Customer Reviews

Payback: A Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mystery (Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mysteries)

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Clare Curzon's newest Superintendent Mike Yeadings mystery, Payback, is not as strong as many others in the series, at least in part because Yeatings is decidedly secondary to this plot. The strong supporting characters from the earlier novels--DCI Angus Mott, DS Rosemary "Z" Zyczynski, DS Beaumont, DS Salmon--take the lead in solving what seems to be a series of unrelated crimes. Thames Valley CID is stretched thin as a young child is reported missing; a pedestrian is run down by a hit and run motorcyclist and is misidentified; a woman is murdered and her body disappears from an adult education center. Without doing a spoiler, suffice it to say that all are not separate crimes. Much of the action is seen through the eyes of Sandy Craddock, a self-educated antiquarian who becomes involved with Fiona Morgan, who has her own agenda; other sections shift frequently between the various CID officers. These rapid shifts make the plot more disjointed than usual. Curzon has created a cast of characters who continue to develop as individuals and in relation to each other. Even though it is not the strongest in the series, Payback is definitely worth the read, especially if you enjoy character-driven stories that emphasize neither gore nor violence.