Behind You! [Paperback]

Linda Regan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2007

Regan's novel is a slightly odd mix-a brutal murder mystery with touches of British cozy.. There are plenty of suspects-indeed, everyone involved in the performance seems to have at least one guilty secret and a possible motive for murder.. Offbeat characters and forceful prose.""--Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Regan's novel is a slightly odd mix--a brutal murder mystery with touches of British cozy. Inspector Paul Banham is called to investigate when a beautiful young dancer is killed by a falling stage weight during the local theater's Christmas pantomime. The grisly scene brings back Banham's worst nightmare--the brutal murders of his wife and baby daughter a decade earlier. But his professionalism quickly kicks in, and he and his loyal sergeant, Alison Grainger, begin the long, tedious task of interviewing witnesses and ferreting out clues. There are plenty of suspects--indeed, everyone involved in the performance seems to have at least one guilty secret and a possible motive for murder. The investigation seems stalled until another murder occurs, and a deadly hostage situation evolves. The plot is slightly overcomplicated, but the combination of offbeat characters and forceful prose are more than enough to compensate. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Creme de La Crime (February 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955158923
• ISBN-13: 978-0955158926
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,352,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A cozy police procedural - at Christmas, March 22, 2007

By 

PJ Coldren (Saint Helen, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behind You! (Paperback)

It's the holiday season. Detective Inspector Paul Banham is still mourning the deaths of his wife and daughter, which makes for some problems with his assistant, Sergeant Alison Grainger. He likes her, she likes him, but between the job and his memories, he's not sure what they have can go anywhere. While none of that is central to the murder they are investigating, it does complicate an already messy situation.

The police have been called to a theater, where a Christmas pantomime is playing. Lucinda Benson is dead. Did she trip on stage during a scene that takes place in the dark, with ultra-violet fish, or did somebody hit her hard enough to kill her? The police won't know for sure until the lab tests come back, which will take a few days. In the meantime, the scene is being treated as a homicide.

The company is, as is not unusual in the theatre, full of egos, rivalries, and politics. The producer has ties to almost all the major players, who have ties with each other, who are related to each other. Following the money is just as convoluted an endeavor as trying to trace family trees; of course, not everything people say to Banham or Grainger is the truth, or the whole truth.

Looking at the cover of BEHIND YOU!, one might expect something very noir, very gritty; it's in shades of red, black, and grey. But it's cozier than the cover would lead one to believe, and still it's a good police procedural. Once Banham and Grainger unravel all the family ties, the killer is fairly obvious. But that unraveling is not easy, and leaves the two police officers lots of time to worry about each other and where they are headed.