All the Lonely People [Paperback]

Martin Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 1992

Merseyside solicitor Harry Devlin is suspected of murdering his unfaithful and estranged wife. Determined to prove his innocence, he swops the safe, predictable side of life in the Liverpool he knows for its sinister underbelly of tough clubs, shadowy streets and rooms by the hour.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This first installment of the Harry Devlin mystery series appeared in Britain in 1991 but is being published in the U.S. for the first time. It introduces attorney Devlin, whose clients are residents of the bottom levels of society. Harry is separated from his wife when the story begins, although the day before Harry's thirty-second birthday, she turns up on his doorstep. He isn't particularly hopeful of a reconciliation, which is good since the very next day she turns up dead in an alley. Harry finds himself the prime suspect in her murder. Can he dig himself out of this hole? The author, an attorney himself, knows whereof he writes, and it shows: this is a cracking good read, a first novel that feels like it was written by an old hand. Recommended for all fans of legal dramas and especially those readers who like their British mysteries a little on the seedy side. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Nicely crafted prose pervades, complete with court scenes, petty criminals, seedy scandals, and a few pigheaded cops. This is the first series title to be published in the United States. For fans of British crime fiction."
-- All the Lonely People (January 2004) (Library Journal ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group) (April 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553404857
• ISBN-13: 978-0553404852
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,685,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.) He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill .In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good who-done it, January 18, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - All The Lonely People (Hardcover)

His estranged wife Liz, who he has not seen since she deserted him for Mick Coghlan two years ago, sits in his living room waiting for attorney Harry Devlin to come home. When he arrives she asks him if she could crash here as she is scared of Mick, whom she is leaving for a married man. Still wanting Liz, Harry reluctantly agrees.

Two mornings later, Detective Inspector Skinner and his partner D.S. MacBeth question Harry on his whereabouts as someone killed Liz. The police believe an angry Harry stabbed his wife numerous times over her using him. Harry feels Mick is the culprit. However, he is shocked when a reporter friend tells him that Liz was two months pregnant. Realizing that he remains the prime suspect, Harry begins making inquiries into Liz's life, especially since she walked out on him.

While the amateur sleuth investigation occurs somewhat late, the tale effortlessly switches back and forth between legal thriller and police procedural. Harry serves as the glue and the focus of the varying sub-genre subplots. The support cast either enhances the murder whodunit or enables the audience to better understand Harry. Martin Edwards serves up an electrifying story line that traverses the mystery realm.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pedestrian Starter for Edwards, March 9, 2006

By 

A Discerning Reader (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - All The Lonely People (Hardcover)

Harry Devlin is an attorney who married a beautiful woman with a mischievous and magnetic personality. He can't quit her, even though she left him for a few other men with zero regard for his feelings. When she's murdered, Devlin is possessed by the desire to find her killer.

Devlin's quest for justice seems a little unbelievable. She was a horrible person who deeply wounded her husband with her infidelities, and I found it hard to believe he "could not rest until he found the killer!" The writing style is O.K., but there are too many forced similes that grate on the reader after a few chapters. Ending a chapter with a "mysterious" question is also a thriller no-no--"Could it be that our hero was wrong in his suspicion of Bob as the killer?!" Kind of corny.

The criminal would have been quite easy to identify, for both the police and Devlin, if Edwards would not have withheld obvious relationships among the suspects. Martin has promise, but this is not a first-rate novel.