Customer Reviews

Sure and Certain Death (Francis Hancock Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Note: I have not read any of the other books in this series but as I understand they are stand alone novels.

I really liked the setting and character for this novel. The main character, Francis Hancock is a half Indian undertaker, he's also a shell shocked veteran of the Somme during world war two and is somewhere in his late forties early fifties. That right there would interest me as he is not a standard vanilla charter and his personality is engaging and interesting throughout the book. Nadel does a good job in reminding us that he is shell shocked and a little unstable and keeping it a part of his character without ever letting it get in the way of the story.

The background of London during the bombing in World War 2 is interesting. With the exception of one minor detail it never influences the plot and remains background for the entire novel but it does show what sort of world the characters are living in. London itself is never painted out in vivid detail but rather sketched in charcoal to give a few details of the scenery. It has a minimalist style that works.

Plot wise the novel cannot be solved instantly as Francis has to find clues and information but I will say that Francis and I figured out what was going on at about the same time. The ending when it comes is surprising but not untelegraphed. Looking back I realize there was quite a bit of introduction to the murderer that I missed the first time. There are also a few red herrings, one of which that got me, but that also tie well into the novels structure and development.

All and all, a good read if you are into mystery novels.

It starts out borning but then pickjs up. The united states wins the war. And it talks about that. and just about how it all came to be.

Have never read any Nadel books before. Kind of an odd setting - a WWI shell-shocked undertaker, but that aside, book was moderately interesting.