Dear Departed [Hardcover]

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2004

Chattie Cornfeld was murdered while jogging in the park. She ran her own small marketing company and lived comfortably, perhaps too comfortably for her income. At first it looked as though she was the latest victim of the 'Park Killer', but it doesn't take Slider and Atherton long to establish that someone was trying to pass the killing off as part of a pattern: only the pattern doesn't fit, this one was personal. Chattie was popular with all who crossed her path, and it was difficult to imagine she had gained any enemies. Turning to the two most popular motives for murder - money and passion - Slider and his team's investigation turn up some puzzling anomalies in her life, not least the number of men who counted themselves as her lover and the tangled relationships of her family. But none of the suspects can be made to fit what evidence they have, unless of course they've been mis-reading the evidence ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Delightful dialogue and carefully observed details make Harrod-Eagles's 10th Bill Slider mystery a winner (after 2002's Gone Tomorrow), despite a somewhat unimaginative choice of culprit. The London police detective and his likable team—especially Jim Atherton, a womanizer who's unexpectedly enlightened on other subjects, and Tony Hart, with her astute observations and wry sense of humor—look into what appears at first to be another strike by the so-called Park Killer. Chattie Cornfeld, however, died in a slightly different manner from previous victims, so Slider starts investigating other avenues. Chattie's notably unsavory half sister, Jassy, and Jassy's equally lowlife boyfriend had been pestering Chattie just before her murder. Chattie's estranged father, the head of a major chemical company, is a possible suspect, as are several of her love interests. Slider's own love interest, his pregnant girlfriend, Joanna, ducks in and out of the story, but fails to light up as the other main characters do. Nevertheless, there's plenty of energy and personality in these pages. (Dec.)
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

The tenth in the Bill Slider series showcases both a killer clever enough to slide under the radar and, again, London detective Slider himself, adept at performing under people's expectations before producing a case-breaking confession or discovery. Slider is a British version of Columbo, slow moving but quick witted, irritating to higher-ups, confusing to criminals. In the latest in this somewhat cozy police-procedural series, Slider is called to what police believe is the third Park Killer slaying. A female jogger has been found dead in the bushes, killed in a public park in broad daylight, the trademark MO of the Park Killer. But Slider's take on the scene and his follow-up with the forensic pathologist suggest that this may be a copycat attempting to throw suspicion on the established serial killer. London detectives must sort through two interlocking techniques to discover the real culprit. Deft plotting and solid procedure. Connie Fletcher
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: 346 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (June 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316724920
• ISBN-13: 978-0316724920
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,673,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable read, January 23, 2006

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Departed: A Bill Slider Mystery (Inspector Bill Slider Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Detective Inspector Bill Slider is back in this tenth entry in the series. In this outing, DS Slider investigates the death of a jogger found off the trail in a park. At first it looks like a serial killer dubbed the "Park Killer" has struck, but after some investigation too many things do not add up and it is determined that the another killer decided to copycat. The victim, Charlotte"Chattie" Cornfeld, had her own consulting business. She did public relations, website designing and general business matters that her clients like the jazz band, Baroque Solid, needed done. Chattie was an outgoing and lovely young woman whom everyone seemed to like. Why was she found dead in the park? DS Slider delves into the puzzle of Chattie's life to find motive and opportunity in a cast of divergent characters.

When I sit down with a Bill Slider mystery I always know it will be a good story. As always this Slider series is a cleverly plotted police procedural. The slow unraveling of the clues will keep you guessing until the end. Even though the previous books are worth reading, the story is very much stand alone so if you have never read the series, you would not be remiss to start with the most recent.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read!, January 3, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Departed: A Bill Slider Mystery (Inspector Bill Slider Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is a writer living in England, who was born and educated in Shepherd's Bush, West London.

Her Bill Slider police procedurals, now numbering ten, are praised for their accuracy, wit, characters and stories.

Dear Departed begins with the discovery of dead female jogger in a park in London. She has no identification and seems to be the victim of a serial park killer who slashes his victims in broad daylight.

Oddly enough, her wounds do not seem serious, and her background, once Detective Inspector Slider and his team find out her identity, seems unusual, to say the least. She had been working in public relations for a new Baroque jazz band, called Baroque Solid (indeed she is identified because she was playing one of their demo CDs).

Her name was Charlotte Cornfeld, "Chattie." She lived in a very nice house, scrupulously clean, and oddly too expensive for someone who is young and just starting out in business.

Did she have an unusual source of money? Had it come from her divorced parents? They eventually discover her father is Henry Cornfeld, of Cornfeld Chemicals, and she had received a monetary gift from him that she invested in real state wisely, leading to her present comfortable home.

Rumors are floating around that Cornfeld Chemicals might be purchased by another chemical giant, a move that might mean a lot of money for the Cornfeld family stockholders.

Chattie's jealous half-sister Jasmine is involved in a very unsavory and dangerous life style, and had crashed in a room in Chattie's house occasionally. Could she or her violent boyfriend have been the cause of Chattie's murder? Slider and Detective Sargeant Jim Atherton work to dig out the truth in Chattie's unusual short life.

Slider's pregnant soon-to-be-wife Joanna, who has given up her orchestra job in Amsterdamn to be with him, is not as involved in this case as in the past.

Armchair Interviews says: Sounds like a fun read with interesting characters, especially appealing if you like reading anything written about England and its charming and unique surroundings.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good choice to unwind with, December 26, 2005

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Departed: A Bill Slider Mystery (Inspector Bill Slider Mysteries) (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a good book to curl up with in order to forget the seasonal madness that the year's end brings or if you'd like to forget that it is bloody cold outside right now, then this is the book that I'd recommend to fight off those seasonal blues! Clever, witty and wholly engaging, "Dearly Departed" was a treat of a read all round!

Detective Inspector Bill Slider would like to be able to give his wholly undivided attention to his pregnant fiancee, Joanna. Unfortunately, murder and the latest serial killer, the Park Killer, seemed to have conspired once again to thwart his wishes. When woman's body is found in the park one early one morning, everyone assumes that the Park Killer (so called because he has committed two such murders already in two other parks) has struck again. A post mortem, however, reveals that this latest killing was not the handiwork of the Park Killer, but rather the inept attempt of someone trying to pass of the killing as that of the serial killer's. Quickly Slider and his team try to establish the victim's identity in order to work out if the murder had a killing was a personal. angle to it or not. What they discover a young woman who was well liked but who seemed to have a very entangled family life -- jealous and resentful half sisters and ex-boyfriends that can't seem to let go. Could one of them have been angry enough to plot her death?

"Dearly Departed" was a rather fun read, more so because of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' clever and droll prose style. Though truth be told there were spots when I thought that her writing was getting a little too coy and arch for words. Fortunately, this only happened twice and so my reading pleasure was saved. The mystery-investigative subplot unfolded along slightly predictable lines, so that what really made this a fun and enjoyable read was the repartee and quips that the police officers exchanged, and the author's sympathetic and engaging portrayal D.I. Bill Slider. All in all, this was a completely engaging and absorbing read, and I'm glad that I had an entire afternoon to myself to enjoy "Dearly Departed" with.