The Late Lady - Hardcover

Susannah Stacey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671735306 ISBN 13: 9780671735302

Publisher: Atria, 1993

Synopsis

Fourteen years after her mysterious disappearance, archaeologist Kingsley Marsh turns up dead, and Superintendent Bone must sift through the suspects, who include Kingsley's husband and his new wife

About this title

Reviews

In their fifth novel featuring Det. Supt. Robert Bone (after Grave Responsibility ), the writing team of Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey deftly spins a fine mystery distinguished by complex, intriguing family relationships. When three bodies turn up in one week at popular British author Jake Marsh's charming home in Kent, Bone becomes quickly and deeply involved. The first to die is Marsh's young housekeeper Anna, who apparently fell downstairs after tripping over a skateboard. Then the collapse of a garden wall reveals the corpse of Jake's first wife, Kingsley, who was missing for 14 years; the household is still reeling when Marsh's second wife, Fenny, is murdered in a particularly grisly manner. A man of considerable depth and scholarship, Bone interrogates suspects in the traditionally sedate manner of English mysteries, bringing his shrewd analytical skills to bear on the time-honored art. He elicits unwitting clues from the sensuous star of Jake's hit TV series; from Kingsley's belligerent brother; and, with some difficulty, from Marsh's hostile, rebellious daughter. Bone's own feisty teenage daughter is a scene-stealer; she makes the policeman more human, as does his tragic past. This is a literate, finely tuned story. Mystery Guild selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another authorial pair, this one British, uses a title whose multiple meanings become apparent as the work progresses. Superintendent Bone enters a soap opera world when he investigates the death of a woman who disappeared 14 years previously. Discovery of the body stimulates old and new animosities between members of a TV-series writer's extended family and the bitter, self-serving relatives of the dead woman. Country home settings, monied suspects, and incidental connections to Bone's daughter will interest procedural fans.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atria
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0671735306
• ISBN 13: 9780671735302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256