From Publishers Weekly
Murderous passions simmer under the deceptively calm surface of an English town in this fine mystery debut. Freelance writer Julia Henderson is found battered to death soon after attending a local wedding. Solitary and beautiful, Julia had been ostracized by local women who feared for their marriages, save for Susan Barfoot, the vicar's neurotic wife. A fair number of suspects surface, most of them guests at the wedding. They include neighbor Gerry Clayton, forced to resign from a teaching job because of an affair with a pupil; the bridegroom's father, Graham Sutcliffe, who had apparently shared the murdered woman's favors with his son; and her former husband, a professor who was still in love with her. The case strikes close to home for chief detective inspector Ian Roper of the Rickenham CID when his alienated young son Mark, who met the victim through the vicar's son, becomes a vital witness. As Roper and his staff carefully sift through clues, initial suspects are cleared, finally leaving the shocking truth. Bolitho has crafted a taut, psychologically compelling mystery.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Everyone loved the late Julia Henderson, and that's what makes everyone's wives in Rickenham Green such good suspects. Laura Sutcliffe didn't invite her to her son Johnny's wedding, but Johnny and his father Graham both sent her invitations anyway; Gerry Clayton, who'd resigned from his teaching job over a sex scandal with a student, can't explain how his fingerprints got into her house; her ex-husband, Bart Henderson, evidently hadn't given up hope of winning her back; even Michael Barfoot, the local vicar, was inspired to fantasies he'd rather have repressed. It's up to Chief Inspector Ian Roper to figure out which of the many heads Julia turned was responsible for her bludgeoning death. British writer Bolitho's generous way with clues--plus her low- key, dispassionate view of her hotblooded characters--makes this a promising debut in the manner of Peter Robinson's ice-cold studies of passion. --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
