The thirteenth book in the bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series, from the author of classic detective fiction and gripping psychological thrillers including End in Tears and Thirteen Steps Down. Love your neighbour as yourself...
The thirteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford.The raven- not a particularly predatory bird, but far from soft and submissive, adopted as the symbol of a militant feminist group...Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he was merely doing a neighbourly good deed when he agreed to talk to Joy Williams about her missing husband. He certainly didn't expect to be investigating a most unusual homicide.Rodney Williams was neither handsome nor wealthy - but he had an unerring eye for a pretty girl and when he disappeared and two other men were later attacked by a young woman, Wexford couldn't help wondering if there was a connection. If there wasn't, where was Rodney Williams and why had he vanished? He had committed no crime - apart from telling his wife the occasional lie...
The LJ review has nothing to do with this murder mystery. This book is a typical British mystery with quite a twist at the end. This was a quick read and the first of this series that I read. I would like to go back to the first to see how the characters relationships developed.
What a joy to read a whole book without a single cell phone, but I have to ask if there really was an Apricot computer line in England. Great story with twists, really likeable characters, bigamy, two women we feel justified in hating, pubescent girl predator who is ugly and bald but still successful, and only a little too much explanation at the end. DO READ THIS!
I don't think the previous reviewer actually read the book. This won't spoil anything for you when you read this book, but I offer a little background/insight. One of the side stories is about a group that modeled itself after Arria who was a woman in ancient Rome. Her husband, Caecina Paetus, was ordered by the emperor Claudius to commit suicide for his part in a rebellion but was not capable of forcing himself to do so, so Arria killed herself to demonstrate how easy is is if one is not a coward. The book creates a symbol for the flag of the ARRIA club (remember, fictional radical women's group) that shows a raven with the face of a woman. A group of ravens is called an unkindness in the same way a group of crows is called a murder, a groups of whales is called a pod, or a group of goats is called a flock.
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Add a CommentThe LJ review has nothing to do with this murder mystery. This book is a typical British mystery with quite a twist at the end. This was a quick read and the first of this series that I read. I would like to go back to the first to see how the characters relationships developed.
What a joy to read a whole book without a single cell phone, but I have to ask if there really was an Apricot computer line in England. Great story with twists, really likeable characters, bigamy, two women we feel justified in hating, pubescent girl predator who is ugly and bald but still successful, and only a little too much explanation at the end. DO READ THIS!
I don't think the previous reviewer actually read the book. This won't spoil anything for you when you read this book, but I offer a little background/insight. One of the side stories is about a group that modeled itself after Arria who was a woman in ancient Rome. Her husband, Caecina Paetus, was ordered by the emperor Claudius to commit suicide for his part in a rebellion but was not capable of forcing himself to do so, so Arria killed herself to demonstrate how easy is is if one is not a coward. The book creates a symbol for the flag of the ARRIA club (remember, fictional radical women's group) that shows a raven with the face of a woman. A group of ravens is called an unkindness in the same way a group of crows is called a murder, a groups of whales is called a pod, or a group of goats is called a flock.
What does it mean if you wear a raven with the head of a woman and what does it have to do with murder?