Today’s team review is from Cathy.
Cathy blogs here https://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/
Cathy has been reading In Cases Of Murder by Jan Edwards.
In Cases of Murder is the fourth outing for Bunch Courtney. Set during WWII, the Courtney’s home, Perringham Hall has been requisitioned by a secret division of the military which means Bunch is living at the Dower House with her grandmother. Her father is away in London for most of the time in an advisory capacity, and her desperately ill mother in a nursing home. It’s left to Bunch to run the estate with the help of a group of Land Girls. She also acts as a civilian consultant to the police, having assisted Chief Inspector Wright on more than one occasion, and it seems he needs her help again.
‘“There’s a telephone call, Miss. Chief Inspector Wright.”
Wright? What could he want? “Thank you. Tell the Inspector I’ll call him back.”
“He did say it was urgent, Miss. He called twice while you were out.”
‘“Did he indeed.” She tried a few passes of the brush across Perry’s ample rump but the moment was gone. It’s not Knapp’s fault, but dammit all the same. “All right, tell him I shall be in directly.” She tossed the brushes through the tack-room door and turned to scrub her knuckles against the sprinkle of white hairs between the Fell Pony’s eyes.’
A young woman’s body has been discovered in shocking circumstances. The police have confirmed her name as Laura Jarman and are aware of her address but the family, particularly her father, are proving to be uncooperative. DCI Wright wonders if perhaps someone local with social connections might be helpful in gathering information he’s not able to access. This latest murder has distinct similarities to several previous unsolved cases and then yet another body is discovered, again with similarities, and this young woman was Laura’s flatmate, Kitty.
Bunch’s life isn’t easy with her father rarely at home and her mother’s condition deteriorating rapidly, not to mention the challenges and dangers of war time Britain. Clues and tidbits of information are garnered slowly in this complex case, adding to an emerging picture of the people involved and the crimes themselves. Leading further afield that was expected, they were taken on a convoluted trail involving munitions factories and London clubs. The link between Laura and Kitty and gentlemen’s private parties remains elusive.
Bunch is a very likable character. She’s nobody’s fool, her heart is in the right place and she’s not averse to taking risks now and again even if she does get seriously reprimanded by Wright. Bunch still finds him difficult to fathom. She’s drawn to him but has no idea how he feels. The murder mystery is researched and set out well, characters are depicted realistically, and the nearness of war is always present adding to the intensity of life in general. In Cases of Murder is a very enjoyable addition to this series.
When the body of Laura Jarman is discovered crammed into a steamer trunk and dumped on a Brighton railway platform, members of her wealthy industrialist family are shouting for answers, but their reluctance to co-operate with the investigation arouses suspicion from all sides.
What could possibly link Laura to private gentlemen’s parties on the edge of sleepy Wyncombe village, and what are her family so desperate to conceal?
When Laura’s London flatmate is murdered in an almost identical style, Bunch Courtney and DCI William Wright find themselves racing along a convoluted trail through munitions factories and London clubs to a final shocking end.
AmazonUK |
Rosie Amber 