Walking With Ghosts (Sam Taylor Mysteries) [Paperback]

John Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2000 | Series: Sam Taylor Mysteries

When Edward Blake's wife India was kidnapped, he didn't trouble the police, just paid the twenty five grand ransom. But when she didn't show up and the kidnapper went to ground, he did call in the law, who figured that the whole thing was a set-up between India and some secret lover. But then, three months later, she turned up in a box, having been left to starve to death. The police became really interested, especially when they found out about the two and a half million pounds' worth of life insurance he'd taken out on her the year before. But with no proof they had to let Edward Blake go. The insurance company, however, is less than keen on paying up. Jill Sheridan, insurance assessor, needs someone to do some legwork, poking around in odd corners of Blake's life, and her thoughts turn to an old flame: Sam Turner...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Baker is the author of four Sam Turner novels, Poet in the Corner, Death Minus Zero and Walking With Ghosts. His latest novel is The Chinese Girl.

From AudioFile

According to his creator, "Sam Turner is a world-weary British P.I. working out of York, England." He's also a recovering alcoholic and the head of a small detective agency. An insurance company has hired him to investigate the murder of the beautiful wife of a shady businessman. A conventional plot. But the author, as he's done in the earlier Sam Turner novels, spends more time on the sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant private lives of Sam and his pals than he does on the crime. And this he does with originality. Cornelius Garrett reads in a Yorkshire accent. His cadences are particularly pleasant, if a bit mannered; his characterizations vivid. All in all, a successful match of performer and text. Y.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Indigo Paperbacks (August 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575402482
• ISBN-13: 978-0575402485
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #532,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Disturbing, Unforgettable, September 24, 2005

By 

Vesta Irene (the Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walking With Ghosts (Sam Taylor Mysteries) (Paperback)

India Blake, the wife of Edward, a wealthy political lobbyist has disappeared. The police assume she has absconded with an unknown lover and faked a kidnapping. But when her body is discovered three months later in a box by York Racecourse, it gets the cop's attention. They get more interested when they find out about the two and a half million pound life insurance policy Edward had taken out on India only a year earlier and the life insurance company wants Sam Turner to investigate.

Now Baker shifts the narrative and we are drawn into the story of Sam's wife Dora, who is in pain and dying of cancer. We see her through the memories she wanders through as Sam cares for her.

Because of his wife's condition, Sam isn't eager to accept the case for the insurance company, so he hands it off to his team, continuing characters Marie and Geordie. However the case just doesn't want to leave Sam alone.

WALKING WITH GHOSTS is at times dark and disturbing as it moves between Dora's deathbed memories and the case at hand. The reader is drawn into a tale of political and personal corruption that she will never forget. She will never forget Dora either and she will never forget this wonderful story that gets five stars from me.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene