Rough Cider [Paperback]

Peter Lovesey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1988

The author of the highly acclaimed The False Inspector Dew and The Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray mysteries presents a tense and gripping crime novel about a lonely college professor who is haunted by the arrest and murder conviction of a G.I. in World War II England.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Theo Sinclair was nine years old, in 1943, he fell in love with a girl of 20 named Barbara Lockwood, who killed herself. Now it's 1964, and Theo is teaching undergraduate history courses at the University of Reading, England. He's only 29, but already a confirmed bachelor and curmudgeon. Theo's humdrum life is shattered by the appearance of Alice Ashenfelter, a beautiful young American whose father was hanged for the murder provoked by Barbara's suicide. Alice is determined to prove that justice miscarried, and finds ways to engage Theo in her cause. Suddenly, as the pair investigate the old mystery, there's a new murder, then a third. Lovesey deftly builds suspense as the plot unfolds, and his slam-bang finish is altogether satisfying. Quirky and entertaining characters give added depth to this corker of a novel. Mystery Guild selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Lovesey's books should be force-fed to fledgling crime writers who believe plotting is unimportant." -- Booklist --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Popular Library (February 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0445405457
• ISBN-13: 978-0445405455
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,263,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PETER LOVESEY is the author of the Peter Diamond mysteries, well known for their use of surprise, strong characters and hard-to-crack puzzles. He was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2000, the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, the Anthony, the Ellery Queen Readers' Award and is Grand Master of the Swedish Academy of Detection. He has been a full-time author since 1975, and was formerly in further education. Earlier series include the Sergeant Cribb mysteries seen on TV and the Bertie, Prince of Wales novels. The Diamond novels, set in Bath, England, where Peter lived for some years, feature a burly, warm-hearted, but no-nonsense police detective whose personal life becomes as engaging to the reader as the intricate mysteries he solves. His team in Bath CID includes the ex-journo Ingeborg Smith, the long-serving Keith Halliwell and the meticulous John Leaman, all involved in what is essentially a fair-play procedural mystery series. Peter and his wife Jax, who co-scripted the TV series, have a son, Phil, also a teacher and mystery writer, and a daughter Kathy, who was a Vice-President of J.P.Morgan-Chase, and now lives with her family in Greenwich, Ct. Peter currently lives in Chichester, England. His website at www.peterlovesey.com gives fuller details of his life and books. "Try him. You'll love him," wrote the doyen of the mystery world, Otto Penzler, in the New York Sun.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything That Makes a Good Novel, August 9, 2009

By 

Glynnmac (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rough Cider (Soho Crime) (Paperback)

I don't read novels more than once very often at all, but 'Rough Cider' is one of the few I have. Foremost, despite it being a murder mystery, it is an extremely humourous read with the main character Theo Sinclair guiding you the entire way. I enjoyed the plot, the twists and turns and the ultimately surprise ending. I do believe this would make a great telemovie/motion picture. Highly recommended...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1st Person narrative--4.5 stars for originality, July 13, 2008

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rough Cider (Isis Large Print Fiction) (Hardcover)

This story revolves around a GI's trial during WWII & the differences between the memories of a man who was 9-years old at the time of the trial. It is told in 1st person singular (i.e. "I"). The basic premises concerning the realities of the trial are difficult to accept today. This is one of the major flaws in this work (mostly why it didn't give it 5 stars). Additionally, the context of the "present" in the narrative (20 years or so after the trial) takes up about 1/3 of the book & I had to force myself to plow through it--not terribly exciting. So, be prepared to slog through this part--it is necessary to read it though. The overall book, is, however, worth the effort IMHO. The plot is clever, most of it can be figured out by the reader--except the very end which may have some ambiguity in the choice of murderer. It had a number of surprising twists & turns too. The title is a pun since one barrel of cider turned out to be quite "rough" indeed. But, the best part of the story--which qualified it IMHO for consideration as a 5-star--regards the brilliant description (in 1st person no less) of how a person can confuse their perceptions of an event at the time, their memories of it, their present day reactions to it, their resistance to recognizing the differences between these and the truth/reality of what actually occurred. One can learn much from this book. It's definitely one of Lovesey's best mysteries--better IMHO than his 3 series (Diamond, Cribb, & Bertie). Indeed, his non-series books, both novels (e.g. Keystone (Black Dagger Crime)) & short stories (Butchers & Other Stories of Crime) are better--though I like the Cribb ones (e.g. The Tick of Death) as well.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great tale about a notorious WWII murder case, May 24, 2006

By 

M. C. T. Henry Jr. "henryct" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rough Cider (Soho Crime) (Paperback)

Sometimes revisiting childhood memories can be dangerous. Peter Lovesey opens his well-plotted mystery with one of the most harrowing first lines: "When I was nine, I fell in love with a girl of twenty named Barabara, who killed herself." Now much older and teaching at Reading University, Theo Sinclair is hounded by Alice Ashenfelter, a young woman who wants to know more about her father, the American G.I. convicted of murder in 1944. Theo tells her about the tragic events that unfolded on the Cider Farm leading to the discovery of a human skull in a cider barrel. Alice points out several things that lead Theo to question his memory and his testimony in the trial that convicted and sentenced her father to death. Together they embark on a journey back to the Cider Farm to uncover the truth. Lovesey's tale is short yet compelling. The discovery of the skeleton was perhaps the most intriguing part of the story. I was also impressed with the unique voice of the narrator. By the end, I wasn't sure I even liked the arrogant Englishman.