Deep Sleep - Softcover

FYFIELD, Frances

3.36 out of 5 stars

169 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0751532096 ISBN 13: 9780751532098

Publisher: Pocket Books, 1991

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Pip Carlton is a devoted husband and a highly respected pharmacist, cherished by his loyal customers in Herringbone Parade. When his wife dies in her sleep, without cause and without pain, he is distraught. Comforted by his caring assistant, Pip struggles to take up the threads of his life, ignoring the rumours about Margaret's death, relieved that the police are content to shrug off the mystery. But Helen West, Solicitor and Crown prosecutor, fresh from hospital herself, refuses to believe that Margaret simply slipped into her final slumber. Others are more difficult to convince, including Helen's awkward and pragmatic partner, Detective Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey, and the only people who share her suspicions are a confused and lonely boy and the drug addict who dies so mysteriously in Geoffrey's arms. Memories in the Parade are inflamed by the discovery of an unexploded bomb and in the midst of the evacuation of the streets, one lone man, armed with strange love potions prepares to murder again.

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From Publishers Weekly

Equal parts probing character-study and taut psychological thriller, this stylish mystery from Edgar-nominee Fyfield ( A Question of Guilt ) examines the dark heart beating beneath the civilized British exterior of a desperate criminal who nearly manages the perfect murder. While recuperating from an operation in London, beleaguered Crown Prosectur Helen West is catching up on her files when a police inquiry on a closed case gives her pause. Although the cause of death of 46-year-old Margaret Carlton, a pharmacist's wife, was officially deemed natural causes, the local constable was in enough doubt to alert Helen's office. According to her husband, Mrs. Carlton had acquired "the habit of sniffing chloroform to induce sleep and/or well-being," and one night she overdid it. Or did she? The constable's inquiry bothers Helen and she begins her own investigation of the chemist husband, his nubile assistant, the assistant's ex-husband and a neighborhood junkie--all vividly realized individuals. Helen's policeman paramour and partner in detection, Geoffrey Bailey, seen in Not That Kind of Place , begs her to let matters rest this time, but she cannot. As the novel races to its climax, extraordinary revelations unveil human nature at its worst. Mystery Guild selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Fyfield (A Question of Guilt, 1989; Shadows on the Mirror; as Frances Hegarty, The Playroom--both 1991) is slowly building a loyal readership--mainly of fans of Ruth Rendell's procedurals-- and, here, again presents Crown Prosecutor Helen West and Detective Inspector Geoffrey Bailey with a case that impinges on both of their territories: Helen's gut feeling tells her that pharmacist Pip Carlton's wife did not just peacefully die in her sleep; Geoff's fellow officer, the violent-when-drunk Duncan, is the estranged husband of Pip's assistant, Kimberly--who, unbeknownst to her, is the center of Pip's crazed sexual fantasies. When thwarted, Pip attempts his second and third murders, to the despair of Duncan, Helen, and Geoff, who must cope with his treachery while evading blockades set up because of an unexploded WW II bomb discovery. Somewhat more plot-driven than the usual Fyfield tale, with the diverse storylines predictably converging. But intriguing analysis of chloroform--how it works and doesn't work--and a welcome smoothing of the West/Bailey relationship, at least for now. -- Copyright �1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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