Killing Floor (Worldwide Mystery) [Paperback]

Peter Turnbull (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996 | Series: Worldwide Mystery

Eight months after unpopular social worker Pam McArthur disappears, her murdered body is discovered, and Ray Sussock unravels a shocking secret that puts Glasgow's P Division on a trail of blackmail and corruption. Reprint. PW. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forcefully combining the percolating violence of his industrial strength locale with the inherent compassion of the Glasgow Police P Division, whose personal lives are made discordant by a cacophony of subtle ills, Turnbull continues quietly to dazzle with this fine series. His team moves into the suburbs here when a headless corpse is unearthed from the shrubbery of an empty house. The dead woman, who had a harsh nature and few friends, was a social worker who had drunkenly talked of cracking open a three-decades-old local mystery. P Division soon finds the two thugs responsible for her killing, but the real mystery is why Pam McArthur died, not how. Somewhere on the edge of the case is a handsome man in a Rolls Royce, dangerous and supremely confident. This eighth Glaswegian tale, coming after Long Day Monday, is slightly less gritty than the others, but Turnbull's knife-edged characterization, even among the supporting cast (a crippled young man walking the streets in the early hours to avoid abuse; a sad parade of stoic women in abusive relationships) is as incisive as ever. The pacing is languid until the coppers close in on the Rolls driver, when Turnbull looses a torrent of clues and conspiracies onto a complex father/son emotional field. The narrative's contrasting moods?assured and stately at first, then driven and brazenly ambitious?meet at the end irresistibly.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When a car accident leads to a rotting corpse, the Glasgow police department faces a challenge: the corpse has no head or hands. Turnbull (Long Day Monday, St. Martin's, 1993) masterfully follows various members of the homicide team as they identify the body, retrace the victim's steps, track down leads, and corner suspects. The pathologist, too, has his say. The painstaking care with which police solve the case builds tension, despite multiple protagonists, an unsympathetic victim, and an expected conclusion. Good characterization, excellent detailing, satisfying prose, and a dash of prurient detail all make for good reading.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Worldwide Library (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373262159
• ISBN-13: 978-0373262151
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,191,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Police Procedural, November 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Killing Floor (Paperback)

After many years of enjoying Peter Turnbull's stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, I finally sought out his longer works. This is the first one I found and I enjoyed it tremendously. As always, his characters are superbly drawn and the story is well-plotted. There is no one better at showing how the police work from the first discovery of the crime, through gathering clues and information, to the final apprehension of the criminal. The enjoyment lies in the details of the case and the actions of the characters, and in the interaction of chance and purpose. Be warned: this is by no means a "cozy" mystery - the story is gritty and stark, but balanced with humanity, and quite believable from start to finish.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably flawed. NOT RECOMMENDED, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Killing Floor (Worldwide Mystery) (Paperback)

Why didn't they immediately check out missing persons? DAH! Might have been able to save us the displeasure of this whole book if they had. NOT RECOMMENDED! Hard to believe this was written in 1994.