A Place of Safety by
Natasha Cooper
hbk out July 03
Published by Simon Schuster
at £10
When her Head Of Chambers asks barrister Trish Maguire to do a favour for old friend, Sir Henry Buxford, she can hardly decline. Trish has to find out what is going on behind the scenes at the Gregory Bequest Art Gallery. The gallery houses paintings collected by Frenchman Gregoire at the time of the Great War and hidden away for much of the twentieth century. Toby Fulwell, the director, has needlessly sold an expensive painting. By coincidence, Trish’s half brother, David, is at the same prep school as Fulwell’s son and Sir Henry suggests she use the connection as cover for her research. She refuses, David is already badly traumatised and Trish’s main concern is his welfare.
This is the fourth in Cooper’s Trish Maguire series; she has also penned more light-hearted romantic mysteries featuring Willow King and, as Clare Layton, writes psychological thrillers focusing on the long term impact of violent crime.
There are three strands to this novel: Trish’s narrative; excerpts from the wartime account of the young nurse who married Gregoire; and the portrayal of Toby Fulwell as intolerable pressures force him to extremes. Steadily plotted and smoothly written, with a wind-swept River Thames at the heart of the landscape and the smell of murder in the air. Trish is a warm and conscientious character but the wartime love story and the disintegration of Fulwell are particularly gripping.
M.E.N. 9.8.03
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
A Place of Safety by
Natasha Cooper
