From Publishers Weekly
War games become fatal for a British solicitor in the sixth low-key police procedural featuring Petly village Detective Inspector James Roland and Sergeant Patrick Mansfield (A Little Grave). When Michael Benton is shot with a composite bullet instead of a paintball during a weekend game, Roland and Mansfield quickly determine that the culprit couldn't have been a chance passer-by. As they investigate, they discover more than a few blots on the dead man's apparently perfect life: his wife, as well as the wives of two other players, are having affairs with Benton's business partner; the surly warden of the adjoining parkland actively resents the war-gamers romping through the forest; and Benton's neighbor has discovered Roman coins on a piece of land the dead man refused to sell. When the neighbor's wife dies in an apparent suicide, the police suspect a link. But it isn't until they follow the trail of some silver trinkets and Patrick's wife has a secret meeting with one of the suspects that they can successfully solve the case. With little lively interplay between Roland and Mansfield, and with a roster of suspects typical in their small-minded grievances, Quinton serves up a thoroughly average procedural.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In this veddy British mystery, the foul play in the title refers to war games being played in a wooded area of Suffolk. The victim, lawyer Michael Benton, has everything in the world to live for, but he dies when he's shot, not with the expected paint ball used in war games, but with a real bullet. Detective Inspector James Roland and Detective Sergeant Patrick Mansfield soon discover that Benton's perfect life was rather seamy under the surface and that, naturally, several people, including the widow, wouldn't have minded seeing him dead. Mystery fans who like straightforward British procedurals will appreciate following how the cops go about solving the crime, and a few surprising plot twists will keep them guessing. The book's crowded typographical design doesn't exactly invite readers in, but the story will pull them along. Ilene Cooper
