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Loading... Birth Marks: A Hannah Wolfe Crime Novel (original 1991; edition 2005)by Sarah Dunant
Work InformationBirth Marks by Sarah Dunant (1991)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Birth Marks is first in a series of mysteries to feature Hannah Wolfe, private investigator. Hannah Wolfe is hired to find a missing young woman named Carolyn Hamilton. Carolyn had been studying most of her life to become a ballet dancer, and she was most fortunate that a Miss Patrick had taken her on when she was young; Carolyn's family could not have otherwise afforded to help her realize her dancing talent potential. Carolyn left for London, and each week would send Miss Patrick a postcard to let her know how she was doing, etc. However, the communication stopped for some time, and Miss Patrick hired Hannah to find out what happened to Carolyn. Hannah takes the case, but before she can get very far, Carolyn's body turns up in the Thames. I like the writing style here...it's a kind of witty first-person account that leads to a believable story and believable ending. What I didn't like was that I figured out the motive pretty much as soon as Carolyn's story began to be told -- it was a bit transparent and that tends to turn me away from an author. Hopefully in the later books in the Hannah Wolfe series, things will be a bit more tight, and Hannah's character might be a bit more developed. Overall, not a bad read, and not a bad series opener. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy British crime fiction, or those who enjoy reading novels that feature women detectives as the main character. I'll definitely read more of the series. I can't remember what the other Hannah Wolfe novel that I read was, but it had to be better than this one, otherwise I would have stopped right there. The only mystery was why it took Hannah so long to figure out what was going on. Also, her reactions to and interactions with the other characters made no sense. The writing was good, but not much else was. no reviews | add a review
In Birth Marks, private investigator Hannah Wolfe gets a case worthy of the great detective novels she so admires. At first glance, this one doesn't fit the bill: she's asked to find a missing ballet dancer, Carolyn Hamilton. When Carolyn's body is fished out of the Thames, stones in her pockets and an eight-month-old fetus in her belly, the police think it's a no-brainer: Single pregnant woman can't face her impending responsibilities, takes a leap off a bridge. But Hannah can't shake the suspicion that something else is going on. Hannah's investigation takes her from the London dance world to the upper echelons of Parisian society in search of the unborn child's father. But his explanation only raises more questions, and for Hannah the case grows more treacherous, fueling her own ambivalent feelings about relationships and motherhood. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Another big minus was the predictability of it all. A good mystery should not be so predictable. Dunant would have done better if she had thrown in some more plausible suspects. I was also put out by how fast the police brushed this murder case off as suicide just because of a note. I think police doesn't take suicide notes at face value. I thought it was weak to suddenly put all the weight on a far fetched medical report, which untangled all the knots in a rush to end the book, without caring about logical character development.
I was disappointed.
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