Cassandra Chan

" 'Chief Inspector,' she said, 'tell me, do you think, well ...' She paused, biting her lip, and then went on in an even lower voice. 'Will you be able to find who did it?' Carmichael was unexpectedly touched. 'I'm sure we will, Mrs. Berone,' he said, carried away by the moment, although in fact he was not sure of anything of the kind. Bethancourt, viewing this tableau with a neutral eye, had a sudden moment of doubt as to her guilt. He glanced at Gibbons to see what he thought, but his show more friend did not look his way; his attention was fixed on Annette Berowne."
~~back cover

"Every ambitious Scotland Yard detective sergeant like Jack Gibbons should have a best friend like Philip Bethancourt. Charismatic, well connected, and quite well off, Phillip likes to tag along on Jack's more interesting investigations, and Jack is happy to have him.

"Jack's latest case seems interesting enough indeed: Geoffrey Berowne has been poisoned in his study and his much younger third wife, Annette, has the strongest motive. After all, everyone else at the Berowne estate seems more inclined to kill her than her husband. But Jack and Phillip are stumped. As they look closer, their list of suspects grows to include Geoff's curmudgeonly sister-in-law, who deeply resent Annette, and his beleaguered son and unhappy daughter-in-law, stuck in the floundering family business and burdened by Geoff's opinion of their marriage, for starters.

"But it's more than just the investigation that keep Jack and Phillip coming back to the alluring widow. To Phillip's alarm, Jack is charmed by their lead suspect, and Phillips must carefully encourage him to stay objective as the lead detective on the case while also being Jack's best friend. Can they solve the case before Jack becomes Annette's next victim?

"Chan's clever, stylish novel, written in the classic mystery tradition, is a richly satisfying debut by a truly fresh new voice on the crime shelf."
~~front flap

This is one of the best mysteries I've read in a long while. The interplay between Betancourt and Gibbons is just marvelous; the plot is wonderfully murky until the very end, and the characterization of suspects and minor characters is exceptionally well done. I'm going to enjoy the rest of this series, and I strongly recommend you do the same. show less

I wasn't overly impressed. The characters were somewhat wanly drawn, and I couldn't bring myself to invest any emotions into their fates. I'm fine with an omniscient narrator (I actually prefer it, in most cases) but there was something curiously off about the tone. I think it was a bit too American for the setting (English aristocratic country house murder). I finished the book, but won't be getting any more.

Surprisingly good cozy mystery, light without being cloying. Two buddies, one upper-crust and the other ordinary working class, team up to discover who shot Jack Gibbons and why. Reminiscent in some ways of Josephine Tey and her book, The Daughter of Time. Jack Gibbons can't get out of bed to work out what happened to him. Paul Bethancourt has no legal standing in the case but helps Jack's boss, Carmichael, to examine various angles to the mystery. Nice to read a classic cozy that isn't too show more "cutsey". show less

"BEST FRIENDS PHILLIP BETHANCOURT, a wealthy man-about-town and Scotland Yard detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons are each on their way to Yorkshire over Christmas, though not together, and neither of them are looking forward to their respective trips. While Phillip is returning to his family's estate to spend the holiday with relatives -- a dreaded task -- Jack must determine whether a particular murder is the work of a serial killer. It looks like it most likely is. As it turns out, Jack isn't show more on the case for more than a day before the understaffed locals ask him to look into another one.

"Jodie Farrady, a former bookshop employee who disappeared about a year ago, is found strangled in that same shop Christmas morning. The modus operandi is similar to the serial killer's, but not exactly the same. It could be a copycat. It could be a coincidence. Either way, Jack could certainly use his good friend's help as he investigates the citizens of a Yorkshire that has suddenly turned quite deadly. Luckily, Phillip is all too eager to escape his own holiday and join the hunt."
~~front flap

Another delicious, plot twisting, first-you-see it-now-you-don't mystery, with miscellaneous false starts and dead ends. torrential rains, and assorted other murders. One of the best Christmas avoidance mysteries I've ever read! show less