Customer Reviews

Fear of Drowning

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Yorke, England, the neighbor felt something seemed off kilter within the Williams bungalow. The neighbor called the police who conclude that Max and Amanda Williams apparently disappeared. Detective Inspector George Hennessey begins to trace the trail left by the Williams although his gut expects the worse.

Not too long afterward, the murdered corpses of the Williams couple is found in a shallow grave. George picks up the pace of his inquiries, especially since no one seems to gain anything from the death of the duo. As he digs past their serene surface, he begins to uncover darker secrets involving Max and Amanda that they probably never shared with each other.

Peter Turnbull, already renowned for police procedurals, introduces a new series that will garner the author new acclaim. The story line in the opening Hennessey tale, FEAR OF DROWNING, is superb as the plot centers on the police struggling with a difficult case to solve. Hennessey is an intriguing protagonist suffering from his own demons while the support cast, especially his partner, provides local flavor. Mr. Turnbull has another triumphant tale that will thrill sub-genre fans.

Peter Turnbull's Glasgow series has been one of my special favorites since the first book. That said, Fear of Drowning, introducing a new series and new characters, simply doesn't compare. While the writing is as good as ever, and the characters are well-drawn, there's an air of fatigue hovering over this slim tale--as if the author has run out of energy. It's very disappointing. There are no surprises, the solution to the murders of Max and Amanda Williams is pretty well telegraphed, and then the book simply ends. Clunk.

If you're expecting the intensity and quality of Turnbull's previous books, you won't find it in this one. It reads almost as if it were written by someone else, someone lacking the compulsion to look at the dirt in the cracks the way the old Peter Turnbull did.

FEAR OF DROWNING by Peter Turnbull grabs the reader attention right away. In this suspenseful mystery novel, Detectives Hennessy and Yellich, investigate the strange disappearance of the Williams'. While investigating their disappearance, Hennessy and Yellich find themselves piecing together evidence and connecting clues, finding that the worst thing that the worst thing that could have happened to them happened. Unlike most mystery novels authors, Peter Turnbull takes you behind the scenes at the police station. He shows the reader what the police have to do while investigating the crimes, reading the evidence, and finding the person who committed the crime. I really enjoyed reading this book. The author had a way of pulling the readers into the story and making you want to know what happens next. One thing about this book is that it is really slow moving, meaning there isn't a lot of action. I would recommend this book, to anyone who enjoys reading mystery books, or anyone who would enjoy a good read.

I have enjoyed Turnbull's Glasgow series but the characters and their relationship to each other had become a bit stale. A change should be good, but, I would rather he had developed the Glasgow characters a bit more and explored the cliques and conflicts that are likely to develop within such a group, rather than trying to create another scene and cast of characters.

A police procedural that has learned "less is more." A kind of mystery-meets-minimalism literate and literary experiment that is as much an understated portrait of a way of life as it is a whodunit. Witty, shrewd, beautifully written in a very controlled way. Is the murderer too obvious? Was to me-and the moody cover is both irrelevant and over-revealing. But it made me want to read all of Turnbull's earlier books, and that's high praise.