A Grave Coffin - Hardcover

Butler, Gwendoline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002326388 ISBN 13: 9780002326384

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1998

Synopsis

Dying Words

Next to the body of the murdered police officer was a note with the scrawled words "Ask Coffin." But what is it that John Coffin, Commander of London's Second City police, is supposed to know?

The victim, Harry Seton, was investigating a ring of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and was also secretly looking into some internal police corruption. Did his cryptic message refer to either case? Or could it be a link to Coffin's other serious concern at the moment: the disappearance of four schoolboys, one of whom has been found murdered?

As Coffin begins to probe into his colleague's corruption investigation, he discovers a startling connection. The missing boys were related to members of the Second City force. As the mounting terror strikes closer to home, Coffin follows a dark trail to the places of deep evil . . . and ultimate sin.

About this title

About the Author:

Gwendoline Butler lives in Surrey, England, and has written over 20 mysteries featuring Scotland Yard's John Coffin.

From Publishers Weekly:

John Coffin, Chief Commander of the Second City of London Police and veteran of more than 20 novels (Coffin's Games; The Coffin Tree, etc.), has to juggle a secret assignment in addition to a serial-murder case in this absorbing police procedural in the classic manner. Trouble begins with the discovery of the mutilated body of detective Harry Seton, who was part of a special detail to eliminate British traffic and possible British manufacture of counterfeit pharmaceutical productsAand had been looking into police corruption. On orders from above, Coffin has to follow up on Seton's clandestine investigation into the latter case. Meanwhile, the commander has a gruesome set of schoolboy murders in his own patch. Particularly unsettling is that each boy had a parent connected in some way to the police. Coffin calls on the usual array of quirky personalities for support: Inspector Paddy Devlin, a striking woman who specializes in pederast cases; his chief adjutant, Paul Masters, whose white Pekinese, Augustus (possibly a police dog working undercover), barks and sniffs for important clues; and Coffin's actress wife, Stella Pinero, with her emotional unpredictability. In the end Coffin isn't sure who poses the greater threatASeton's killer or the deranged child-murderer. For readers new to the series, the author provides both a note explaining the inspiration for the setting ("Second City" corresponds to London's East End) and a helpful summary of Coffin's life and career. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0002326388
• ISBN 13: 9780002326384
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224