Dying to Deceive by
Judith Cutler
hbk out May 03
Published by Headline
at £17.99
This is the tenth of Judith Cutler's series which all have 'Dying' in the
title, though actually this one deceives, as there's not a death in it
anywhere.
The series revolves around Sophie Rivers, a former college lecturer in
Birmingham, who now runs a catering service from her own kitchen.
She is married to Mike, a Warwickshire and England cricketer. In fact
this whole book is about cricket, as Sophie is offered a temporary job at
the Warwickshire club, cataloguing a large bequest of memorabilia.
She has a couple of strange colleagues in the archives and library and
odd things begin to happen, with strangers sliding in and out and some
of the ancient artefacts going missing.
Actually, this is about all that happens for the first two thirds of the
book and the story-line was somewhat obscure to me until the very end.
Big problems occur with Mike, who gets progressively more uptight
and eventually storms out of the matrimonial home to the great distress
of our Sophie, especially when she sees him looking down the cleavage
of a redhead in next day's 'Sun'.
I've read several of the 'Dying' series and must say that I felt that this
one was a bit dull - but I happen to be one of the silent majority in
Britain who think that cricket is a manifestation of a mental disorder,
especially since they gave up white flannels and now rush about in red
pyjamas and armoured helmets.
However, the fresh and lively style of Judith Cutler's writing always
appeals and I look forward to the next one, as long as it's not about
cricket.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Dying to Deceive by
Judith Cutler
