- Hardcover: 379 pages
- Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (July 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786226560
- ISBN-13: 978-0786226566
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 626 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Colin Pinnock is an up-and-coming junior minister in the Prime Minister's new government, excited about his post and pleased with the recognition he's beginning to attain. His complacency is shattered by the arrival of a cryptic and anonymous letter, which suggests that he is not who he thinks he is. Veteran crime writer Barnard (A Scandal in Belgravia, The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori) presents the solution to the central mystery early on, as Pinnock learns that in all likelihood he is the son of a notorious British nobleman who disappeared after impregnating the family nanny and killing his wife.
Mixing facts and surmises based on a true-life London murder of the 1980s with a fictional hero whose search for the truth about his origins is nicely limned and expertly paced, Barnard delivers another winner for his many fans. The development of the relationships between Colin and his half-siblings is well described, and the denouement offers just enough surprise to classify this elegant novel under "mysteries, British." --Jane Adams --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Shortly after accepting a junior ministerial post in the Labor government that came to power in the last British general election, MP Colin Pinnock receives a postcard bearing the stark question: "Who Do You Think You Are?" As this literate mystery thriller unfolds, it becomes clear that the author of this cryptic message is less concerned with Colin's getting above himself than with his looking into his origins. Learning that he was adopted causes Colin scarcely a jolt, but it's quite another thing to discover that his real father might have been Lord John Revill, who disappeared in 1962 after apparently murdering his wife. By all reports, Lord John had been having an affair with his children's sexy Australian nanny. At 35, Colin is just the right age to be the offspring of this illicit liaison. Barnard, an eight-time Edgar Award finalist, presents a sympathetic protagonist and a compelling human tale with his customary subtlety and economy. Revelations, each more or less surprising, arrive at regular intervals, while the big questions--what was really going on in the Revill household before the murder and who is sending Colin increasingly serious threats--are fully answered only at the end. The good characters are all thoroughly decent chaps, while at the climax the villain, who is more mad than bad, pulls out a knife, not a gun. This understated British melodrama is as comforting as a nice cuppa. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The master nods,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Murder in Mayfair (Hardcover)
Everything Barnard writes under his own name is worth reading, and this one is no exception. His weaker mysteries are better than 99% of the stuff being published. Still, Murder in Mayfair reads like it isn't quite finished. There are long static scenes of dialogue and one unbelievable coincidence (involving the location of two flats) that makes no difference to the plot. The resolution is not a surprise and, worse yet, relies on a deus ex machina. It reads a bit like a draft rather than a finished novel. Read Barnard's other political mysteries -- Scandal in Belgravia and Political Suicide -- first, and then this one.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent mystery by prolific UK writer,
By F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: A Murder in Mayfair (Paperback)
In its authors native UK this book was published as "Touched by the Dead2 ,the title being a quotation from Tennyson,reflecting the writer's main career as a professor of English literature.It is a more evocative title than Murder in Mayfair and illustrates a key theme of the book-tghe role of the past in shaping events of the present.It opens in May 1997 the day after New Labour has been returned to power in the UK following 18 years of Conservative government.The narrator is Colin Pinnock a Labour MP who is designated a junior minister in the Department of Education.He receives a note thrust under the door of his London apartment aking the stark question "Who do yopu think you are? It prompts him to undertake a search for his family origins which lead back to a minor sixtoies political scandal.This is clearly modelled on the real life affair of Lord Lucan who went missing after allegedly killing his wife. In the book the Lucan figure is Lord Revill who vanished after killing his wife and conducting an affair with his children's nanny.Research uncovers that Pinnock is the illegitimate child of the liasion between Revill and the nanny and there are other ,less welcome suprises lurking round the corner as he delves deeper into the case including a stalker,an assailant with a knife and other relatives emerging from the woodwork. Barnard has tackiled political themes before and his view of politicians stops some way short of idolatory.He makes some sharp observations about our political lords and masters and his disillusion with the present adminstration comes through loud and clear Well and clearly written with compassion and warmth this a good book and nerits reading by sall devotees of the British crime novel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Barnard Turns Out Another Good One,
By
This review is from: A Murder in Mayfair (Hardcover)
Robert Barnard's latest mystery, A Murder in Mayfair, contains a number of devices Barnard has used before. There's an engaging young man embarked on a quest for his parentage, a bit like the earlier Out of the Blackout. Then there's the solving of a 35-year old murder to help clarify current events, much like A Scandal in Belgravia. Finally, there's an unexpected homoerotic twist, like...oh, how many Barnards shall I name? All in all, this was a fast-paced, interesting, and engaging mystery. Not Robert Barnard at his best, but Robert Barnard in good form.
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