Simone Hollingsworth fails to turn up for bell ringing practice and her husband says she has gone to visit her mother who is ill. But some of the villagers know that can’t be right because Simone’s mother died some years ago. Her husband seems to be behaving rather strangely too and when he is found dead Barnaby and Troy are sent to investigate what proves to be a very complex case.Village life with all its gold fish bowl qualities is very well described as are the villagers themselves. I failed to work out what was going on until Barnaby himself suddenly worked it out. The clues are there when you look back but most readers will miss them I think. I liked the characters and thought they were well done especially the colourful and eccentric Elfrida and her friend Cubby who both see more than most people.Troy and Barnaby are interesting characters themselves and their relationship is not always as smooth as it might be. Troy is a misogynist and fond of inappropriate jokes and comments which frequently annoy and disgust Tom Barnaby. I liked the glimpses the reader gets of Barnaby’s home life where his indigestion problems are less common since he took over the cooking.This is a well written book and a well written series where the characters are far from two dimensional and things don’t always work out perfectly. Motivations are well drawn and the reader feels some sympathy for the villains even though they are guilty. If you like your crime novels in the classic mould then give this series a try – they can be read in any order.
#5 DI Tom Barnaby British police procedural. Once again a small English village is the setting, as Alan Hollingsworth is found dead--at first believed to be of a suicide, his wife Simone having disappeared a few days previously, ostensibly to visit her sick mother, although her mother had been believed dead for many years. Then the thirty-year-old daughter of one of the Hollingsworth neighbors disappears, something totally out of character for her. DCI Barnaby and his Sergeant Troy begin investigating, gleaning information from all the nosy neighbors and trying to sift through to find the important bits. Was Alan done in by a former business partner that he'd swindled out of hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is the beautiful Simone's disappearance voluntary, or was she abducted? Neither were well-liked, but neither were they seemingly the types to incur strong hatred. Through many twists and turns, the mysteries are eventually solved, although not to Barnaby's satisfaction, as it's mostly speculation on his part. I did figure out the main part of the mystery about halfway through, but the hows and whys were a bit muddled til the end. Enjoyable, but perhaps a little TOO long and twisty.
Do You like book Faithful Unto Death (2000)?
I am a HUGE fan of the Midsomer Murders TV show which is based off these books. And I have read one of the other Caroline Graham books-- which I really enjoyed. I listened to this audiobook, and didn't enjoy it as much as the other CG book I read. Maybe these books are just better when read?I am also not a fan of the character of Det. Troy in this book. I realize characters are changed when TV shows are made from stories-- and I am GLAD that Gavin Troy's was changed for the show. His character in the book is rather despicable. I still look forward to reading more of these stories-- but I think from now on I will READ them, and not listen. That being said, the narrator was fine. That is not the reason I didn't especially LOVE the book.
—Saundra Pitt
This Midsomer Murder was quite different than the episode on tv. And for once, I preferred the episode. There was more about the summer fete, Brenda was a much more interesting character who was creepier and died a much different death. Alan Hollingsworth, in the tv episode, was someone to despise. I don't rely like Troy in the books. He's a philandering woman chaser even with his baby and wife at home. And Barnaby is much more love able on tv. The novel character is much more flat and seems to
—Jenn
