The Hireling's Tale

Castlemere #6

by Jo Bannister

Detectives Frank Shapiro, Liz Graham, and Donovan find themselves investigating a international business convention after a prostitute turns up dead in the Castlemere Canal, even as it becomes apparent that their own lives are in danger. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, British Literature, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 1999

About the author

Jo Bannister lives in Northern Ireland, where she worked as a journalist and editor on local newspapers. Since giving up the day job, her books have been shortlisted for a number of awards. Most of her spare time is spent with her horse and dog, or clambering over archaeological sites. She is currently working on a new series of psychological crime/thrillers.

Reviews

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

Another excellent book, the sixth in the series and the third I've read. I'm now actively searching for the first three books about the Castlemere detectives which all seem to be out of print.

Bannister's talent is to bring large events to a small town and yet make them seem realistic there. Other series flag when one extreme event after another breaks the bounds of credulity but I haven't felt any of that from this series. In this book it seems as if a hired assassin is on the loose in Castlemere, hardly a common occurence in East Anglia, and the trio of detectives recognise that this is unusual but get on with their jobs in the best way they can.

Once again it's the relationship between the three detectives that really holds the book together. The sergeant, the inspector and the superintendent are such different characters and their interactions with each other and with the outside world are drawn very believably. They seem to have all the failings of real people and few of the failings of other fictional characters.

(this is book 6 in the castlemere series)

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual I enjoyed the friendship between Shapiro, Graham, and Donovan, but otherwise this book was brutal. And a car and foot chase involving a paid assassin went on too long and was not believable.

First read when it came out in the 1990s.

[Carliss Hyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jo Bannister never disappoints!

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Castlemere mystery with a great plot

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read other jo bannister books before and really enjoyed them but they were of the brodie farrell series and had never read one of the shapiro/donovan/graham series. this story took me a few chapters to get into (I know that is terrible english) but the more I read the more I enjoyed it and really found it quite suspenseful and a page turner at the end. I do have a penchant for british murder mysteries however this one certainly stands on its own.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from this author.

[Evadne Martin-Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read! True to life, not all the good get to live. But at least one badman got his just deserts.