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Summary
Summary
For years, a middle-aged, middle-of-the-road couple, Max and Amanda, had enjoyed each other's company in their modest home. With adult children, the two seemed to have everything they could want: health, some wealth and happiness. Until one day when they vanish, leaving behind no trace.Called in for the case, Detective Inspector George Hennessey, whose own life bespeaks horrible tragedy, automatically suspects foul play. His hunch proves a keen one when the bodies of the missing couple turn up in a shallow grave. But this macabre discovery is only the beginning of a case that will test the mettle of the entire police force. For one thing, no murderer would have killed them for their money since the couple had lost a small fortune right before their death. For another, thecouple, apparently unbeknownst to the other, had been involved in illicit liaisons. For some reason, their only son has been acting strangely and to top these off, in the midst of the fracas a family secret arises.In search of a road to answers, Hennessey instead finds a maze littered with conflicting clues and misinformation. And instead of lacking any suspects at all, the detective finds there are all too many people who had wished the deceased couple harm.A compelling and grittily authentic novel from the author of the acclaimed P Division series.
Author Notes
Peter Turnbull was born and raised in Yorkshire, England. He has had a variety of jobs - in a former incarnation he was a social worker for twenty-three years, an occupation he gave up to become a full-time writer. Fear of Drowning is his twelfth novel.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"There's nowt so queer as folk," Sergeant Yellich tells his boss, Chief Inspector George Hennessey of the City of York Police, near the start of this gripping police procedural, the first in a projected series from this polished British author (The Man with No Face, etc.). "That's a gem of Yorkshire wisdom, is it?" replies Hennessey, who will shortly find himself preoccupied with the peculiarities of human behavior while investigating a double murder. Max and Amanda Williams, a respectable middle-aged couple, are missing, days after dining out with their grown children, Rufus and Nicola. Their cottage in the village of Bramley on Ouse stands spotlessly empty, almost too clean. Then a local countryman happens across a shallow grave containing two bodies with fatal head wounds; Rufus identifies them, more in anger than in sorrow, as those of his parents. A pair of suspects comes to the fore: Tim Sheringham, a health-club proprietor who was having an affair with Amanda and had just broken it off, and Michael Richardson, an Irish builder who was facing ruin because Max owed him a huge sum. The devil-may-care Max, while outwardly prosperous, was broke; indeed, as Hennessey and Yellich eventually discover, the man managed to squander a fortune inherited from a brother who mysteriously drowned in his bathtub ten years earlier. Though the killer's identity becomes obvious before the climax, Turnbull closes on a quietly chilling scene of confession, the perfect end to a subtle novel rich in character, as well as in Yorkshire wit and wisdom. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Turnbull's new series kicks off with a change in venue from Glasgow to York and a change in the policeman hero from DI Donoghue (The Man With No Face, 1998, etc.) to DI Hennessey, aided by Lieutenant Yellich. They're faced with the double murder of Max Williams and his wife Amanda, whose bodies have been found beaten and buried in a shallow grave close to their modest cottage, which shows no sign of forced entry or burglary, only days after their naval officer son and London-based daughter had visited with no hint of impending disaster. Hennessey soon uncovers a couple of possible suspects. After inheriting an immense fortune from his brother Marcus ten years before, Williams had somehow managed to spend himself to the point of bankruptcy. So had once-prosperous builder Michael Richardson, who'd recklessly built a spectacular mansion Williams never paid for. Then there's gym owner Tim Sheringham, whose affair with Amanda Williams would have ended much more peacefully if she hadn't threatened to share every last detail with his wife. Hennessey, however, is intrigued by the decade-old death of Marcus Williams, a dwarf, found drowned in his bathtub even though he invariably took showers. A trip to Marcus's hometown of Malton and interviews with his onetime housekeeper and others bring past and present together so that Hennessey can pinpoint the cold-blooded killer even as he copes with his own painful memories. Though none too cohesive or suspenseful, a worthy successor to the Donoghue series. Turnbull's fans won't be disappointed. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
From popular crime novelist Turnbull comes this first installment of a new series featuring Chief Inspector Hennessey of the North Yorkshire Police. The author, known for his realistic police procedurals, hasn't ventured too far afield here: this is the story of Hennessey's step-by-step investigation of the murder of a husband and wife. What makes a good police procedural work--and what makes so many inferior ones fail--is not the procedural details themselves but the way the author constructs the characters. Since procedurals rely heavily on dialogue, the speakers (especially the lead) must be compelling, and the things they say must be worth hearing. On both counts, Turnbull succeeds completely. Hennessey is a man we want to know more about, and the supporting players are uniformly interesting. This is most definitely a formula novel, but Turnbull uses the formula as it was meant to be used. Procedural fans should look forward to the next novel in the series. --David Pitt
