in total agreement in respect with that particular sport narration. However, I got totally disgusted with the last few chapters of the book in regard to the discussions revolving around mining stock promotions and short sales. One needs a degree in business finance to fully appreciate all the author details in the novel plot. I understand this is the author's first novel, maybe the remainder of his series sees improvement.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a very good mystery - most of the negative thoughts about it were because the editing was so poor - don't know if this was a function of the Kindle translation or just bad editing, but it was distracting and annoying. The plot itself was okay, but there were so many red herrings, that the ending was something of a surprise. The surprise being that there was anyone left to suspect of the murder! Not recommended.

[Sallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book and another by this author (Malice in Cornwall) at my local used bookstore. Never heard of the author before, but I enjoyed this book. The mystery was interesting and not too obvious, and the setting and description of the setting was my cuppa tea. I do love Scotland - highlands and lowlands and islands - all of it.

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more atmospheric narrative, but was disappointed. However, this is a okay police procedural. Unfortunately, it really got bogged down in all the details about fly fishing. I got bored with all the talk of rods and salmon.

I did like the personal aspects of the main character, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one.

[WhatShouldIRead]

I read half of this book and found the reading very dry. The fishing references were OK and I didn't mind them, but I did not get a good sense of place and found the Inspector to be just borderline interesting. The mystery itself was nothing exceptional, either. Because of that I have put the book aside.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll read more of this author's books to see if the puzzles get better, but the mystery in this one was too darned easy to solve. I wasn't sure of the motive, but the killer clearly stood out in the first 100 pages because the character just didn't fit into the story unless he was the killer.

[Helen Hills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Surprise ending...I had someone elase entirely picked as the villain. The book lurches around a bit, but if you can keep your balance it's a pleasant read. Good enough to download the second in the series to my iPad Kindle app.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in the series of Erskine Powell mysteries. I really like the main character, and I enjoyed the setting of this book. I wasn't as fond of the financial storyline. I enjoyed his other 2 books more, probably because I didn't enjoy all the talk about the financial world.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took this to read on a long day in a hospital waiting room. It was a perfect choice to ward off boredom without requiring much in the way of concentration. The setting was beautiful.

[Melissa Acuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, set in the Scottish Highlands.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting is near the location of my daughter's wedding.

[Julie]

i liked this the best of the series

[Val Sanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This mystery didn't hold my attention at all. The Scottish backdrop was I'll-used in trite and expected wats, lending a clumsy and choppy cadence to a cast of flat characters.

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a novel with that much salmon fishing. End is a bit ridiculous. Not enticed into reading any of the sequels.

[Cws]

M Tho

[Gail Richmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid murder/detective novel; Scotland Yard in the Scottish Highlands. Entertaining!