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When a woman's decomposed body is found in the aging barn of Oxford don Bridget Bennett's estate, Loretta knows her friend Bridget's shock is genuine. Unfortunately, the local constabulary are not so sure. And the tabloid press has a field day.

But when the police try to identify the dead woman and any possible connection to Bridget and her devoted husband, only Bridget seems alarmed at what might surface. Loretta tries to piece the puzzle together herself-with little success. Until a police blunder illuminates a dire suspicion she had all along....

"Here is crime fiction displaying its flexibility: working on disparate levels and contriving to be at once mysterious, entertaining and stimulating." - The Guardian
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 1, 2011
ISBN9781448207909
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Author

Joan Smith

Joan Alison Smith (born 27 August 1953, London) is an English novelist, journalist and human rights activist, who is a former chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN. Smith was educated at a state school before reading Latin at the University of Reading in the early 1970s. After a spell as a journalist in local radio in Manchester, she joined the staff of the Sunday Times in 1979 and stayed at the newspaper until 1984. She has had a regular column in the Guardian Weekend supplement, also freelancing for the newspaper and in recent years has contributed to The Independent, the Independent on Sunday, and the New Statesman. In her non-fiction Smith displays a commitment to atheism, feminism and republicanism; she has travelled extensively and this is reflected in her articles. In 2003 she was offered the MBE for her services to PEN, but refused the award. She is a supporter of the political organisation, Republic and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. In November 2011 she gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into press and media standards following the telephone hacking practiced by the News of the World. She testified that she considered celebrities thought they could control press content if they put themselves into the public domain when, in reality the opposite was more likely. She repeated a claim that she has persistently adhered to in her writings that the press is misogynistic.

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Rating: 3.1818181818181817 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had greatly enjoyed Joan Smith’s three previous books featuring academic Loretta Lawson, who also seems to find herself caught up in unusual murders. I have always enjoyed novels with an academic setting, and the independent and resourceful Loretta is a very empathetic character. Unfortunately. Although I enjoyed it, I felt that this book did not live up to its predecessors.It opens with a party at the house of Bridget Bennett, Loretta’s close friend, who recently married an American businessman. The marriage has signalled notable changes in the relationship between Loretta and Bridget, the latter now moving in elevated social strata, and enjoying a lifestyle that contrasts markedly with Loretta’s near penury. Bridget is also heavily pregnant with her first child.Loretta is not enjoying the party, having found few people whom she knows, and none apart from Bridget with whom she has any shared interests. She is on the point of making her excuses when her attention is caught by the screams of some of the children at the party, who have found the decaying remains of a woman’s body in one of the outhouses. A police investigation ensues, and Loretta becomes concerned at the strange, even hostile behaviour of Bridget.The mystery is duly resolved, with Loretta playing her part, but I felt that the story never quite got out of third gear.

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