Customer Reviews

Dear Departed

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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.

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.

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.

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Bill Slider looks forward to spending a quality serene day with his pregnant fiancée Joanna and tomorrow the two will visit his only "relly" his father. However, the plans of mice, men and homicide cops often go astray so instead Bill and his team, lady's man Jim Atherton and feminist Tony Hart have what at first look seems to be another "Park Killer" murder.

However the detectives quickly see anomalies that make the death of Chattie Cornfeld slightly different than the MO of the Park Killer. They begin looking at family members and lovers. Especially of interest to Slider are the victim's half sister and her boyfriend, and father; any one of them seems capable of committing a homicide.

The tenth Slider police procedural is a fabulous who-done-it that showcases the police being open minded enough to find clues that take them away from the obvious to someone cleverly disguising a homicide to make it seem like a serial killer victim. Additionally, the dialogue between the sleuths is amusing yet serious and feels genuine. The sleuthing is so good that Joanna and the culprit seem pale in comparison though she is a well rounded character (no pun intended) and the killer is a solid choice. Still DEAR DEPARTED belongs to the police.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book back in June and have been waiting to review it for awhile. I love the Bill Slider series. I really enjoy the Bill Slider series, and this book is a fine addition to it. Bill Slider is so realistic, normal and everyday and the mysteries are always challenging and tricky. We are also treated to Ms. Harrod-Eagles rapier sharp wit which makes reading these books a lot of fun. In this book it looks like Bill and his team are dealing with a serial killer, but when they begin investigating more closely, the motive behind this particular murder is actually much darker than it first appears. The plot is intricately woven, and Ms. Harrod-Eagles are, as usual, excellently drawn. This is a great series for those who like intelligent and witty mystery stories. And at the end she leaves it open to more books in the series. It looks like old Bill will be dealing with an old nemesis. It doesn't get much better than that.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to read this, 'my first Slider mystery' without having read the previous books but was really glad I did. It was an engaging novel from the start, simple but intriguing. I liked the way the author uses the characters to comment on things the (British) reader has often wondered, such as whether the British police department IS just like it's portrayed on the telly in 'The Bill', and the Cockney rhyming slang thrown in such as 'syrup' (syrup of figs = wig). If you're looking for a book that typifies both everyday life and criminal investigation in England then this is it.

I have to say that I did guess 'whodunnit' about half way through but that didn't make it any less enjoyable because I wasn't 100% sure plus didn't know the motive.
All the characters were very believable and even recognisable, Harrod-Eagles certainly is an excellent observer of people.

This is the tenth adventure of Bill Slider, who is a police inspector in London's Shepherd Bush. The Slider books are solid police procedurals/mysteries, with our hero and his side-kick, ladies' man Jim Atherton, usually tackling and solving murder cases. There's a strong supporting cast, plenty of British flavor - locale, food and slang - and the books are puzzles rather than adrenaline inducing thrillers, more Agatha Christie than Patricia Cornwell, i.e. old-fashioned detective work rather than science and forensics.

A few more observations on the series. Slider is no multi-tasker; seemingly incapable of juggling his personal life with work, which poses a "problem" in each of the books. He also takes the murder cases he's assigned very personally; a sensitive copper that at times gets a tad melodramatic, particularly considering his profession. Slider's boss makes the yester-year comedian Norm Crosby seem articulate, and whose numerous malapropisms fly fast and furiously - at times too much so. And lastly this author likes to add a little soap opera romance to her stories. It took nine books to somewhat resolve Slider's love-life; oddly the past turmoil - which took up much reading space in the past entries - all but forgotten here. Now Slider's major-domo, Atherton, is front and center in the romance department. These literary idiosyncrasies can both titillate and frustrate the reader.

Dear Departed opens with the murder of a young woman on a jogging trail. Initially believed to be the victim of the serial "Park Killer", it soon becomes apparent that this was not a random killing. For as Slider & Co. dig into the victim's past, a tangled web is uncovered concerning her finances, and particularly her parentage. This latter bit of detective work, which inexplicably takes a little time and reading, sends up an immediate flare to the reader, but unfortunately not so much for our hero and his team; who with their heads down continue to plod along. This book is at its best with the interviewing and "getting to know" the suspects and secondary characters, but because of the aforementioned flare the reader must wait for Slider to catch up, which does become frustrating. A neat little story, that comes up a little short in the "mystery department".

(I don't appear to be alone in noting this flare/catch in the mystery. Several other reviewers have made mention of ascertaining the culprit's identity early on.)

With this 10th volume in the 'Bill Slider' series, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles takes the story in some new directions, before wrapping things up in her usual, intricately-plotted, fashion.
Bill Slider and crew are in somewhat less of a wisecracking mood for this case(though there are still traces of the usual Harrod-Eagles punning and wordplay.)
Slider feels more of a personal connection to Chattie, the victim, whom he had never met; 'Syrup' Porson still shows up for work and mangles idiomatic expressions, while trying to hide personal heartbreak; and Joanna has some issues of her own as she deals with the late stages of pregnancy.
Jim Atherton also shows dangerous signs of being a fully-developed mature adult, not just a skirt-chasing foodie; and Hart makes a welcome return to the 'firm'.

Overcoming a somewhat tentative start, Harrod-Eagles includes two 'red herring' storylines, and still manages to come up with a plausible wrapup for the main plot. thread...and for good measure, we get the series' first-ever cliffhanger ending!

My only real quibble is that Slider's first wife and their children are mentioned only in passing; while this is a natural consequence of his relationship with Joanna, I missed some of the 'father and kids' moments, as well as the 'tension'(sometimes played for laughs) resulting from his two relationships.

This is your classic British police procedural mystery, one of a long series involving London police detective inspector Bill Slider. The story begins -- after a short and puzzling prologue, to be matched (like bookends) with a related short and puzzling epilogue -- with a body found in a park, apparently another victim of a serial killer. But is it? It soon becomes apparent that this may not be another serial killer victim but rather a murder by someone known by the victim (a pretty young woman named Chattie Cornfeld). There's a variety of people who may have had a motive to kill her, either personal or financial.

Sadly, I had a hunch who the killer was fairly early in the book, but that's probably because I read a lot of mysteries. I understand the genre, how the writers think and the tricks they use. Since it was only a hunch, my enjoyment of the book was not lessened by being proved right -- the book could have ended several other ways, just as easily.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to read this, 'my first Slider mystery' without having read the previous books but was really glad I did. It was an engaging novel from the start, simple but intriguing. I liked the way the author uses the characters to comment on things the (British) reader has often wondered, such as whether the British police department IS just like it's portrayed on the telly in 'The Bill', and the Cockney rhyming slang thrown in such as 'syrup' (syrup of figs = wig). If you're looking for a book that typifies both everyday life and criminal investigation in England then this is it.

I have to say that I did guess 'whodunnit' about half way through but that didn't make it any less enjoyable because I wasn't 100% sure plus didn't know the motive.
All the characters were very believable and even recognisable, Harrod-Eagles certainly is an excellent observer of people.