It was in the most part, quite good, but this book does have its problems.
Convincing the reader, that a grown man can live entirely undetected in a stranger's (host's) house, for weeks, sometimes months on end, was just too much. In fact, I almost gave up at that point, and with a few to many coincidences stretching the boundaries of belief, you might wonder why I kept going.
The answer to that is in the strength of the writing.
Talking of coincidences: The main character, Stella Darnell, happens to run a cleaning company, who cleans for a woman, who lived next door to the woman who was murdered in the early eighties, that her deceased father investigated, (when he was a detective in the Met police) but never solved, that Stella subsequently finds out he was still investigating, when he mysteriously dies.
Then we discover, that her latest employee, is the dead woman's son, and has an intolerance for the colour she has just chosen for her new uniforms, to the point where he vomits.
Then, Stella starts to date her (spoiler alert) dentist, who turns out to be our murderer!
Suffice to say, I won't be reading any more of this Lesley Thomson series, but based on her ability to set a scene, to create believable dialogue and plonk the reader smack bang in the middle of a very believable, cold and depressing London during a miserable winter, means that I will endeavour to read something else by the author.
Talking of coincidences: The main character, Stella Darnell, happens to run a cleaning company, who cleans for a woman, who lived next door to the woman who was murdered in the early eighties, that her deceased father investigated, (when he was a detective in the Met police) but never solved, that Stella subsequently finds out he was still investigating, when he mysteriously dies.
Then we discover, that her latest employee, is the dead woman's son, and has an intolerance for the colour she has just chosen for her new uniforms, to the point where he vomits.
Then, Stella starts to date her (spoiler alert) dentist, who turns out to be our murderer!
Suffice to say, I won't be reading any more of this Lesley Thomson series, but based on her ability to set a scene, to create believable dialogue and plonk the reader smack bang in the middle of a very believable, cold and depressing London during a miserable winter, means that I will endeavour to read something else by the author.
The finale was both creepy, fast paced and revealing in equal measure.
Her sense of place and description of the capital, had me thinking of another crime novel I read recently, (J.K.Rowling's, The Cuckoo's Calling), which I think, is praise indeed.
Only three stars for this one then, but just enough for me to remember the name, Lesley Thomson.
Oh, and congratulation to Emily May, fellow blogger from 'The Book Geek', on the birth of her first child. I wait with baited breath, for her book review of 'The Hungry Caterpillar'
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