Fifth Rapunzel [Paperback]

B M Gill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 1992

Marks the return of Detective Chief Inspector Maybridge for the first time since "Seminar for Murder". In this particular book Maybridge attends a funeral service and becomes involved in a bizarre murder case.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Maybridge (Death Drop, etc.) is shocked by the car-accident deaths of forensic pathologist Professor Peter Bradshaw and his wife Lisa. Bradshaw had been a neighbor and professional colleague, working with Maybridge most recently on the so-called Rapunzel murders, for which serial strangler Charles Hixon is serving a life sentence. Maybridge's wife Meg tries to comfort the Bradshaws' only child, 18-year-old Simon, living alone in the big family house until the arrival of Rhoda Osborne, who claims to be writing a piece on his mother, who had been an art historian. But Osborne is really looking for clues to her vanished sister Clare, latest of Peter Bradshaw's many mistresses. Simon's life had been traumatized by his coldly neurotic mother, an in-and-out patient at a nearby psychiatric nursing home. His reluctant involvement with Sally, a pretty, calculating worker there, adds another off-beat tragedy to the dark chronicle and inadvertently fulfills Osborne's mission. The sprawling plot, with some neat twists, is engrossing despite an overload of tormented psyches, twisted lives, and more than a touch of pretentiousness in the writing. Above-average fare- -but only middling Gill. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square (February 6, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340568461
• ISBN-13: 978-0340568460
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tepid Tea, September 26, 2002

By 

Thomas A. Liese (Salt Lake City, Ut United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fifth Rapunzel (Paperback)

The protagonist, Inspector Maybridge, is rather bland, treating suspects and sources gently. Most of the action, a series of murders and a suicide, occurs before Chapter One. A lot of the space in this rather short book (253 pocket size pages) is devoted to the study of supporting characters. The descriptions of character and setting are credible and well-written, but proceed slowly. The ending is brief but powerful and credible. A slow ride to a jolting conclusion.