Blood Brother: An Inspector "Jacko" Jackson Mystery [Hardcover]

Frank Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1995

Investigating the murder of Home Office minister Russel Browne's sister, Detective Inspector ""Jacko"" Jackson learns that the victim, who had recently had an abortion, has been having an affair with Browne's married political rival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Political, labor and class strife in modern England lead to murder in this taut and sometimes poignant procedural. Penelope Browne, an upper-class film producer and sister of right-wing MP Russell Browne, is found shot to death in her Hutton-on-Trent cottage. The investigation by Detective Inspector "Jacko" Jackson, last encountered in Bent Grasses, is hampered by his superior's nerves over the brother's position as the new Minister at the Home Office for Police Affairs, but complicating facts come to light early. The child-loving Penelope had had an abortion recently, and she maintained a close friendship, possibly a love affair, with her brother's major political rival, Rich Richardson, a married union leader whose family had been active in labor action for decades against the Brownes' glass works, source of the family wealth. The possibility of IRA involvement is raised early but dismissed. While the married Jacko probes into motives and timetables, he finds himself drawn to fellow investigator WPC Tricia Floyd-Moore, who draws him out of middle-age megrims in Palmer's vividly evoked post-industrial society.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

When Penny Browne, a leftist filmmaker and sister of right-wing politician Russell Browne, is murdered, the investigation is full of political and personal traps for Inspector Jacko Jackson of the CID. First, Russell Browne is not only a rising light in the Conservative Party, he's also the Home Office minister who oversees the police. Next, Jackson discovers that Penny Browne was having an affair with Rich Richardson, a Labour Party firebrand and her brother's rival in upcoming elections; she's also recently had an abortion. Finally, Jackson has been partnered with an outstanding young woman detective with whom he instantly, unrequitedly, falls in love. Along the way, Jackson will unloose the skeletons in both the Browne and Richardson family closets. Palmer has created a challenging mystery with several neat twists along the way. His specialty is creating well-rounded characters, both major and minor; a case in point is Richardson's father, a veteran of the class wars of the 1950s and 1960s, and someone with a long history of hatred for the Browne family. This terrific police procedural should appeal to most mystery fans. George Needham

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312134355
• ISBN-13: 978-0312134358
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,370,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A great work by a great friend, June 2, 2000

By 

Robert Rathbone (Nottingham, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Brother: An Inspector "Jacko" Jackson Mystery (Hardcover)

My great friend Frank Palmer died on June 1st 2000. I had known him for fifteen years and helped him with the photographs for all but one of his books. In that period I never met anyone who had a bad word for him. He was a true character from the old fleet street. He treated me like his son and I miss him like my father...... He was a great journalist & author - please read his books and enjoy the life we both experienced....