Gwendoline Butler - A Double Coffin
HarperCollins £14.99 (0 00 232575 6)
The storyline behind Detective Inspector John
Coffin’s latest venture - a past Prime Minister who, at the age of 14, helped his
mother bury the body of a young woman in the belief that she was the latest victim of his
serial-killer father - is to me irresistible. This ageing PM wants John Coffin to help
discover the truth about the past, dig up the body (now bones) and identify the young
girl. Perhaps he wants to atone for his ill-judged act, perhaps he wants to find out the
truth about his father. But things are not so straightforward. John Coffin is not exactly
enamoured of the idea of exhuming long-buried remains on the whim of a, perhaps confused,
old man. He’s stuck with it though, as even now this old man has powerful friends.
But it soon comes to light that a pushy reporter is also on the trail of this over half a
century old story - hoping to stir up some scandal. And when she’s found dead, all
sorts of other complications turn up to cloud the picture. Two strands to the
investigation form, both involve murder, but who knows how, or even if, they are related?
The gloomy fog-bound streets of the Second City of London with its half forgotten haunts
of past years hold the key to the puzzle. Gwendoline Butler has produced a throughly engrossing, atmospheric tale of murder, power, revenge and jealousy. Set in a not-quite-real world (London’s Second City is after all make believe) of foggy London backstreets and church yards drenched with mystery and danger, where a killer is on the loose. The tension builds and grips until the final hand is played.
Gwendoline Butler’s inimitable style is refreshing and captivating. John Coffin is an interesting and memorable investigator. Highly recommended. (EAL)
