Margaret Yorke (1924–2012)

I have come to expect very good mystery thrillers from author Margaret Yorke and my latest read, Death on Account was no exception. This was a clever, engaging story that I had trouble putting down. It isn’t often that I sympathize with the villain of the piece, but I did with this story.

Robbie is a mild, quiet man. People call him “Old Robbie” though he is only in his mid-forties. He is married to Isabel, who bosses him around and treats him like a servant. Ar work he is ignored and show more overlooked for promotion. But inside of Robbie is a very different man, he imagines murdering his wife and robbing the bank that he works at. He knows there is a powerful, passionate man inside, he just needs to bring him out. Then when he acts upon an impulse and goes ahead with one part of his plan, he finds himself on the brink of a better world, one where he is happy and fulfilled – he just needs to take the next step. Of course, the police are working quietly in the background, trying to solve Robbie’s first crime, are they going to put the pieces together and take away Robbie’s chance at happiness?

I loved this story of henpecked, middle aged Robbie who yearns to change his life but goes about it in the totally wrong way. The story pulls you in and continually builds until you are eager to see how it will end. Having high hopes I admit I was a little disappointed with the final resolution but it was true to the time in which the book is set. Margaret Yorke wrote her thrillers throughout the 1960s and 70s, and they are not only exciting page-turners, subjects like divorce, promiscuity and lesbianism that were suddenly in the public eye during these decades are all lightly touched upon. I highly recommend this author and, in particular, this book. show less

Margaret Yorke excels in writing mysteries that feature lonely middle-aged women. In The Price of Guilt Louise Widdows is the unfortunate heroine who is attempting to escape her unhappy past with a extremely controlling husband. The one word that kept occurring to me over and over with this book was irony. Louise’s outcome was ironic, but even more so was her bully of a husbands’ final fate.

When Louise’s mentally abusive husband disappears on the same night that she is the victim of a show more hit-and-run accident, it is her chance to escape and start a new life. She meets a journalist on the train and they form a friendship and she eventually dreams that he could be the son that she gave up for adoption many years ago. Meanwhile her husband is lurking nearby and he hasn’t quite finished with Louise.

This was a very low-key thriller full of interesting coincidences and suppositions. The author cleverly keeps the action subdued and her plot simple by relying on the supporting characters to fill in the blanks. This is an author that I have come to rely on for good psychological mysteries that don’t require unbelievable actions on the part of the characters or require the reader to make huge leaps of faith. I found The Price of Guilt to be both intelligent and compelling. show less

Deceiving Mirror by Margaret Yorke was first published in 1960. Instead of being a mystery or crime story, this book is a well plotted, suspenseful psychological study. We are introduced to Nesta Falconer who has made a pleasant life for herself as a young widow, raising a daughter and living in an elegant cottage close to her brother-in-law’s farm. All too soon we learn how cold and manipulative Nesta is. She uses everyone in her life to promote the picture of herself that she wants show more others to see.

When her sister arrives to visit from the United States and becomes close to Nesta’s daughter and then to Nesta’s brother-in-law, she is seen as a threat to Nesta’s controlling ways. The author skillfully builds the tension to a revealing conclusion with plenty of twists along the way.

I admire Margaret Yorke’s work and find her stories compelling and interesting. Deceiving Mirror was unique and totally drew me in. Luckily, I know that I can always reach for one of her books and receive a very satisfactory read. show less

I have become an avid fan of author Margaret Yorke since I discovered her books a number of years ago. I have now just finished her Speak For The Dead, originally published in 1988. This was a twisty thriller where we learn how a wife murderer who originally was able paint himself as a hapless, hen-picked mouse served a light prison sentence, was freed, and remarried but when he came home one night he found his new wife dead on the sofa. In a panic that he would be suspected, he hid her show more body, destroyed any evidence and tried to convince people that she had left him. Of course there was more going on with this second wife than her husband knew and the actual murderer is suffering realms of guilt and tried to confess but the police are totally zeroed into the husband and don’t believe him.

This author is to be commended on the originality of her plots and her well developed characters. The story was intricate yet all the various threads were woven together seamlessly. Speak For The Dead was a very entertaining murder story recounted in an understated, straight forward style. show less