Fatal Flaw (Worldwide Library Mysteries) [Paperback]

Frank Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Worldwide Library Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

When two people turn up dead at a girl's school and neighboring stables during the Christmas holiday, the twists and turns of the case lead Chief Inspector Neil Paget to a woman he is dating. Martin's Press.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Somewhat hobbled by uninspired writing, Smith's solid plot finds England's Detective Chief Inspector Neil Paget facing a policeman's nightmare: the woman he cares for becomes a prime murder suspect and clearly has something to hide. Paget's travails begin Christmas Day, when he's called to investigate the apparent suicide of a troubled schoolgirl, Monica Shaw. Although Paget questions the suicide theory, the coroner closes the case. At New Year's, an obvious homicide brings Paget to stables near Monica's school. Victor Prescott has been killed by a pitchfork driven into his chest. Paget recalls that he recently saw Prescott arguing with Dr. Andrea McMillan, whom the widowed detective has been dating. Prescott, it turns out, was really Victor Palmer, lately released from a prison term for child molesting. In Palmer's room, police find a picture of Dr. McMillan, who has never mentioned a daughter, and a child. As he struggles to connect the deaths, Paget can't escape the possibility that Dr. McMillan is involved. For reasons of their own, many well-drawn characters?the stable owner, his wandering wife, a frightened employee and Monica's edgy house mother?play games of deception with police. Paget doggedly sorts through their stories, finally tumbling to a host of clues skillfully planted by Smith (Dragon's Breath, 1980) along the way.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Strange things are happening in the quiet country lanes of Shropshire, bailiwick of Detective Chief Inspector Neil Paget. The Thornton Hill School for Girls and Glenacres, a horse farm owned by Jack Lucas, are next-door neighbors. Paget is called to the school when 17-year-old Monica Shaw, a diabetic and the daughter of government economist Julia Shaw, is found dead in her bed the day after Christmas. Shy, awkward Monica, the only student in residence over the holidays, had been invited to a party at Glenacres the previous day by Sally Pritchard, one of the grooms, and had come back to the school drunk and distraught, according to sympathetic schoolmistress Jane Wolsey. Paget is thinking suicide (an overdose of insulin), but the autopsy finds death due to an aneurysm and the case is closed. In the meantime, a violent death has occurred at Glenacres, where Victor Prescott, a newcomer to the staff, has been killed--gruesomely--in one of the barns. As it turns out, Prescott was not his real name, and he appears to have had some dark connection to Dr. Andrea Macmillan, with whom Paget, a widower, had been enjoying a slowly flowering friendship. It takes another death, many misplaced suspicions, and some rigorous questioning before the haunting truth is bared. This first in a series from Canadian author Smith (Dragon's Breath, 1980) is suspenseful from the start, uncovering its tangled web of relationships--conventional and otherwise--at a leisurely pace: a sturdy '90s version of the British procedural, with Inspector Paget a model of the gentleman copper. Good show all round. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Worldwide Library (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373263317
• ISBN-13: 978-0373263318
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad . . ., June 19, 2000

By 

Purple Dragonfly (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatal Flaw (Worldwide Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

I am a huge fan of British police procedurals and I was delighted to see a new team had been born. On the whole, Frank Smith's Fatal Flaw does not disappoint, but his second book in this series, Stone Dead is a much better read. Fatal Flaw's story is good and it runs smoothly and quickly. His two coppers, DCI Paget and DS Tregalles are likeable fellows, but I find that the Sergeant has a lot more personality than the somewhat stiff and blah Chief Inspector (Smith spends a little too much time torturing us with Paget's terrible luck in love). But, in the first book and the third (Candles for the Dead), Tregalles almost seems a minor character. All in all, the series is good and I can't wait for the fourth installment.

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Brit police procedural, February 18, 2008

By 

S. Saunders (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Flaw (Worldwide Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

I'm fond of British police procedurals, and Frank Smith's *Fatal Flaw* is a solid contribution to the genre. It held my attention from the first page to the last.

Smith lays out some good plot lines and brings us quite a few solid characters. A woman with a secret past starts dating a cop, and that secret becomes central to a murder the detective is investigating. A troubled teenager with a cold ambitious mother is found dead at her boarding school during the holidays - was she driven to suicide, or murdered, or did she die some other way?

I would recommend this book to anybody else who enjoys this genre.