Weaving Shadows: A Mystery (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Margaret Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries | Publication Date: June 16, 2005

Attorney Clara Pascal thought she was taking on a simple child custody case....
Traumatized by her own recent experience as a kidnap victim in Darkness Falls, Clara is trying hard to keep the shadows of the past at bay. Her husband and young daughter don't understand why she's so distant. Her caseload at work has slowed to a trickle, and her friend Mitch, a lawyer, offers her work, but Clara refuses to take on a criminal case. And she can't shake the feeling that someone is after her.
When a young, single mother is beaten to death with a hammer, Clara finds herself thrown into a criminal investigation she wants no part of. At stake is the fate of the child the victim left behind, the result of an affair with a married man. Clara is called upon by the father to help him gain custody of his little daughter, but he and his wife soon begin to doubt she is up to the job. Clara is running out of money and has no choice but to take the next available case. Convicted killer Ian Clemence, a stalker who photographs young women, is the number one suspect in the murder. He's fresh out of prison and itching to make up for lost time. The press is all over the case, and the police are eager to nail him. So why does Clara believe that he's innocent?
Risking her career, her reputation, and her life, she sets out to prove the past has no hold on the future, while a killer comes ever closer to making her the next victim....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this riveting sequel to British author Murphy's Darkness Falls (2004), criminal lawyer Clara Pascal reluctantly gets drawn into a grisly murder case. Photography teacher Amy Dennis is found brutally slain with her unharmed baby upstairs. Plenty of circumstantial evidence and a familiar MO put Ian Clemence, who was Dennis's student, in the frame for the crime. Clara finds herself defending Clemence, despite prevailing police sentiment about the belligerent ex-con whose hardened exterior earns him enemies on both sides of the law. Dennis also happened to be looking into a shady multimillion-pound real estate deal rife with political maneuvering, a notorious underworld figure and at least one bent cop. When one of the players in the development deal gets shot during an alleged mugging, Pascal finds it too much of a coincidence. Murphy tantalizes the reader as she effortlessly weaves the story lines and sustains the tension until the end. Fresh takes on whodunit standards and insight into the minds of the fully realized characters make this an excellent psychological thriller.
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Review

"Murphy handles her complex plot with a sure hand and brings it to a stunning climax."
---The Sunday Telegraph (UK)

"Visual, well-paced thriller." ---The Daily Mirror (UK)

"Clemence and Clara leap from the page like Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling.... A gripping, many-layered read." ---Sherlock (U.)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (June 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312328532
• ISBN-13: 978-0312328535
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,490,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-plotted, suspenseful legal thriller, September 4, 2005

By 

Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weaving Shadows: A Mystery (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Margaret Murphy, who lives on the Wirral Peninsula in Wales, is the author of six previous novels: Goodnight, My Angel; The Desire of the Moth; Caging the Tiger, Past Reason, Dying Embers, and Darkness Falls.

In Darkness Falls (2004), Murphy tells the harrowing story of the kidnap and rape of British barrister Clara Pascal, a brilliant criminal lawyer. Now, in Weaving Shadows, Murphy writes a murder mystery in which Pascal, suffering from claustrophobia, terrifying dreams, waves of nausea, and panic attacks, struggles to reenter the quotidian world destroyed by her abduction.

Set in the town of Chester, Cheshire, Wales, Weaving Shadows tells the story of Pascal's defense of Ian Clemence, who is accused of the brutal murder of Amy Dennis. Clemence has only recently been released from prison, after serving 12 years for the murder of his girlfriend, Vicky Rees. All the evidence in the Amy Dennis murder case points against Clemence, who is the perfect fall guy for a set-up.

Michaela "Mitch" O'Connor has been trying to help Pascal resume her life as a lawyer by feeding her cases that are less threatening than murder trials, such as a child custody case in which Pascal represents Chris and Diane Tobin.

More and more, however, Pascal becomes involved in the Ian Clemence case, and slowly becomes convinced that Clemence is innocent--that he has been framed by someone involved in a criminal conspiracy in the Dee View Development Project, a multi-million pound development.

One is not surprised that Pascal, by doggedly pursuing clues to establish Clemence's innocence, puts her own life at risk. The irrational dark threatens to engulf Pascal, as in the damp cellar of her confinement, One is surprised, however, when the identity of Amy Dennis' killer is revealed. The author caught me completely off guard.

A suspenseful legal thriller, Weaving Shadows is skillfully plotted, with a frisson of nervous energy and mounting tension. Murphy also is convincing in her description of interpersonal relationships, such as that between Clara Pascal and her husband Hugo and their daughter Pippa. Clara's neurotic condition following in the wake of her kidnapping and rape have not been easy of the Pascal family.

One criticism is in order. This book has a large amount of "Britishisms" that are annoying. Before this book was published in the United States, a translator was needed to change "British English" into "American English." Although one can usually tell from the context what these words mean, their oddity will be distracting to American readers.
[...]

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific British legal thriller, June 29, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weaving Shadows: A Mystery (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Nine months have passed since London barrister Clara Pascal was abducted (see DARKNESS FALLS), but she still suffers from stress. Her husband and their daughter are losing patience with her fears and she suffers from a panic attack when she tries to enter criminal court. That is why she switched to family law with her friend, Michelle "Mitch" O'Connor providing her with a job in her family law practice.

Clara meets clients, Chris and Diane Tobin on a custody case. Chris explains he had an affair with a friend, who became pregnant and gave birth to Helen. The couple had visitation rights to see Helen, but the mother recently died so they want permanent custody. On the surface he being the father should make for an easy brief, but the Tobins only provide the tip of the iceberg to Claire. At the same time, another family friend, a single mother, who was Chris' lover, has been found dead. The police find evidence that ties Ian Clemence, a convicted murderer just freed, to the victim, but Claire begins to wonder whether the cops target the right man as she wonders about her client.

This British legal thriller is a terrific sequel that follows up on the aftermath of the events that occurred to Clara in DARKNESS FALLS. The story line is action-packed, but clearly the characters, especially the beleaguered heroine trying to return to practicing law, make for an excellent tale. The police procedural elements are used to provide suspects especially Ian; Clara decides to represent him more for her sake than his though she fears entering a criminal court. Murphy's Law consists of developing great characters inside a great plot leads to a great novel.

Harriet Klausner