Quiet Murder - Softcover

Nancy Livingston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373261861 ISBN 13: 9780373261864

Publisher: Worldwide Library, 1995

Synopsis

When an elderly man is tortured and killed, reluctant tax inspector G. D. H. Pringle and his enthusiastic lady friend Mavis Bignell are on the scene and uncover a shocking truth that the police overlooked. Reprint.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

In London's East End, the brutal murder, in his bleak apartment, of elderly loner Ernest Clare is engaging the energies of CID's Colin Cass and his superior officer Bramwell. Clare lived on Inkerman Street, home to many senior citizens, most of whom spend time at Bricklayers, the local pub, where retired accountant G.D.H. Pringle's dearly loved Mavis Bignell tends bar. Clare was an occasional visitor who handed out small bequests at Christmas time. Rumor has Karl Gough--lorry driver and small-time crook--pegged as the killer, especially when it's learned that his wife, Sharon, is in the hospital, paralyzed and near death after a violent beating. Meanwhile, Karl is on the run, but reports of a prowler and news that Clare was far from impoverished inspire Pringle (Mayhem in Parva, etc.) to further thought. He pins down Clare's murderer, motive rooted in history, but reveals nothing, while Cass and his co-workers probe the tawdry, tragic life of Sharon Gough. The two narratives never really mesh. Plotting is over the top here, with enough angst and twisted character for several novels. Flow and cohesion come up short, but interesting backgrounds and acid-tinged vignettes provide sporadically intriguing entertainment. Medium-grade Livingston. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Back from the delights and terrors they encountered in America's gambling capital in Unwillingly to Vegas , the amateur detective team of retired tax collector G.D.H. Pringle and his lively companion, barmaid Mavis Bignell, pursue a case of murder in their own London neighborhood. Elderly Ernest Clare is found killed shortly before his annual disbursement of Christmas club money at Mavis's pub. Suspicion falls on former resident Karl Gough, a young truck driver and petty criminal inexplicably returned to the area that day, who disappears after the crime is uncovered, having stolen another senior citizen's credit card. Mavis convinces her paramour to break into Ernest's house to see if the money is still there; Mr. P. is caught, but not before finding a possible clue. That and their belief that Gough wasn't violent enough to have committed such a brutal murder, or to have assaulted his estranged wife (as is later reported), lead the duo to the resolution of this sad tale of contemporary life. Livingston's quiet humor and sure affection for her cast of pensioners shine through a thoroughly satisfying puzzler.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Worldwide Library
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0373261861
• ISBN 13: 9780373261864
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 256