Breaking Faith [Hardcover]

Jo Bannister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2005

Brodie Farrell's business 'Looking for Something' prides itself on locating just about anything a client wishes. However her work is cut out for her when she is asked to find the ideal pad for successful 'demon rocker' Jared Fry. To the amazement of Daniel, her shy awkward best friend, Brodie loves a challenge and soon finds the ideal location for the rocker at the old coaching inn 'The Diligence'. Charmed by Fry's business manager Eric Chandos, Brodie wraps up the deal until matters take an ugly turn and a body is discovered on the rocker's new estate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In British author Bannister's absorbing fifth mystery to feature Brodie Farrell (after 2004's The Depths of Solitude), the scrappy sleuth helps Jared Fry, a petulant rock star, find a home for himself and his coterie-an ancient, former hotel known as "The Diligence," which is suitably sized for parties of gothic dimensions, and is also secluded enough to keep Fry's private life out of the public eye. Brodie is set to deposit her hefty finder's fee and celebrate, but the accidental discovery of a long-dead body of a young woman on the property is too much for the drug-addled Fry and his charismatic manager, Eric Chandos, to handle on their own. As Brodie finds herself further entangled with the irresistible Chandos (much to the detriment of her relationship with Det. Supt. Jack Deacon, the gruff local police chief), and her shy, nerdy best pal, Daniel Hood, develops an unlikely friendship with Fry, the newcomers' connection to the recently exhumed victim begins to seem less innocent than originally assumed. This pleasing page-turner has a titillating but restrained mix of sexy situations, mild violence and plot twists that satisfy without ever becoming gratuitous or excessive.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

When Brodie Farrell is hired by manager Eric Chandos to find a home for his client, rock star Jared Fry, she has her work cut out for her. Brodie eventually finds a place that meets most of her picky client's specifications, but that's when the trouble begins. Jared wants a swimming pool, and when the builders start digging, they find the skeleton of a young woman. Brodie's lover, Detective Jack Deacon, is brought in to investigate. The skeleton contains no clues as to the victim's identity, but eventually Deacon narrows the list of possible victims to a young female musician who disappeared eight years earlier. To complicate matters, Chandos has made a strong play for Brodie, who finds herself responding in ways she finds both confusing and troubling. When it turns out that Chandos and Fry may have links to the dead girl, and Deacon learns of Brodie's flirtation with Chandos, the plot heats up considerably. A taut story, an intriguing plot (despite some preachiness), strong characters, and some unusual twists add up to a winner from genre veteran Bannister. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Turnaround (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749083387
• ISBN-13: 978-0749083380
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old secrets, January 15, 2006

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breaking Faith: A Brodie Farrell Mystery (Hardcover)

Brodie Farrell runs a search business named "Looking for Somthing?" in which she guarantees to find whatever you're looking for. In this case, she has been commissioned by Eric Chandos, the manager of demon rocker, Jason Fry, to find him a large country house with a myriad of extras. Amazingly, she finds him exactly the house specified..an old country Inn named "The Diligence".Jason throws a tantrum when he first views the place, after buying it sight unseen, and swears that he had insisted on having a swimming pool. When excavations for the pool are underway, the skeleton of a young woman is uncovered, with police tests showing that she had died or was killed, 10 years previously. Only two young women had gone missing in the neighbourhood at that time, teenaged musician Sasha Wade and the wife of a local, Michelle Rollins. Rollins had always claimed that his wife had run off with an Italian workman and Sasha's parents knew that their daughter had taken only overnight things, showing that she meant to return. Things get strained when Brodie and Eric meet in her office and, in a moment of madness, have a passionate sexual encounter which can only be attributed, on her part, to pheromones gone mad. This explanation doesn't sit too well with Brodie's boyfriend, Detective Superintendent, Jack Deacon who is investigating the case and is not being helped much by Jason Fry who is permanently stoned on heroin. It's a good, exciting read which will appeal to lovers of mystery stories.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars intriguing English police procedural, July 27, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Breaking Faith: A Brodie Farrell Mystery (Hardcover)

In Dimmock, England, Brodie Farrell, who runs the business Looking for Something? explains to her friend nerdy Daniel Hood what demon rock is. Her current client, demon rock star Jared Fry, lead singer of the Souls for Satan, is proving impossible to satisfy as even realtors failed to come up with the right home for him, but for 2.5 million pounds she will find Dracula a blood bank. Thankfully Jared's manager Eric Chandos is working with Brodie although they must adhere to the rock star's impossible mega list.

They find the perfect place, a rundown former inn changed into flats, The Diligence although Jared whines that he needs a pool. A builder begins digging up the ground only to find a Jane Doe who has been buried for several years. The locals assume that the corpse is either runaway Sasha Wade or Michelle Rollins who allegedly left town with a truck driver. Brodie's lover, Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon investigates while she goes undercover with Eric.

This is an intriguing English police procedural in which the interaction of the cast to include the almost decade old deceased is more interesting than the investigation. The story line follows Brodie who is attracted to Eric though she is seeing Jack while her best friend Daniel wants to keep her safe though she probably could take him. Throw in eccentric suspects on top of zany outsiders and the audience will have a fun time while pondering who at the climax will end up in bed with Brodie rather than wondering who the killer is.

Harriet Klausner