Olive Etchells

In Devil at the Crossroads, by Olive Etchells, the body of young rich playboy Paul Stradling is found brutally murdered and propped up against the Menna, an ancient standing stone in a village near Falmouth in Cornwall, UK. Detective Chief Inspector Channon of the Devon and Cornwall police force is charged with investigating the crime, but he finds there are so many threads, and suspects, to sort through that the going is very slow. First there's the Pascoe family, with the parents recently separated and the oldest daughter romantically involved with Paul, not to mention the son's argument with the deceased. There's a village youngster who lost his job thanks to his clumsy work on the Stradling yacht, who is known to have vandalized the yacht in retaliation. Then there are all the relatives of all the young women whom Paul had seduced and discarded, a very large list indeed. And finally, does Paul's interest in ancient history and archeology have anything to do with the crime, and the placement of the body? DCI Channon must somehow weave his way through all these threads to arrive at the truth, before there's another murder.... This is apparently the third book in this series by Olive Etchells, although I've only seen one (Footprints of the Devil). I like the series for its Cornish setting and its thoughtful, sensitive detective, along with his relationships with others including his abrasive tough-guy sergeant. I solved the crime before the denouement, but that said the crime was fairly clued and I did consider more than one suspect before settling on my pick, so that's not a bad thing to me! I'm not sure how available these books are in North America (I found it through a mail-order remainder house that specializes in British books), but if you find one and you're in the mood for a not-too-challenging but enjoyable mystery, pick it up. One does not have to have read the series in order to appreciate the setting and characters, although of course doing so enriches the experience! Recommended.… (lisätietoja)

Footprints of the Devil, by Olive Etchells, is a combination British cozy and police procedural: the "cozy" aspect being the setting of a small Cornish (home of my ancestors) village where everybody knows and looks out for everybody else, and the "police procedural" part being the outside, but still Cornish, police force that comes to the village to investigate two mysterious deaths. Champion surfer Dave Tregenza abruptly left Porthmenna 7 years ago, baffling and angering his older brother Jonathan and aunt/guardian Frances. He returns just as abruptly, called home by a premonition that is shortly, and sadly, confirmed - brother Jonny is missing, and soon found dead. Not just dead, but murdered....When a second body is found, the thoughtful and insightful DCI Channon is brought in to supplement the work of DS Bowles, a prickly man with ambitions; but they are starting at a disadvantage as almost a week has elapsed since both men disappeared. Will they be able to sort out the facts, and will the close-knit but often closed-mouthed villagers help or hinder them in their quest for the truth? And what is the role of the Goonhilly earth satellite station, a huge facility near the village that is a likely target for terrorists? This is a fun and clever read, with some nice characterizations and an intricate plot - it's not often that I don't guess the killer before that person is revealed, but I didn't guess it here, a high accolade indeed for a mystery! Recommended.… (lisätietoja)