A Very Private Murder

by Stuart Pawson

Series: Charlie Priest (13)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
57	4	455,292	(3.44)	7
DI Charlie Priest is on gardening leave, literally, when he gets a call from his colleagues at Heckley about the opening of a local shopping and conference centre. Amid the paparazzi flash bulbs, someone by-passed security and defaced the plaque Ghislaine Curzon, girlfriend of one of the royal princes, was unveiling. The f-word painted in foot high red paint succeeds in scandalizing the mayor and gathered dignitaries and a horrified Chief Constable immediately puts Charlie on the case. Charlie would rather be investigating the spate of burglaries perpetrated by a gang with a pit bull terrier, but charmed by Ghislaine and her precocious younger sister, he is drawn into the enquiry just as the upstart mayor who pushed through construction of the shopping centre is found dead. While the case leads Charlie to look closely at the local horseracing establishment, with some lateral thinking he is also able to pull in the animals behind the pitbull burglaries.… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Margaret09, Shugsdite, ticalibrary, pagesofafrica, nina1414, nickharris792, DJ-ME-Jordan, marita_p, WANGPP

▾Tags

1-fiction (1) 2-crime (1) 3-uk (1) 4-now (1) art (1) bfree (1) Britain (1) British (1) Charlie Priest (3) crime (9) crime and mystery (1) darker (1) detective (2) DI Priest (1) ebook (2) fiction (8) Heckley (1) humor (3) library Xperia (1) murder (2) murder mystery (1) mystery (4) PB (1) police procedural (3) RBF Nov 2021 (1) series (1) Stuart Pawson (1) to-read (2) Yorks (1) Yorkshire (6)

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 7 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 4 of 4

A good holiday read. Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is a rounded, likeable character working in a northern town, Heckley. This saga involves rude words on a commemorative plaque, the murder of the town's less-than-honest mayor and a race horse or two. It's an involving enough story, well-told. But a week after having read it, I can't remember much about it. (

)

Margaret09 | Apr 15, 2024 |

A mini-celebrity, said to be dating one of the Royals, is picked to open a new shopping mall, but when she does it is discovered that someone has defaced a commemorative plaque with an obscenity. Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is ordered to investigate, but soon the trivial incident takes a back seat to his investigation of the murder of the town mayor, a prime instigator of the shopping mall project and someone with more than a few secrets…. I thought this was the first in a series of mysteries set in Yorkshire, but it turns out to be the most recent in a multi-volume series. It is told in the first person, which means the reader only knows what DI Priest knows and only develops an understanding of the characters through his eyes. I found the plot to be okay, but the fact that it took me 6 days to read this book indicates that I wasn’t very impressed; meh. (

)

thefirstalicat | Oct 7, 2017 |

Another cracking Charlie Priest story. Someone has defaced a plaque before a new shopping mall is officially opened in Heckley by a local celebrity causing red-faces all round. Charlie is assigned the case which seems minor until the mayor who was present turns up shot dead in his house. Clever plotting and engaging characters keep you engrossed until the end. (

)

edwardsgt | Nov 17, 2015 |

Another enjoyable novel from Stuart Pawson though I do feel that he is starting to lose momentum. His protagonist Detective Inspector Charlie priest must be nearing retirement now, and perhaps that would be no bad thing.
As always, the plot is well constructed, and the characters plausible but i am starting to wonder whether I really care any more. perhaps I have just read too many of his books within too short a period - if i read them a year or so apart, as they were published perhaps i might summon more enthusiasm. (

)

Eyejaybee | Feb 4, 2012 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 4 of 4

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Charlie Priest (13)

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

A Very Private Murder

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Charlie Priest (Detective Inspector)

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To Doreen

First words

The horse could smell their ill intentions.

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

DI Charlie Priest is on gardening leave, literally, when he gets a call from his colleagues at Heckley about the opening of a local shopping and conference centre. Amid the paparazzi flash bulbs, someone by-passed security and defaced the plaque Ghislaine Curzon, girlfriend of one of the royal princes, was unveiling. The f-word painted in foot high red paint succeeds in scandalizing the mayor and gathered dignitaries and a horrified Chief Constable immediately puts Charlie on the case. Charlie would rather be investigating the spate of burglaries perpetrated by a gang with a pit bull terrier, but charmed by Ghislaine and her precocious younger sister, he is drawn into the enquiry just as the upstart mayor who pushed through construction of the shopping centre is found dead. While the case leads Charlie to look closely at the local horseracing establishment, with some lateral thinking he is also able to pull in the animals behind the pitbull burglaries.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary