The Orpheus Trail [Paperback]

Maureen Duffy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2009

When the body of a child is found among the charred remains of a pier fire-surrounded by a ritualistic fire basket and items associated with the cult of the Greek god Dionysus-detective inspector Hildreth calls in the local museum's curator, Alex Kish, to help him decipher the mysterious symbolism. Soon after, an ancient Saxon amulet is stolen from the museum and the dead bodies of other young boys begin to turn up arranged as grotesque works of art with components of the gold amulet around their necks. The enigmatic detective inspector draws the curator into a strange web of ancient secrets, pagan ritualism, and the illegal trafficking of young boys. Hildreth and Kish are caught up in a race against time to interpret these ancient codes and clues before death claims another young life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Maureen Duffy is a poet, a playwright, and a novelist. She is the author of numerous literary works, including Alchemy; Collected Poems, 1949-1984; and That’s How It Was.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Books (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906413053
• ISBN-13: 978-1906413057
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,139,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Thriller, July 25, 2011

By 

Mrs. C. Colbert (Lancashire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Orpheus Trail (Paperback)

This is a decent thriller, and at just over 200 pages long I thought it was just long enough to keep my interest but not too long that I got bored.

The main protagonist is Alex, a museum curator in a seaside town, who comes across as quite likeable and very imaginative if a little indecisive. He is taken into the confidence of the local Detective (an armchair archaeologist himself) who trusts his judgement and knowledge on the Greek myths which seem to be a recurring theme in the young boys' murders.

It seems that there is somebody with a knowledge of ancient beliefs who is killing boys in bizarre circumstances. Together with Hilary, an expert from the London museum, they try and discover who is carrying out these killings.

Maureen Duffy is a poet and her descriptive writing paints a wonderful picture of a cold and miserable seaside town just after Christmas and the aftermath of the discovery of another body -

"The town decorations were still up but the chains of light swinging in a cold wind from the grey edgy sea looked exhausted and forlorn. The party was over. The millenium that had begun with such optimism in a glittering firework of hope and energy, of relief that the bloody 20th century was behind us, had been eclipsed almost at once by the choking fumes of despair as the juggernaut rolled out again in all its trappings of torn flesh and bloodied wounds."


Alex and Hilary discover that there is more to the boys' murders than first suspected and it seems that someone is watching them.......

This was an intelligent thriller that wasn't exactly a page turner but I enjoyed it overall.

2.0 out of 5 stars Lame Plot Device Disappoints, February 9, 2010

By 

Sybilla Goodall (Greater Boston Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Orpheus Trail (Paperback)

I seldom stop reading a book once I've gotten into it. However, The Orpheus Trail by Maureen Duffy irritated and disappointed me so much that I stopped reading 2/3 of the way through.

The book has everything that should have made me like it - an English police procedural with archaeology/history. It's not badly written and it the characters are moderately interesting. However, the author uses a plot device that I really dislike: the plot depends on the archeologist/historian character not telling the police what he knows. The character justifies this by repeatedly saying that he 'doesn't have enough evidence' to take to the police. 'Not enough evidence' includes threatening letters he has received, the kidnapping of his beloved cat, essential information about the last person one victim talked to and the archaeological/historical meaning of certain items found by the bodies of victims. In other words, a lot of evidence that is crucial but which he witholds from the police. The weirdest thing is that the police regard him as a kind of consultant and keep asking him for his opinions about the evidence. It not only seems unrealistic to me that he would withold evidence and try to investigate on his own, but a mark of lazy writing for the plot to depend so much on this.

That said, this is the first book I have read by the author. It is well enough written and contains many elements I would ordinarily like very much. So just to be fair, I might give the author another try with another book.