Death of a Hollow Man (1989)

I continue to love this series both on screen and in print. However, there is something to be said about the book always being better than the film (or, in this case, the TV series). There’s something about reading this and already knowing the end that lets me appreciate both the writing and the characters more. I can sit back, relax, and take in the prose instead of trying to noodle who the murderer is. I’m also gaining a definite appreciation for the way that Caroline Graham writes and looking forward to the next book. ( )

the theatre suicide of a major character becomes murder when razor is untaped, many suspects

This is the second in the Inspector Barnaby series and follows along in a similar style. The plot is clever and it includes an interesting collection of characters. ( )

Once you begin, you can't stop.
I am a huge fan of Midsomer Murder series and watch it over and over again.
This year I decided to read the books in the Inspector Barnaby series. As with the series, once you begin you cannot stop. Why I have waited so long to read them? I could give some clever answers, even valid reasons but yes, here I am. In Afrikaans, we would say... Die agteros kom ook in die kraal.
No matter, I am here.
The book is so much better than the series. I understand that during the filming they cannot convey all the intrigue factors into the story due to time so it was as if I read the story for the first time.
The characters were well-defined, each bringing their own twists and flavours to the plot. Barnaby himself was all that I have expected. Troy was his loveable self and it added to the already growing cast. The blooming romance between Diedre and David balanced the story beautifully as both had some struggles to overcome that made them stronger and brought them closer.
The descriptive writing made for colourful reading always building to get to the end. If you have not read this book, please do, it is worth it. ( )

Lord, what a stinker. I found the first book of the Midsomer Murders source material enjoyable but the second was terrible. It spent way too long setting up the murder and I stopped keeping track of who the various back stabbing characters were. The actual solving of the case was a fairly minor portion of the story and Sgt. Troy's homophobia really annoyed me, even if it was probably accurate in the police at the time. I did enjoy getting more of Joyce's backstory but no more of this series for me.