Skinner's Trail [Hardcover]

Quintin Jardine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

Assistant Chief Constable Robert Skinner has his peaceful life turned upside-down by the murder of underworld kingpin Tony Manson and the disappearance of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains. By the author of Skinner's Rules.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

He's Robert Skinner, a high ranking Edinburgh policeman. He's got a villa in Spain, two houses in Scotland, the world's best behaved newborn and the world's most resilient new mother, in her late 30s, for a wife. He's a crack shot and a tough-fisted guy with a crass, insensitive, sexist posture who is a distinctly unpleasant fictional creation. In Skinner's third appearance, after Skinner's Festival, a crime lord is murdered in Edinburgh, and a property swindle is uncovered in a Spanish resort town. Skinner gets to log some flying hours, shout at admiring subordinates, swear unnecessarily in mixed company and solve two cases that the author links by coincidence rather than design. Jardine's collection of villains is instantly forgettable. With the exception of the amazingly stalwart Ms. Skinner, most of the women in the book are odoriferous hookers or office underlings required to serve biscuits and coffee to Skinner and the other North Country Neanderthals he hangs out with.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Assistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner has plenty of responsibilities to juggle, what with the birth of his son, Edinburgh's increasing crime rate, and the murder of local businessman Tony Manson, whose chain of Laundromats provided a legitimate front for his drug-dealing and prostitution rings. The case all comes down to money, of course, with Manson's numerous nefarious schemes, from fiddling with his company funds to running illegal land scams in Spain, all producing plenty of suspects. The investigation takes Skinner from Scotland to Spain to Amsterdam as he tries to track down the missing money, nail the killer, and close the case. Jardine offers up a superb plot that's chock-full of high-octane action, keep-'em-guessing twists and turns, and a slam-bang ending that's as satisfying as it is surprising. Another winner from this very talented writer. Emily Melton

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 Us ed edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312144172
• ISBN-13: 978-0312144173
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,718,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A quick, "Okay" read., August 21, 2005

By 

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

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

While I may get tired of Rebus' drinking and angst, Skinner is so perfect as to be annoying. He is tall, lean, attractive, smart, an excellent shot and at hand-to-hand combat, well liked by his superior and subordinates, and has a perfect wife and baby. He easily gets the cooperation of other police agencies and bad guys tell him everything. It all gets to be a bit much. So why do I keep reading the series? Because under all that is a decent procedural with just enough suspense to keep me going. It's a quick, okay read.