A Case to Answer
by Margaret Yorke
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Description
The day Jerry Hunt meets Charlotte Frost is the day he decides to abandon his rebellious, criminal ways. Despite the fact that Jerry's been to prison and has vowed never to return, he continues to run a successful scam with his friend Pete in which Jerry sweet-talks a homeowner at the front door, while Pete breaks in at the back. But the day Jerry enters Charlotte's house, he sees something in her smile that makes him determined to stay clean.In many ways, Charlotte, too, would like to leave show more her past behind and start over. Widowed after two years of marriage to Rupert, she is faced with the distrust and suspicions of her departed husband's family. But when Rupert's troubled granddaughter, Imogen, needs a place to stay, Charlotte agrees to take her in. Jerry soon befriends Imogen, and with her help he persuades Charlotte to let him renovate her garden. As their lives become more and more entangled, lies and deceits from both their pasts begin to surface, and on a night none of them will ever forget, Charlotte disappears.A novel of subtle suspense and creeping tension, A Case to Answer is effortlessly crafted crime fiction, in which human weakness and vulnerability lead to secrets, lies and tragedy. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is really one of those books that doesn't match it's cover. I purchased three Margaret Yorke books because of the genre being crime, and the covers are typical for crime novels.
I haven't read any books by this author before but was expecting a gripping crime novel. However I am finding the book very twee and sugary. The characters all seem out of place for a crime novel. I think I was expecting something perhaps like The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling, with the village being quaint but not the residents.
In its favour the book is not a new one so its very dated compared with today's crime novels. I am sure that Margaret Yorke is a well respected author and had a following but for me I'm struggling. I am on chapter 11 and not a great show more deal is happening.
For now this book is left unfinished. show less
I haven't read any books by this author before but was expecting a gripping crime novel. However I am finding the book very twee and sugary. The characters all seem out of place for a crime novel. I think I was expecting something perhaps like The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling, with the village being quaint but not the residents.
In its favour the book is not a new one so its very dated compared with today's crime novels. I am sure that Margaret Yorke is a well respected author and had a following but for me I'm struggling. I am on chapter 11 and not a great show more deal is happening.
For now this book is left unfinished. show less
Every Margaret Yorke I pick up is another good escapist mystery, steeped in the English country village Agatha Christie genre with a little psychological edge of Ruth Rendell.
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51+ Works 1,837 Members
Margaret Yorke was born Margaret Beda Larminie Nicholson in Surrey, but lived in Dublin until 1937, before moving back to England. During the war, she served in the Woman's Royal Naval Service as a driver. She then worked in the libraries of two Oxford colleges, and was the first woman ever to work in Christ Church library. She campaigned for show more Public Lending Rights for authors in Britain, and was also chairman of the Crime Writers' Association between 1979 and 1980. Her first novel, Summer Flight, was published in 1957. She then turned to the subject of crime with Dead in the Morning, published in 1970. With No Medals for the Major published in 1974, she began writing novels of suspense, which include The Point of Murder, Serious Intent and Act of Violence. In 1982, she won the Swedish Academy Detection award for the best translated novel, The Scent of Fear. Her books are published in 16 countries. In 1993, she won the Golden Handcuffs award, which is given in recognition of the popularity of the country's leading crime writer within the library service and to its borrowers. Margaret Yorke died November 17, 2012. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Jerry Hunt; Charlotte Frost
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Statistics
- Members
- 42
- Popularity
- 703,207
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.14)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 3
