Customer Reviews

Written in Blood (Chief Inspector Barnaby Series , No4)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Graham combines sly humor with scenes of heartrending pathos in this expertly written, multilayered novel. The characters are sensitively and/or wittily drawn, not least of which is the self-important, inept Sergeant Troy. The interaction between this would-be storm trooper and his level-headed superior, Inspector Barnaby, is endlessly amusing. At the same time, I found the ending to be the most moving of any mystery novel I've ever read. Caroline Graham is a very good writer indeed, and one hopes that she will soon be publishing another book in the Inspector Barnaby series.

Caroline Graham has never let me down. I'd put this book right up alongside "The Killings at Badgers Drift" as the best of a brilliant series. A reviewer thinks the loathsome Brian got too much print, but I loved every word of it. I've known men like him and I just knew he was going to get his in the end, and what a beautiful ending it is. It's hard to recommend one Graham mystery over another but don't miss this one.

I have loved Caroline Graham's books for some time now and I think this is her best. The characters are expertly drawn; Graham has a way of making you feel as if you are in amongst them and yet watching from a safe distance. The roller coaster ending was a complete surprise to me and I highly recommend this book to mystery readers.

Good but not as good as some of her earlier mysteries. Still well worth reading though, for her wonderfully British characters and her twisted plot. If you like your murders to occur in quaint villages rather than mean streets then Ms. Graham is the writer for you. Be sure to read Death of a Hollow man or Murder in Maddingly Grange before attempting this one.

I read this book a year or so ago and was taken with it then. I often find myself thinking about the real characters and wondering how things could have been different for them all. While this review is not meant to re-tell the story, it is to alert readers to a unique type of author, one who uses imagery and quaintness to pull one in rather than hard core blood and guts. A&E recently showed a two part television version of this called "Midsomer Murder" and it too was very well made.