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    Crime Fiction for Beginners
    Crime Fiction for Beginners
    Crime Fiction for Beginners
    Ebook266 pages3 hours

    Crime Fiction for Beginners

    By Gervase Shorter

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Attractive, blonde Detective Inspector Harriet Ware of the Met is assigned to investigate the murder of Larry Barlow, a publisher found strangled in a Whitechapel alleyway. Press reports of the murder alert three authors who are bitterly resentful of Larry's arrogant rejection of their manuscripts. All are connected in some way with the mystery of his death. They are:

    Maud Jackson, who is writing romantic Regency fiction about how the aristocratic Lady Cynthia Cavendish-Harcourt foils the matrimonial intrigues of Jocelyne Bracegirdle, a nouveau riche rival.

    Hector Treadgold is writing a science fiction epic in which the last survivors from Earth are making their way through space to the planet they mean to colonise, fighting off reptilian robots from the Ozkon empire en route.

    Juliet Transom writes about her heroine Lohana's adventures and mystical experiences in former and future lives.

    A fourth author, Gregory Scofield, is rewriting a cold war thriller he wrote in the 80s.

    As the murder investigation proceeds, Harriet interviews Larry's partners, wife, lawyer, mistress and wife's uncle and tries to guess what crucial information they are hiding. She reviews the autopsy and scene of the crime reports but they provide few clues. Then there is Larry’s file of threats and hate letters. Were some of them written by disgruntled would-be authors or by someone else? Meanwhile, her assistant Jim Rose searches for the Chinese restaurant where Larry had dinner shortly before he was murdered.

    But, in this world of would-be writers, all is very far from being what it seems ...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGervase Shorter
    Release dateApr 26, 2011
    ISBN9781458168535
    Crime Fiction for Beginners
    Author

    Gervase Shorter

    Born in England, Gervase spent his military service hunting terrorists through the forests of Mount Kenya. After studying medieval history at Oxford he caught the Transiberian train to Vladivostok on his way to Japan, where he lived for four years. He travelled back to Europe overland and then spent three years in Lisbon, moving in 1973 to Rio de Janeiro where he now divides his time between an apartment overlooking the lagoon and a farm 3,000 feet up in the mountains where he grows bananas, avocados, persimmon and pecan nuts. He is married with four adult children.

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    • 4/5
      This was a gentle and quick read, devoured in a morning accompanied by a cup of tea! We enter the story with the murder already committed. The body identified by a fellow colleague. Readers are then taken along a journey of establishing what kind of character the deceased was, potential suspects, motive and then finally evidence. Having established that the author works within the publishing business we are then presented with a series of strands. Strands that are represented as writings by would be authors and the reasons those would be authors would perhaps have for wanting this man dead. We get to know through various snippets the lives of the would be author's and with each snippet, just perhaps their individual motive builds......I won't share more with you of the who done it, to find the answers you need to read it for yourselves! Except to say this. The strands that build up the storyline are good ones, the entrance from a character that I shall call Mr X was a very clever twist to the storyline. The characters of the potential suspects I felt were real and I liked the depth given to them through there would be writing and the details of their domestics. The character of the victim shone through, and it was clear to see just what kind of individual he was. The characters who represented the police - Jim and Harriet, who set about solving the murder are felt to be solid and I think these characters have the potential to be developed further into a series involving the two police investigators.All in all, I enjoyed the book and do hope the author develops the characters of Harriet and Jim.Small print - I received an eBook copy from the author. I was not paid for the review and the review is my genuine opinion of the book.

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    Crime Fiction for Beginners - Gervase Shorter

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