Cobweb [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Margaret Duffy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2008

A new case for Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley - When a DCI is killed in a car crash, his superiors are convinced he was silenced because he was investigating the murder of MP Jason Giddings. Patrick Gillard and his consultant (and wife) Ingrid Langley are brought in to assess further risks to the police. They discover that DS Erin Melrose is determined to find the killers, and it is a mission that will put her and others in grave danger . . .

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Husband-and-wife-team Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley return in another suspenseful adventure. Patrick, retired from a covert unit in Britain's MI5, is recruited to the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) to help tackle the UK's mounting problem with Mafia-style crime. His first case is a doozy: during the investigation of the murder of a member of Parliament, Detective Derek Harmsworth dies in a mysterious car crash. Shortly afterward, his fellow investigator, John Gray, is killed during a burglary. Coincidence? Not likely. Duffy's series combines an entertaining Nick-and-Nora pair with solid action-adventure plotting. Recommend to fans of David J. Walker's Dugan series, starring another amiable husband and wife. Melton, Emily --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Margaret Duffy has worked for both the Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Defense. When not writing, Margaret works as a garden designer.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Soundings Ltd; Unabridged edition (August 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140790082X
• ISBN-13: 978-1407900827
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars over-arching narration, March 20, 2008

By 

Julia M. Walker (NY Finger Lakes) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cobweb (Gillard & Langley) (Hardcover)

I wanted to love this book. Indeed, I started to love this book. The narrator is a writer married to a semi-SAS thug with a heart of gold and they investigate things together. She's brave and accomplished; he depends on her and doesn't patronize. The woman often saves the man and no one makes a fuss about it.

Blissful.

Sadly, Duffy didn't leave a good idea alone. Not only is Ingrid, the narrating author/adventurer, a great shot with a steady hand in all crises, but she is arch. Very arch. Over-arch. She never simply narrates. She tosses in cute parentheticals and tosses off snarky throw-aways and makes digressions out of laundry lists.

Here's a one-sentence example. Ingrid is going to rescue Patrick in a dark basement full of gas and screaming. It's an ACTION sequence, and we are told:

"When the man she loves is being tortured and someone who is directly or indirectly responsible then lays hands on her and hurts her badly, a woman really can stab whoever it is with a real desire to kill." (180)

And that would be "whomever," wouldn't it? I mean, if we are going all la-te-da off our cuffs, up our sleeves?

OK, for the first 100 pages or so, I was charmed. But as the stakes rise, Ingrid becomes more and more rhetorically coy. And the solutions aren't any less artificial than the tone. Ingrid and Patrick always eat dinner in the right place. The homeless person they ask always has the answer they seek. A walk in the woods always yields case-breaking evidence. The bad guys are all obligingly stupid.

This might have been more palatable as a period-piece. In a sort of wink's-as-good-as-a-nod Nick and Nora or Harriet and Peter world, I don't think the hoards of coincidence would have grated so. And the tone might have fallen less cloyingly on the ear.

Yes, there is lots of action, believable or not. If you are feeling particularly full of the willingness of suspended disbelief, give this a try. Otherwise, wait for the next Deborah Crombie.