Death on the Rocks - Hardcover

Wright, Eric

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312205252 ISBN 13: 9780312205256

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 1999

Synopsis

When private detective Lucy Trimble is retained by Greta Golden to find the identity of the ominous lurking stranger who Greta is certain is following her, it doesn't appear to be too challenging a mystery. Lucy has no trouble learning who her client's pursuer is: a British investigator has been engaged to probe into Greta's life. But the question of what he is trying to discover about Greta, and why, begins to truly complicate the case. This revelation soon opens up further questions about Greta's own identity and, more specifically, the identities of her mother and father. Lucy's investigation leads her to Cornwall, England, where there still live witnesses to Greta's birth and her father's death. Lucy slowly begins to put the fragments of the puzzle together, but it is only when Greta joins Lucy in England that she is able to find the missing piece, and begins to confront her own rapidly evolving and more complicated personal life.

About this title

About the Author

Eric Wright was born in England but immigrated to Canada as a young man and settled in Toronto. For a number of years he taught English literature, and he has written for television and magazines as well as his Charlie Salter detective novels. The first of these, The Night the Gods Smiled, won the John Creasey Award in Britain for best first novel. His third novel, Death in the Old Country, also won the Arthur Ellis Award. Eric Wright is married, with two daughters, who also live in Toronto.

Reviews

In his second Lucy Trimble mystery (after Death of a Sunday Writer), WrightAauthor of the popular Charlie Salter seriesAtests his unseasoned detective with a couple of perplexing cases. Canadian sleuth Lucy is hired by well-to-do Greta Golden to find out more about a man who is hanging around asking questions about her. When Lucy goes undercover and meets him, she finds out he's a fellow detective and gets him to reveal that he was hired by a British law firm to investigate Greta's background, as she may be an heir to a recently deceased and wealthy man. Greta has always thought she was an only child with no living relatives, so she is intrigued to learn she may have family members in England. She rehires Lucy, this time to fill in the gaps in her parents' histories. In Britain, Lucy exhumes an old story of two sisters and the man they loved, a tale of jealousy and murder. A subplot involving the odd behavior of a drugstore owner adds a riddle to this otherwise straightforward mystery. Though Wright's descriptions of Canada and England aren't exceptional, his well-rounded characters, lyric if low-key prose and subtle humor transforms Lucy's burgeoning caseload into a piece of satisfying suspense. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Second in a series featuring Torontos p.i. Lucy Trimble (Death of a Sunday Writer, not reviewed), a 49-year-old divorce whos presently having doubts about her affair with horse- trainer Johnny Comstock, and whos about to take on a new case at her fledgling agency. Greta Golden, a dealer in native crafts, wants to know the identity and purpose of the man whos been following her and asking questions about her for several days. Greta is 40, tall, and attractive, but Lucy senses more than a shy admirerand so it proves to be when she manages to make personal contact with the stranger. Hes Michael Curnow, a detective from England, working for Tucker and Tucker, a firm of solicitors in Ilwich. Curnow is to find out all he can about Gretas parentage: her mother June is dead, and an Aunt Rose hasnt been heard from in ages. A dozen interviews with family contacts over the years, climaxed by a trip to England, finally brings answers to all of Lucys questionsin a string of bizarre revelations. Despite the agreeably unhackneyed prose, and some cleverly done minor characters, the narrative begins to sag halfway through and never recovers crispness and clarity as events stumble to their absurd conclusion. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Wright has written nearly a dozen mysteries featuring Canadian detective Charlie Salter. Now he debuts a new series with Lucy Trimble, a suburban housewife who has left her philandering husband and set up her own detective agency in Toronto. Lucy quickly learns that her previously sheltered existence has barely prepared her for the sordid real world. Lucy's client, Greta Golden, is being followed by a mysterious stranger, whom Lucy is hired to identify. Soon Lucy finds herself involved in a paternity case and a sinister, decades-old death. Her investigation takes her from a Toronto craft fair to the cliffs of England's Cornwall, and in the process, she not only discovers the identity of the mysterious stranger but she also reunites Greta with a family she never knew she had. Wright's latest is a cleverly plotted, engaging story with a heroine who's oddly naive but sweetly appealing. There's not much action or suspense, but for those who enjoy British cozies, this one is a treat. Emily Melton

Death of a Sunday Writer (Foul Play, 1996) introduced a new series featuring a part-time librarian who inherits a Toronto detective agency. In her second case, Lucy Trimble searches for a suspicious man who has been asking questions about her client, a pottery wholesaler. Recommended for all collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312205252
• ISBN 13: 9780312205256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240