Prize
Murder
Montague Pluke Murder Mystery #6
by Nicholas Rhea
Brent Fowler is thrilled to learn he won a prize, especially as he cannot remember entering any competitions. He
can at last realize his dream and spend a weekend at a country manor as part of a shooting party. But a week later,
his mother cannot imagine why he has not come home - is something amiss with her son’s good fortune? Enter DI
Montague Pluke for his sixth case!
Nicholas Rhea is the pen name of Peter N Walker, the writer of a vast
body of literature including the Constable series that inspired
one of Britain’s best-loved (and longest running) TV series, Heartbeat.
This is a fairly new series, about the cases of Pluke, who is a
pathologically superstitious eccentric with an extensive knowledge
of horse troughs. As this is a story that deals with pedophiles
you might expect it to be dark, but this author could probably make
a story about anything seem cozy, and this is just what he does
with his own special magic. If you like detective stories where
the reader solves the puzzle along with the sleuth then you might
be disappointed, as it is obvious what is going on and it is just
Pluke doing the solving a la Columbo. Dominating much of
the narrative is the sad character of Mrs. Fowler, making the murder
seem less of a puzzle and more a part of a real life, albeit that
of a dangerous pedophile. The result is an interesting mix of opposites
blended into a rather unusual whole, as the old fashioned, oddball
and cozy world of the protagonist charges headlong into the brash,
scary world of modern crime and wins through.
Reviews of other titles in this series
A
Full Churchyard #5
Prize Murder #6 |
The Book |
Constable
Crime |
9
November 2006 |
Hardcover |
ISBN13:
9781845293758
ISBN10: 1845293754 |
Crime
- Contemporary, Yorkshire, UK |
More
at Amazon UK |
The Reviewer |
Rachel
A Hyde |
Reviewed
2006 |
|