The Ten Commandments (DCI Webb Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Anthea Fraser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2000 | Series: DCI Webb Mysteries

When the body of a man is found in the parking lot of a local pub, police recall a similar murder that happened a few years earlier where the killer has never been caught. Webb sees the case as an opportunity to solve two mysteries at once.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

DCI David Webb features once again in Fraser's successful series (I'll Sing You Two-O, etc.), set in a small English town. A man's body is discovered in a pub car park, identity unknown. Similarities between this murder and an unsolved case from six years earlier plague Webb's investigation, especially after an elderly criminologist, Frederick Mace, inadvertently becomes involved when plugging his new book. Family problems complicate Mace's efforts to help the police solve the crimes; his daughter, Alex, is having an affair with a friend's husband, Patrick Knowles, whose own family includes an ill mother and a depressed sister. While all seems at loose ends, the narrative threads gradually come together in an intricate web of deceit and murder. Mace and Webb narrowly avoid tragedy as they race ever closer to the truth behind the killings, and Webb's personal life remains in focus. There's the requisite red herring or two and, although both victims appeared to lead blameless lives, a deeper side of each surfaces in this fully satisfying yarn. If one word can describe Fraser's writing, it's "succinct." Her plots develop quickly, and her prose is straight to the point--and neither narrative nor character suffers from this brevity. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

British police inspector David Webb, of the long-running series, here competes with a well-known criminologist. Webb believes that a recent parking-lot murder is similar to a years-ago unsolved case; the criminologist does not. Another prime procedural.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209150
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209155
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,112,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cerebral british police procedural, February 17, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ten Commandments (DCI Webb Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A body is found between two cars parked in a lot of an Ashmartin, England pub. There is nothing on the deceased to identify him until his wife calls in a missing person's report. The dead person is social worker Simon Judd who was socially meeting a client at the pub. DCI David Webb learns that this case parallels another murder case that happened six years ago when an unknown assailant murdered a real estate agent. Webb concludes that the same person killed murdered both victims.

Frederick Mace, a renowned crime writer and criminologist, reviews both cases and decides that two different killers committed the acts. Mace's theory turns him into a media celebrity that leads to someone breaking into his study and knocking the writer out cold. Everyone assumes that the culprit wanted to see what information the author held. Webb is out to get the person responsible for Mace before he tries again.

Fans of British police procedurals will want to read the TEN COMMANDMENTS because the story line provides an up close look at how an English homicide investigation works. The secondary characters co-starring in the two subplots add a richness and complexity that makes for a stronger plot. The fascinating mystery proves Anthea Frazier is a fantastic storyteller who knows how to entertain her audience with a cerebral puzzler.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ten Commandments, September 26, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ten Commandments (DCI Webb Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A well written mystery with an intriguing plot and well developed characters.

When the body of a dead man is discovered in the parking lot of a pub, DCI Webb is reminded of a similar case from six years ago that has yet to be resolved. But has this current murder been perpetrated by the same person or is it a case of a copy-cat killing? Both cases come under some uncomfortable scrutiny and notoriety when a well known criminologist, Frederick Mace gets involved. Mace is working on the theory that both murders were committed by different men and for different reasons entirely. And then Mace is attacked, and his study ransacked. DCI Webb is more determined than ever to resolve both cases before Mace ends up dead.

What makes this novel so intriguing is the different approaches that Webb and Mace use to get to the heart of the crime. Webb deals mainly with facts and a small amount of speculation, while Mace uses a more imaginative approach: his current premise is that a large part of why certain crimes are committed are because of the personalities of the victims. Using photographs of the victims, he paints an accurate picture of their characters and moves on from there to try and figure the reason why the murders were committed and who could have committed them. Another moving force of the book is the very friendly competition that builds up between Mace and the police to see who can solve the crimes first. Usually I'm on the side of the police coming out on top and I am a big DCI Webb fan, but in this instance I was totally won over by Federick Mace. Anthea Fraser has created a really charming character in Frederick Mace.

A good mystery and well worth reading.