Skinner's Round (Bob Skinner Mysteries) [Paperback]

Quintin Jardine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996 | Series: Bob Skinner Mysteries

A four-day tournament involving the world's leading golfers is being staged for the opening of a new country club created on his East Lothian estate by the Marquis of Kinture and two partners. But on the Sunday afternoon preceding, one of the partners is found dead in his private Jacuzzi in the clubhouse—with his throat cut. On the following day an anonymous letter is received by the local newspaper, containing part of a legendary witches' curse upon anyone who desecrates their place of worship. True, East Lothian was once a notorious center of witchcraft, but DCC Bob Skinner prefers to deal with the here and now. Is this crime in fact a grudge killing by a business rival?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Edinburgh police chief Bob Skinner, happily married and the proud father of a bouncing baby boy, finds it difficult to tear himself away from his family to investigate a murder. But investigate he must when multimillionaire Michael White is found in the Jacuzzi of the newly opened Witches' Hill Golf Club, his throat sliced open from ear to ear. With a world-class, million-dollar tournament due to start the next day, the club owners are desperate to keep the murder quiet. They--and Skinner--are hoping for a quick solve, but Skinner's leads are scant. Hoping to pick up some solid clues, Skinner joins a tournament foursome--and takes some good-natured ribbing about his golf game--in an effort to track the killer. Skinner encounters a coven of witches, business moguls, bloodthirsty rivalries, and more killings before he eventually nails the killer, thanks to solid police work. An intriguing look at golf as big business, combined with Jardine's deft plotting and skillful writing, makes this another winning entry in an outstanding police procedural series. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

It isn't enough that the crowd of golfers, backers, moneymen, and hangers-on assembled for the opening of Witches' Hill, the Marquis of Kinture's sparkling new course, are collectively so far off the testosterone meter that any of them could have slit the throat of Kinture's partner, Michael White, as he sat in his bath in the clubhouse. No, because just as Assistant Chief Constable Robert Skinner's crew are casting their nets over the illustrious assemblage, an anonymous note to the Scotsman cryptically suggests that the killing is the fulfillment of an ancient witch's curse--a curse that has three more rounds to run. Skinner, still reeling from the news that his daughter had been shacking up with his ladies'-man prot‚g‚ Andy Martin (whom she's now run out on in a frenzy of mutual recriminations), realizes to his astonishment that his knowledge of the curse comes to him via his late first wife. Her taped testimony from beyond the grave sets him on the trail of a 400-year-old mystery he solves in time to christen the new course himself with a splendidly improbable climactic round of golf. Though Skinner's fourth case (Skinner's Trail, p. 644) lacks the headlong momentum of his early work, it's the most polished and mystifying of them all--and a convincing illustration of Jardine's growing versatility. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 436 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747250413
• ISBN-13: 978-0747250418
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #992,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 starts - Excellent procedural, annoyingly perfect protagonist, January 14, 2006

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skinner's Round (Bob Skinner Mysteries) (Paperback)

The supporting characters are interesting and well developed. Sense of place is well done and I even found the golf interesting. The side story was particularly effective. What put me off to the point of almost not finishing the book is the character is Skinner-he is just too perfect. He is the perfect husband, lover, marksman; he's an excellent golfer, physically strong, capable, and well respected by both his reports and his bosses. He only showed a slight in which relationship with his daughter and her boyfriend, but even that works out as you know it will. I don't necessarily need the angst of Rebus, but a character a little more human would be easier to take. And it's a same, but underneath it all is a very good police procedural. Get past Skinner and read this book, and the series, for the story.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Undiscovered Diamond, April 22, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Bend, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skinner's Round (Hardcover)

I was shocked to find that not a single word of praise has been written, not just for this wonderful book, but for the whole series! Worse, most of the rest of the series are already out of print! And if you have not read these books I do highly recommend that you start with "Skinner's Rules" and work your way through them. While good, this book is not the best in the Bob Skinner series. In this book we find Skinner almost complacent in his successful career and family life. Only near the end does the tough-as-nails street cop flash out from behind the civility. As a style these "police procedurals" are first rate mysteries, the "Skinner" series among the best of the lot. I highly recommend them as being as good as Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" novels.