Blood and Guile
by William Hoffman
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Walter B Frampton, II Esq., has never been an avid hunter like his forefathers or even his best friend Drake Wingo. He'd rather be dipping sour marsh whisky, reading Vanity Fair, and listening to Mozart. But when Drake and Cliff Dickens, another old friend, ask him along on a grouse-hunting trip, he decides to go. One ruffed grouse is already bagged when the unthinkable happens - the fourth member of their group, a quiet and polite stranger, is accidentally shot and killed. But when the show more details don't quite add up, Walter begins to have his doubts. Was it an accident? Is his friend a murderer? As events begin to spin out of control, only Walter can find out what really happened that fateful day on the mountain ridge. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Walter (Raff) Frampton, Drake Wingo and Cliff Dickens haven been best friends since grade school. Now men in their 30's, the three get together whenever possible and when Drake suggests a grouse hunt at his cabin in West Virginia the friends quickly agree to the weekend vacation. A fourth man, Wendell Ripley, who owns the land on which they are hunting, accompanies the group for the first time. During the hunt a terrible accident occurs when Cliff accidently shoots and kills Wendell. The local police believe that there is more to the incident than what Cliff is telling them and within a few days Cliff is arrested for murder. He calls on Raff, a lawyer, to help defend him but Raff senses there is a secret between Drake and Cliff that is show more behind the entire hunt. Raff is forced to investigate the lives of his two best friends and he uncovers much more than he bargained for.
This is a well-developed mystery with a good plot and some great writing. I didn't figure it out until the end and it was a pretty good reveal. show less
This is a well-developed mystery with a good plot and some great writing. I didn't figure it out until the end and it was a pretty good reveal. show less
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Author Information
17+ Works 231 Members
Henry William Hoffman was born in Charleston, West Virginia on May 16, 1925. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute before entering the U.S. Army in September 1943. He served as a medic in the Normandy campaign and at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He was discharged in February 1946. He received a bachelor's degree from show more Hampden-Sydney College in 1949. He studied law at Washington and Lee University, but quit after the publication of his first short story in 1950. He studied at the Iowa Writers' Workshop for one year. After working in Washington, D.C., for the Evening Star newspaper and for the U.S. Department of Defense, and then in New York City for Chase National Bank, Hoffman returned to Hampden-Sydney. He taught at the college from 1952 until 1959 and was the writer-in-residence from 1966 until his retirement in 1973. He was the author of fourteen novels, four short-story collections, and two plays. His novels included The Trumpet Unblown, Days in the Yellow Leaf, The Dark Mountains, Yancey's War, Godfires, Wild Thorn, and Lies. His first collection of short stories, Virginia Reels, was published in 1978. His plays included The Love Touch and The Spirit in Me. He won the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1992, the O. Henry Prize in 1996, and the Dashiell Hammett Award in 1999 for Tidewater Blood. He died on September 13, 2009 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Knaur Taschenbuch (61960)
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Blood and Guile
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Walter Frampton; Drake Wingo ; Cliff Dickens ; Wendell Ripley
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 44
- Popularity
- 672,102
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 7
