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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
I have a very hard time with the five-star scale. I would much prefer to give this a 3.5, as I greatly enjoyed the overall tone of the book, the flow of the novel, the interaction of the characters. The story was engrossing and well-told, and I only guessed about half of the ending. Still, while it was on the higher end of "I liked it", it wasn't anything particularly special that will remain with me for a long time....
Maybe just too many different stories going on here. Might have worked better if they tied in somehow with the main murder. Still, not a bad storyline.
"When police detective Will Grayson and his partner, Helen Walker, investigate the violent death of Stephen Bryan, a gay academic, their first thoughts are of an ill-judged sexual encounter or a fatal lovers’ quarrel: The man’s face was like a glove that had been pulled inside out. But they soon shift focus to the book Bryan was writing about the life and mysterious death of fifties film star Stella Leonard. While Bryan’s sister puts herself in danger by conducting her own investigation, Grayson and Walker peel away the secrets of a family blighted by a lust for wealth and power and by its perverted sexuality."
"When police detective Will Grayson and his partner, Helen Walker, investigate the violent death of Stephen Bryan, a gay academic, their first thoughts are of an ill-judged sexual encounter or a fatal lovers’ quarrel: The man’s face was like a glove that had been pulled inside out. But they soon shift focus to the book Bryan was writing about the life and mysterious death of fifties film star Stella Leonard. While Bryan’s sister puts herself in danger by conducting her own investigation, Grayson and Walker peel away the secrets of a family blighted by a lust for wealth and power and by its perverted sexuality."
I enjoyed reading this book - quite a nice lot of intrigue and wondering whodunnit - but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to from the review I'd read.
Probably more a 3.5. Nice to have a book set somewhere you know, although not sure about the popping from Cambridge to Nottingham, bit further than the book suggested!
The author is one of my favorite English police procedural writers and this, a first book featuring a police detective duo in Cambridge, was a perfectly acceptable read. The plot and supporting characters were quite interesting though one of the two lead characters was a bit on the boring side.
Struggle to finish. Lots of filler that nobody cares about, slow pacing. Boring. My first and last book by this author.
Every Harvey book I read makes me like this writer more, and this one is no exception. Set in Cambridge, a body of a gay academic, Stephen Bryan, is found. Is it an encounter gone wrong? Detectives Will Grayson and Helen Walker consider the possibilities. There is an ex-lover, Mark McKusick, who seems to have remained on good terms with Bryan, but could he have been involved. What motive is there behind the removal of Bryan's computer, disks and papers on his book in progress. Why doesn't Stella Leonard's family want him writing about her? The questions are many, but the answers don't come easily. Stephen's sister, Lesley, a BBC radio reporter starts looking into the connection between the biography he was working on and his death. What about the hate crime against gays in the area? and does it have any relation to this case? Will is afraid of missing something by concentrating too hard on one perpetrator, but doesn't want to seem to be grasping at straws. The characters show real emotions and weaknesses and their suspicions are not always unbiased by their own backgrounds. I found it very engaging and hard to put down.