Clare Curzon (1922–2010)
Author of Cat's Cradle
About the Author
Series
Works by Clare Curzon
Off Track: A Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mystery (Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mysteries) (2008) 35 copies, 2 reviews
An Unofficial Breath 2 copies
A Leaven of Malice 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Curzon, Clare
- Legal name
- Buchanan, Eileen-Marie Duell
- Other names
- Petrie, Rhona
Buchanan, Marie (pseudonym) - Birthdate
- 1922-11-15
- Date of death
- 2010-05-20
- Gender
- female
- Education
- King's College, London
- Occupations
- mystery writer
- Organizations
- Crime Writers' Association
- Short biography
- [excerpted from Shots Mag Confidential blog]
Clare Curzon wrote over forty novels under a number of names but was best known for her Mike Yeadings series that was set in Thames Valley. She also wrote two books which featured the character Sian Vassilakis and three books in the Stakerly Series which were set in 1900s London, England and featured the character Lucy Sedgewick. She also wrote a number of non-series novels. Using the name Rhona Petrie she wrote five police procedurals featuring Marcus Maclurg a Police Inspector in England and two books featuring Dr Nassim Pride an Anglo-Sudanese forensic Scientist set in Geneva Switzerland. As Marie Buchanan she also wrote five books. - Nationality
- UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- UK
Members
Reviews
Clare Curzon began writing in the 1960s and has published over forty novels under a variety of pseudonyms, with twenty or so of these in the Superintendent Mike Yeadings series. OFF TRACK is the first time I've come across this series.
It has been a long while since I struggled for months to finish a book, but reading OFF TRACK turned out to be a very disconcerting experience. The basic plot is that Lee Barber, a train driver, leads a perfectly normal life until one night he overshoots a show more station and a passenger reports him. When a drunk Lee then comes across the man he decides has reported him, he attacks him. The hapless passenger isn't anything to do with the report, but he does turn out to be a disgruntled biological scientist, Piers Egerton, on his way to tell a newspaper reporter the dreadful secret of his work.
The reporter is, in turn, the partner of a Thames Valley police detective, who reports the scientist missing. When the daughter of the train driver is also snatched, the Thames Valley Serious Crimes Squad is involved in the search for two missing people (the daughter and the scientist), and ultimately, the death of a stranger who dies after breaking into the Barber home. At some point in the middle of all of this, the scientist and the train driver (the attempted killer and the victim that is) join forces, but to be perfectly honest, that was the point at which I completely lost the plot.
Whilst I don't have a problem with a certain level of co-incidence, and a reasonable suspension of disbelief I struggled from very early on with the level that was required to get involved with OFF TRACK. Not just the idea that the Egerton would be so willing to throw his lot in with the maniac (or sad loser) that just tried to kill him, there was simply too much unrealistic behaviour going on. Why you'd suddenly turn a simple report of a driver incident into a killing vendetta was never adequately supported by the rest of Barber's behaviour; the supposedly discontented Egerton - he of the explosive potential secret, just didn't feel right - tense or even reflective of his position; Barber's wife did manage to raise a little suspicion about her husband's behaviour, but then she becomes so disconnected from events around her children she lost all credibility.
Whilst there are a few in the supporting cast that came across as a little more believable, the general feeling of unreality made it almost impossible to find anybody to sympathise with. The complications of the plot seemed to slow the whole story down, rather than create a tense thrilling experience, and the combination of both didn't help make the book engaging or interesting. Add to that some plot points, that despite the interconnected nature of everything else in the book, just seem to lob out of left field and hang around forever, and the book just didn't work for me on any level.
Not having read any of the other Mike Yeardings books, it would be unfair to judge the entire series based on this single entry. Any series that has twenty or so entries in it just must have something going for it. Perhaps it would be best to start out somewhere else and get to know the main characters properly before giving OFF TRACK a go. show less
It has been a long while since I struggled for months to finish a book, but reading OFF TRACK turned out to be a very disconcerting experience. The basic plot is that Lee Barber, a train driver, leads a perfectly normal life until one night he overshoots a show more station and a passenger reports him. When a drunk Lee then comes across the man he decides has reported him, he attacks him. The hapless passenger isn't anything to do with the report, but he does turn out to be a disgruntled biological scientist, Piers Egerton, on his way to tell a newspaper reporter the dreadful secret of his work.
The reporter is, in turn, the partner of a Thames Valley police detective, who reports the scientist missing. When the daughter of the train driver is also snatched, the Thames Valley Serious Crimes Squad is involved in the search for two missing people (the daughter and the scientist), and ultimately, the death of a stranger who dies after breaking into the Barber home. At some point in the middle of all of this, the scientist and the train driver (the attempted killer and the victim that is) join forces, but to be perfectly honest, that was the point at which I completely lost the plot.
Whilst I don't have a problem with a certain level of co-incidence, and a reasonable suspension of disbelief I struggled from very early on with the level that was required to get involved with OFF TRACK. Not just the idea that the Egerton would be so willing to throw his lot in with the maniac (or sad loser) that just tried to kill him, there was simply too much unrealistic behaviour going on. Why you'd suddenly turn a simple report of a driver incident into a killing vendetta was never adequately supported by the rest of Barber's behaviour; the supposedly discontented Egerton - he of the explosive potential secret, just didn't feel right - tense or even reflective of his position; Barber's wife did manage to raise a little suspicion about her husband's behaviour, but then she becomes so disconnected from events around her children she lost all credibility.
Whilst there are a few in the supporting cast that came across as a little more believable, the general feeling of unreality made it almost impossible to find anybody to sympathise with. The complications of the plot seemed to slow the whole story down, rather than create a tense thrilling experience, and the combination of both didn't help make the book engaging or interesting. Add to that some plot points, that despite the interconnected nature of everything else in the book, just seem to lob out of left field and hang around forever, and the book just didn't work for me on any level.
Not having read any of the other Mike Yeardings books, it would be unfair to judge the entire series based on this single entry. Any series that has twenty or so entries in it just must have something going for it. Perhaps it would be best to start out somewhere else and get to know the main characters properly before giving OFF TRACK a go. show less
In this, the seventh installment of Clare Curzon's Mike Yeadings series, the Thames Valley police are called in to investigate the death of Lorely Pelling. Miss Pelling lived a reclusive life on property that belonged to her family, all dead now, collected cats, grew her own vegetables, and had sold off some of the family's land in order to live that way. The police immediately wonder if a stray shot from an earlier teens party (where the kids were practicing shooting) at the nearby home of show more the Welch family may have been the cause of her death, but other clues come to light that suggest it was foul play. Mike Yeadings, a Detective Superintendent, and his team are in charge of the investigation, and must get to the bottom of Miss Pelling's murder, but unwilling witnesses, too many suspects and some red herrings aren't going to make it easy for them.
This is my first Mike Yeadings novel, because the first few are very rare and hard to come by. Normally I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, but this time due to unavailability, this is where I began. I don't know what I've missed as far as character development, but I like Yeadings as a character and will definitely be reading more of Curzon's work. The ending of this novel seems a bit strange, considering it was originally written in 1991 (I won't say why in case someone plans to read this) but otherwise, the book was good, the mystery was solid and I liked it.
Overall...a good read, and I can definitely recommend it to readers of British police procedurals. Cozy readers may like it as well, but it's a bit more edgy than most books in that particular genre. show less
This is my first Mike Yeadings novel, because the first few are very rare and hard to come by. Normally I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, but this time due to unavailability, this is where I began. I don't know what I've missed as far as character development, but I like Yeadings as a character and will definitely be reading more of Curzon's work. The ending of this novel seems a bit strange, considering it was originally written in 1991 (I won't say why in case someone plans to read this) but otherwise, the book was good, the mystery was solid and I liked it.
Overall...a good read, and I can definitely recommend it to readers of British police procedurals. Cozy readers may like it as well, but it's a bit more edgy than most books in that particular genre. show less
To all appearances. The Mintons seemed to be an ordinary family living in the English countryside. There was the maiden aunt Olive and her cousins Edward and Megan. Nothing of significance happened to any of them - until the Blanchards moved into Greenshards - the house next door. Greenshards had originally been in Olive's family for years. and now the enigmatic Giles and his strangely lovely wife Fenella lived there.
Perhaps it was the house. Perhaps it was the attraction which Olive felt show more for Giles Blanchard. Whatever it was, Olive suddenly became aware of a second self; a presence who spoke through her, as her, revealing Olive's deepest desires and most private thoughts to others. This presence was now inhabiting Olive's body, planning horrifying and downright destructive deeds.
I have never read any of Marie Buchanan's books before, but I found this book to be suitably frightening for me to start off with. I give this book an A+! and I'm hoping to read some of Ms. Buchanan's earlier books soon. Unfortunately, my copy of Anima fell apart during my reading of it, so I am not sure whether I'll be ever be able to read it again; maybe in a couple of years or so I will get myself a newer copy and reread it. show less
Perhaps it was the house. Perhaps it was the attraction which Olive felt show more for Giles Blanchard. Whatever it was, Olive suddenly became aware of a second self; a presence who spoke through her, as her, revealing Olive's deepest desires and most private thoughts to others. This presence was now inhabiting Olive's body, planning horrifying and downright destructive deeds.
I have never read any of Marie Buchanan's books before, but I found this book to be suitably frightening for me to start off with. I give this book an A+! and I'm hoping to read some of Ms. Buchanan's earlier books soon. Unfortunately, my copy of Anima fell apart during my reading of it, so I am not sure whether I'll be ever be able to read it again; maybe in a couple of years or so I will get myself a newer copy and reread it. show less
Don't leave me is a dual-mystery which reminds the reader of a BBC (PBS) "Mystery!" story as it is written by a British author. Clare Curzon, however, lets a few too many hints fall for the mystery to be as complete as it should be and the "revelation" comes a bit too early. Nonetheless, it is a good read which has enough suspense to maintain the reader's interest.
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Statistics
- Works
- 39
- Members
- 757
- Popularity
- #33,605
- Rating
- 3.2
- Reviews
- 8
- ISBNs
- 141
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