The first of these, Chicken Feed was so well-written, but quite flawed: you know what happens right up front, so the suspense is all in how a mild-mannered young man could have been driven to murder. Walters, in an epilogue debates the facts briefly, as it's based on an actual crime.The second st...
For most of the past week, I ploughed through a W. Somerset Maugham collection with that signature pleasure one has in reading one short story after another. Maugham’s stories can wear thin after a while, however, owing to their formulaic structure. So I took a break for something completely diff...
Trust Minette Walters to choose a fresh approach to crime fiction that tears the envelope. This novel comes with photographs of the crime scene, charts and a map of the surrounding community, as well as an unlabeled foreword, a prologue and some clues. Whether the clues are real or not requires r...
A chilling story from a master of the crime/suspense genre. A monstrously obese woman is in prison having confessed and pled guilty to the murder and brutal dismembering of her mother and younger sister some years previously. A writer, who is dealing with emotional damages of her own, is assigned...
Im Nachhinein hatte ich mir wohl bei all dem Lob über diese Autorin etwas mehr von ihrem Schreibstil erwartet. Er ist keinesfalls das, was ich im klassischen Sinne unter "schlecht" verstehe. Die Autorin schreibt flüssig, anschaulich und vor allem Beschreibungen und Gespräche fand ich sehr gelunge...
Die 93jährige Lavinia Fanshaw und ihre Haushälterin wurden in ihrem Haus in dem kleinen Dorf Sowerbridge brutal ermordet. Sehr schnell fällt der Verdacht auf den arbeitslosen Iren Patrick O'Riordan, dessen Familie schon seit langem im Ort verachtet wird. Lediglich Siobham Lavenham, auch sie Irin,...
Rating: 2.875* of fiveThe Book Report: Mathilda Gillespie reminds me of my female relatives: Argumentative, judgmental, unforgiving, grudge-holding, snobbish...is it any wonder Mathilda turns up very, very dead? She's so dead, in fact, that no one with a grain of sense could mistake her overkilli...
Although Fox Evil is only second book I've read by Minette Walters, she is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors and there is already a few more of her books waiting on my bookshelf.The thing I have loved about this book is quite simply pretty much everything. One, the story itself. It's r...
Those of you who follow my reviews can see I've been on a bit of a Minette Walters kick. I've read three of her books in quick succession, with a pause to revisit a Plath biography. Even that pause was spurred by Walters, whose writing is characterized by strong women who go against societal expe...
After a recommendation from a friend, this is the firdt Minette Walters book I have read but I think this is the start of many more to come.'The Echo' follows a small time journalist, Michael Deacon, as he looks into the issue of homelessness for the political paper he writes for. When looking a...
After having adored other books by this writer, I was saving Acid Row for a treat. Each book she writes is different, but reliably excellent in terms of pacing, structure, characters, and plot elements, and there is always a very satisfying payoff. This book was a major disappointment in each of ...
this review refers to the audiobook version.Walters is a master of the convoluted mystery: whodunit is not only a matter of the puzzle, but a matter of the person. the candidates' character and psychology are inextricable from motive, means, and opportunity. this is what makes her books such grea...
Muna blamed the witchy-looking neighbour who rang the doorbell on the second morning. She invited herself inside and looked at Ebuka in surprise when he said he hadn’t heard from Yetunde. He explained that his wife had taken her clothes, suitcase and passport, and he assumed she planned to stay a...
Ranelagh against wasting police time Sir, As you know, Mrs. Ranelagh has made a number of accusations against Derek Slater, including: 1) harassing and murdering Ann Butts; 2) making abusive telephone calls to the Ranelagh household in the middle of the night and; 3) attempting to keep Mrs. Ranel...
ALAN PROTHEROE WIPED a weary hand across his face, then pushed himself out of his chair and wandered restlessly towards the window. Could he, hand on heart, say he believed anything Jinx told him? When what she claimed to remember could be as fantastic as she chose because there was no one left t...
The custom of the times was that men controlled themselves. It was only women who wept for the people they loved. Yet tears were coursing freely down Charles Luard’s cheeks. Far from the fit old man who had walked five or six miles the day before, Taylor was faced with a f...
Norman looked up from Bessie’s letter to see a stranger standing there. Hastily, he used the sleeve of his jumper to wipe tears from his eyes. ‘Can I help you?’ he asked. ‘Chief Inspector Gillan of Scotland Yard, Mr Thorne. I’m here to arrest you.’ ‘What for?’ ‘Involvement in the disappearance of...