April 19, 2010
At the start of this absorbing entry in Turnbull's long-running Vale of York police series (Informed Consent
, etc.), a man out for his morning stroll happens on the frozen body of an elegantly dressed woman seated on a grassy canal bank. Bruise marks on the woman's neck suggest foul play. She has no handbag, but a two-year-old utility bill carefully tucked in her shoe may provide a clue to her killer. When Det. Chief Insp. George Hennessey and Det. Sgt. Somerled Yellich investigate, they discover that the victim had worked as a companion to a number of elderly men. In each case, she'd used a different name, worn a wig, and departed with her charge's valuables. Reports of a strange Canadian gentleman in the area add to the mystery. Yellich and a detective constable travel to Ontario in search of answers. This well-plotted procedural takes several sudden twists and turns before reaching the surprise ending.
May 1, 2010
The death of a Yorkshire housewife turns into an international chase for George Hennessey (Informed Consent, 2009, etc.) and his team.
DCI Hennessey is surprised to find that the corpse found on the canal towpath, a woman who'd been held captive in a storage bin and starved for two days prior to her murder, was Edith Hemmings, the stay-at-home wife of Stanley Hemmings, an undermanager in a biscuit factory who lived in the modest but respectable neighborhood of Dringhouses. DS Somerled Yellich and DC Reg Webster are somewhat less surprised to find that Edith, known then as Julia Avrill, had worked before her marriage at Lakeside, Alexander Beattie's isolated country house, where she stole items of considerable value. Even less surprising, given the manner of her death, is the discovery that she was being stalked by a tall Canadian in a fur hat and tartan coat. Tracking down Julia's passport, DC Carmen Pharoah discovers that she hailed from Barrie, Ontario. So Yellich and DC Thomson Ventnor are dispatched overseas, where Barrie Homicide Unit's Aiden McLeer teams them with Francophone Marianne Auphan, even though everyone they interview turns out to speak English. Together they unearth a Julia whose checkered past makes more sense of her sordid end some 3,000 miles from her birthplace.
As usual, it takes a village to solve a crime. Hennessey's squad works like a well-oiled machine, with a little help from its Canadian friends.
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June 1, 2010
The discovery of a middle-aged woman's frozen body on a York park bench sets detectives Hennessey and Yellich ("Informed Consent") off on a complicated search for a murderer. VERDICT As usual, Turnbull strings his readers along, reeling out clues as he goes. An engrossing procedural for Anglophiles.
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2010
When a man walking in the woods finds the frozen body of a middle-aged woman sitting on a bench, it appears to be an accident. Closer inspection reveals marks on the neck and a piece of paper hidden in her shoe. DCI George Hennessey and his team of Yorkshire detectives begin investigating this strange crime. They discover that the victim is from Canada and that a mysterious Canadian man was looking for her before she died. The clues lead to a small town in Ontario. The frigid winters of Yorkshire and northern Ontario provide an appropriate setting for this grim tale. Throughout this long-running series, Turnbull has delivered engaging writing, involving plots, memorable characters, and realistic descriptions of police work. Fans of John Harveys Charlie Resnick series and Peter Robinsons Alan Banks novels will enjoy Hennessey and Yellich.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)