A Fall from Grace: A Novel of Suspense (Wheeler Hardcover) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Robert Barnard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2007 | Series: Wheeler Hardcover

From Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger-winning crime writer . . .

With A Fall from Grace, Robert Barnard triumphs once again with a witty tale of family discord and murder.

Detective Inspector Charlie Peace and his wife, Felicity, are shocked when Felicity's difficult dad, Rupert Coggenhoe, suddenly announces that he's moving north to their Yorkshire village. Felicity has never much liked her father, and to have him as a near-neighbor fills her with foreboding. The boorish old man has always loved to impress the ladies, young and old, by exaggerating his modest success as a novelist. True to form, soon after his move to Slepton Edge he surrounds himself with adoring females, including a precocious, theatrical teenager named Anne Michaels. Rupert and Anne could make a lethal combination.

Rumors fly, but Felicity convinces herself that Rupert would do nothing seriously wrong. He can be annoying and outrageous but he's not a criminal. She relies on a friend, a doctor who seems to be strangely aware of everything that's happening in the community, to warn her if he hears of anything really troubling. She doesn't have long to wait, but the news is not what she expects. It's worse. A body has been found and it looks like murder. Stunned by a difficult reality, Felicity is even more shocked to discover that she, herself, may be a suspect.

This is one criminal investigation that's much too close to home for Charlie Peace. He's not officially on the case, but he uses his copper's instincts and a husband's heart to find a killer and to discover anew the meaning of family.

Praised for his "perfect pitch, exquisite pacing, and meticulous plotting" (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times), Robert Barnard proves yet again that he is one of the great masters of mystery.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Undercurrents of sexual exploitation pervade Diamond Dagger Award–winner Barnard's diverting eighth suspense yarn featuring Insp. Charlie Peace (after 2005's Bones in the Attic), who has left London for suburban Slepton Edge with his pregnant wife, Felicity. Tagging along is Felicity's father, egotistical romance novelist Rupert Coggenhoe. Felicity and Charlie soon discover that Rupert followed them to Slepton Edge less to be nearby than to escape rumors of a past illicit relationship, which soon plague him anyway, especially after he takes up with seductive, manipulative teen Anne Michaels. Anne, who leads a group of drama students harassing newcomers to Slepton Edge, craves attention and amuses herself with petty blackmail. When a murderer strikes, suspicions point in many directions, including a doctor who curiously left his practice to run for mayor and a local cop who's a macho "ladies man." An implausible coincidence on a bus undoes some of the thrill of the chase, yet Barnard's tale raises some unsettling questions about the "destructive power of children." (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Barnard, who has won just about every mystery award there is, including the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, never falls from grace. His writing (in almost 40 novels to date) is always stiletto sharp, his observations darkly witty, his plotting perniciously surprising. In his latest, Leeds cop Charlie Peace (who goes back to The Bad Samaritan,1995) is a newly made inspector, relocating with his wife to the village of Slepton Edge, a move somewhat darkened by the parallel move of Peace's detested father-in-law to a house nearby. Barnard takes full advantage of village atmosphere, with characters revealing secrets about themselves and others in the local pub. Peace and his wife, Felicity, learn that her father had to leave his former village hurriedly, after he struck a young woman. And now the old man is hitting on a teenage girl. Before the Peaces have a chance to figure out how to protect her, the old man is found dead at the bottom of a quarry. Suspects abound, including a clutch of murderous children and Felicity herself. Peace moves into full detective mode with a murder on his doorstep and his wife a prime suspect. This very satisfying riff on the traditional village mystery finds Barnard at the top of his game. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (October 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597225940
• ISBN-13: 978-1597225946
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,940,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "She had a gift and a taste for creating mayhem.", May 20, 2007

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Fall from Grace: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

Robert Barnard's "A Fall from Grace" is a stylish and subtle psychological murder mystery with several clever twists and turns and an ending that will catch most readers by surprise. Detective Inspector Charlie Peace and his pregnant wife, Felicity, are more than a little chagrined when Felicity's father, writer Rupert Coggenhoe, announces that he is moving to their Yorkshire village, Slepton Edge. Felicity makes no secret of the fact that she dislikes her "self-obsessed, manipulative, and unfeeling" father intensely and she would prefer that he stay away from her and her four-year-old daughter, Carola. However, since he is offering to partially finance a new house for Felicity's growing family, the Peaces can scarcely turn Rupert down. They purchase a new house for themselves and a nearby bungalow for Rupert.

Rupert settles in and becomes a minor celebrity, but all is not peaceful in Slepton Edge. A sadistic, clever, and worldly fifteen-year old named Anne Michaels has become the village instigator and she is stirring up all kinds of trouble. First, she induces a younger group of children to chant threateningly outside the homes of newcomers; later, she curries favor with Rupert and insinuates herself into his life, with unforeseen and horrifying consequences.

"A Fall from Grace" is a breath of fresh air, since it deviates from the formulaic fiction that is churned out by lesser writers. Barnard's characters are original and intriguing: Desmond Pinkhurst is a sardonic actor who was known for lightweight roles in his youth. He is now both exhilarated and terrified, since he is about to make his comeback in Ibsen's "The Wild Duck." Dr. Chris Carlson is a warm and sympathetic physician and artist, who has given up the practice of medicine. He acts as a sounding board or "agony aunt" for the townspeople who rely on his sound judgment; he also aspires to run for mayor as an independent so that he can fight for needed reforms. Inspector Ben Costello is a local policeman who takes charge of an investigation into a man's death that could possibility be a homicide, but might just as easily be ruled accidental. Although this case is outside Charlie's jurisdiction, he and Felicity decide to make discreet inquiries of their own.

The lives of these and other people ultimately intersect in unexpected ways, and although there is some closure at the end, some key questions remain unanswered. In his understated way, Barnard shows that evil, selfishness, and altruism can and do exist side by side, and the search for justice often proves to be elusive. Fortunately, good and decent men and women like Charlie and Felicity Peace are willing to stick their necks out to dig underneath the surface and uncover the truth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Barnard Sure Can Create Nasty Characters, July 12, 2007

By 

John F. Rooney - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Fall from Grace: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

This is the thirty-ninth entry for prolific British crime novelist Robert Barnard. In this outing his protagonist is Inspector Charlie Peace. In most of his books he has avoided a series detective, but he has used Charlie and his wife Felicity before. The wife's father is a real ogre, a writer who exploits everyone around him. Now he wants to buy Felicity a house and move in with them. Instead they buy a bungalow near them for him.
A gang of kids, privileged because they are in the drama stream of the local school, are terrorizing newcomers to the village. Their leader, Anne, is a loathsome bit of work, vicious and felonious. Barnard, perhaps with a touch of misanthropy and cynicism, is particularly good at delineating nasty characters. He's great at presenting British village life; his pub scenes are fun; and he creates vivid characters.
This is not one of his best efforts, but as usual it is fast-paced, witty, and an easy read. You won't get bogged down in a Barnard novel. The ending is slightly disappointing. For me, his best book to date has been "A Scandal in Belgravia."

5.0 out of 5 stars robert barnard, May 30, 2010

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B. Idle - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Fall from Grace: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

This is a great writer. His stories are always unique and enjoyable reading, no matter what your favorite subjects.