Synopsis
The charming English village of Ferne Basset is turned upside down by the murder of local man who had recently witnessed the "suicide" of a young woman who was in trouble with the law
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Reviews
Graham's eighth novel (which follows Faithful Unto Death) masterfully recounts the effects of loveAor its absenceAon a diverse group of people, including her series detective, Inspector Tom Barnaby. In the peaceful English village of Ferne Basset, Ann Lawrence has a row with Carlotta, one of the young felons her husband, the former vicar, is sheltering. After she accuses the girl of stealing her heirloom earrings, she and the young woman take their fight to the village's picturesque bridge, where Carlotta falls into the river. Seeing this and hearing the girl yell, "Don't push," Charlie Leathers decides to blackmail Ann when the girl's body doesn't surface. However, the morning after the payoff, Barnaby, whose silver wedding anniversary is almost upon him, is summoned to learn that the unpleasant Charlie has been garroted and his dog, Candy, roughed up and left to die. When another blackmail note arrives, Ann decides that even though she's withdrawn the money, she won't pay up. However, she is attacked before she can return it to the bank, and the cash is stolen. In order to sort out who would kill ne'er-do-well Charlie, what happened to Carlotta and who attacked Ann, Barnaby and his team must peel away the layers of secrets harbored in the village. Those secrets, rendered in poignant detail, concern the various types of love that exist in Ferne Basset. Graham is a master of pacing, and her dialogue is dark and worldly-wise enough to make this much fuller fare than most English-village cozies. (Oct.) FYI: The Inspector Barnaby series has been adapted for television by A&E.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Another gem in the diadem of Graham's tales, set in the English village of Ferne Basset (Faithful Unto Death, 1998, etc.)territory covered by Inspector Tom Barnaby and his sensitive but cloddish Sergeant Gavin Troy. The village has been shaken by the discovery, deep in the woods, of the strangled body of old Charlie Leathers. Charlie did odd jobs for several of the villagers, among them writer Valentine Fainlight and his sister Louise, who live in an architect's dream of a glass house next to Lionel and Ann Lawrence. Lionel, once a practicing vicar, now devotes himself to saving hopelessly errant young people. One is handsome, corrupt young Jax, who lives over the Lawrence garagea magnet to Valentine, anathema to Louise and Ann. Another is teenager Carlotta. After living with the Lawrences for a time, Carlotta has disappeared after a quarrel with Ann, who now finds herself a blackmail target. Barnaby and Troy, getting nowhere with the Leathers killing, turn their attention to Carlotta, tracking her to London, where they meet her friend Tanya Walker but find no trace of their quarry. Meantime, Ann Lawrence decides to ignore the blackmailer and leave her loveless marriage, only to become the victim of a savage attack that leaves her near death. It takes another actual death before secret lives are uncovered and loose ends neatly tied, allowing Barnaby to celebrate, somewhat ambivalently, his 25th wedding anniversary. The author's sharp characters and complex but believable plotting are in full play here, to the reader's delight. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
For fans of gentle British mysteries, a new Chief Inspector Barnaby novel is cause for celebration. When an unpleasant (and disliked) man is found dead in the village of Ferne Basset, Barnaby is presented with a seemingly motiveless murder. His investigation is complicated by the fact that another resident of the village, a young woman, has disappeared. Are the two cases connected?Featuring an assortment of quirky, eccentric, and (in some cases) menacing characters, the novel is not for readers who expect a crime novel to be fast paced and violent. The Barnaby novels are quiet, polite, inoffensive, and, in their way, thoroughly charming. We get to know the folks of Ferne Basset, and, like Barnaby, we begin to wonder: Is one of them a killer? Which one? And we try to figure out who it is before Barnaby can. Gentle, yes, but intensely pleasurable reading. David Pitt
British Inspector Barnaby investigates the murder of a seemingly harmless village resident. Evidently, the victim may have witnessed the suspect death of a troubled young woman. This fine procedural series has been adapted for television by A&E.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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A Place of Safety
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Condition: acceptable. This copy has clearly been enjoyedâ"expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong, and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps. Seller Inventory # DBV.0312244193.A
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A Place of Safety
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Condition: Good. [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ][ Ships Daily ] [ Underlining/Highlighting: NONE ] [ Writing: NONE ] [ Edition: Reprint ] Publisher: Minotaur Books Pub Date: 1/1/1999 Binding: hardcover Pages: 278 Reprint edition. Seller Inventory # 6957087
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A Place of Safety, A Chief Inspector Barnaby Mystery
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St. Martin's Minotaur, New York, 1999
ISBN 10: 0312244193
ISBN 13: 9780312244194
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Hardcover. Condition: New condition. Dust Jacket Condition: New dust jacket. Rotstein, David Baldeosingh (jacket design) (illustrator). First Printing of the First US Edition. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 1999. Brand New FIRST PRINTING in a Brand New dust jacket. PERFECT condition. NO chips. NO tears. NO creases. NO rubbing. NO fading. NOT price clipped ($23.95). Bright, shiny, clean, square and tight. Sharp corners. NO owner's name or bookplate. NOT a remainder. Fresh and crisp -- obviously never read. First U.S. printing with complete number row (10 987654321) on the copyright page. NOT a book club edition. Bound in the original gray boards, stamped in dark blue. From the pristine dust jacket: "Tucked away in the charming English village of Ferne Basset, the local rectory is supposed to be a place of safety, not danger. So when ex-vicar Lionel Lawrence opens the rectory to young offenders, he has no way of predicting the consequences -- least of all that they will include blackmail and murder. The mysterious disappearance of Carlotta, his most recent charge, seems to involve both. And not only has Carlotta vanished, but village resident Charlie Leathers is found dead. Although Charlie was not the most popular man in town, few people seemed to hate him enough to murder him. Inspector Barnaby comes to the scene as the small town buzzes with theories about the unfortunate events. It's not long before Barnaby has ideas of his own -- Ferne Basset offers a wide variety of plausible suspects. However, what Barnaby doesn't know is that before his death Charlie witnessed what might have been Carlotta's suicide -- or murder. A man is dead, a girl is missing, and a town is in chaos as long-kept secrets begin to unravel, with deadly repercussions.". First Printing of the First US Edition. Hardcover. New condition/New dust jacket. Illus. by Rotstein, David Baldeosingh (jacket design) . 8vo. (vi), 278pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # 000354
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