MysteryLarge Print EditionWhen Sally Caswell persuaded her scientist husband Liam to move from London to Oxfordshire, she hoped they might enjoy a more peaceful existence. But Liam is morose, isolated, and frustrated in his work. When he isnt arguing with the crotchety pensioner next door about his unruly goats, hes venting his unhappiness on Sally. Then with the arrival of a mysterious package it seems that Liam is being targeted by animal rights activists for some previous work. But Chief Inspector Markby is not entirely convinced, and the more he investigates, the more his unease grows. Then a body is found . . .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
Brilliant, cranky scientist Liam Caswell and his wife Sally have moved to Oxfordshire from London. Their tiny house in the village of Castle Darcy abuts that of elderly eccentric Bodicote, who keeps goats and is far from neighborly. Not far away, however, lives Sally's longtime friend Meredith Mitchell, now on leave from her London Foreign Office job (A Candle for a Corpse, 1996, etc.). Meredith, hearing rumors in the village of something amiss at her friend's cottage, arrives there to find Sally in shock but uninjured after the explosion of a letter bomb in the morning mail. Superintendent Alan Markby, Meredith's part-time lover, is put in charge of the case, which appears to be the work of animal-rights advocates opposed to Caswell's research--the basis of the book on which he's interminably working at home. There is a local animal- welfare group headed by Yvonne Goodhusband and her unkempt son Tristan, but Markby's investigation is stymied until Bodicote is found dead in his yard, seemingly by accident, and Sally, with Meredith's timely intervention, survives an attempt on her life. Unimaginative police work in this hodge-podge of a story- -burdened with an excess of goat lore, wooden dialogue, daft but dull characters, and scarcely a glimmer of suspense. A letdown from the best of the author's previous outings. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Ann Granger has worked in British embassies in various parts of the world. She met her husband, who was also working for the British Embassy, in Prague and together they received postings to places as far apart as Munich and Lusaka. They are now permanently based in Oxfordshire.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent entry in an excellent mystery series,
By Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Touch of Mortality: A Mitchell and Markby Village Whodunit (Mitchell and Markby Series) (Hardcover)
Ann Granger's novels involving Chief Inspector Alan Markby and his on-and-off paramour, Meredith Mitchell, take the classic British countryside cozy and update it in ways that turn it into an end-of-the-millennium contemporary. The inhabitants of a duplex in Oxfordshire symbolize this clash between the old and new. The ancient building with large back lot, once used to house farm families, is now split between Bodicote, the elderly village eccentric who keeps goats and has a wandering eye, and Liam and Sally Caswell, a professional couple who moved from London to the peaceful countryside so that Liam, a scientist whose research involved beagles, can write a book based on his work. Trouble shows up swiftly. Liam's a dragon whose short fuse and total lack of manners has enraged nearly everyone he's met. Bodicote and he have already clashed over the goats getting into his garden, and Boticote's habit of barging into their house led to numerous unpleasant scenes. Bodicote's also angry at Sally when she fed his goats turnips and unknowingly spoilt their milk for awhile. Then a letter bomb goes off, nearly killing Sally. A local animal rights group is suspected, but Markby's not sure. The more popular Brit mysteries these days, and here I'm thinking of the ones on PBS and A&E featuring Inspector Morse, Jane Tennison and Dr. Edward Fitzgerald (of "Cracker"), feature the walking wounded as heroes. In general, they're unpleasant to be around, and saved only from total ostracism by the brilliance of their work. Granger's Mitchell and Markby are good people in the tradition of the classic characters, and she leaves the bad attitudes, shaky morals and addictive habits to her villains, such as the wonky thirtysomething son of the lady of the manor, who share the same manorial home and lead the local animal rights group. "A Touch of Mortality" is full of twists and turns in the second half that led this reader to continue turning pages long after bedtime, and ends with a satisfactory climax in which justice triumphs and the guilty get punished, sometimes in ways that have nothing to do with the legal system. Granger scatters her clues fairly, lays down red herrings with consummate ease, and leads readers repeatedly, and fairly, down the garden path. As an excellent example of classic mystery storytelling, "A Touch of Mortality" is the best I've read this year.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By Pam "SMB,SLT" (Flint Hills of Kansas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Touch of Mortality: A Mitchell and Markby Village Whodunit (Mitchell and Markby Series) (Hardcover)
Ann Granger has done it again. Mitchell and Markby are quite a pair. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a quiet read by the fire (or during the present heatwave the airconditioner). Granger conjures up good images of the characters and the English countryside. I enjoy the little tidbits of life in the pubs, the cottages, the towns and the interplay amongst the characters. My only regret is that since they start in England it takes a long time to get the next volume in the United States.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best in a great series,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Touch of Mortality: A Mitchell and Markby Village Whodunit (Mitchell and Markby Series) (Hardcover)
Liam and Sally Caswell leave London for the quiet rural community of
Oxfordshire so that Liam, an animal research scientist, can write a book on
his findings. However, instead of finding the countryside quiet and serene,
the Caswells are immediately drawn into a squabble with their elderly
neighbor Bodicote over the senior citizen's wandering goats. Liam also
manages to alienate just everyone else in the neighborhood with his boorish
behavior.
..... Everything abruptly changes for the worse when Sally nearly dies from a
letter bomb. Assigned to investigate the case is Chief Inspector Alan
Markby, who thinks that blaming animal rights groups for a terrorist act may
be premature. As he digs deeper, with the help of his sometimes girl friend,
Meredith Mitchell, Alan realizes that Liam has many enemies in London and
here in Oxfordshire, including Bodicote. Danger mounts and Alan knows that he
must solve the case soon before murder occurs.
...... A TOUCH OF MORTALITY is a great mystery based on the concept of a classic
English cozy in modern times. The story line is superb as it is loaded with
numerous false starts and reasonably distributed clues. Alan and Meredith
are great lead protagonists, making Ann Granger's novel one of the best
mystery stories of the year. This reviewer strongly recommends the previous
Inspector Markby novels as well.
.....Harriet Klausner
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