Customer Reviews
A sinister tale of sexual frustration and murder - By: Mrs. B, 17 Jul 2007 
I have to say that I wasn't sure about this book when I read the first few pages. It made me wonder if perhaps it might be riding a little close to the bone to be comfortable reading.
It follows an ex copper's return to crime solving. He is a man who obviously has some issues in his past relating to his daughter & her kidnapping a few years before the story is set. After an initial investigation into a womans' disappearance on behalf of his estranged wife, the missing woman is found dead & he is then lead into an full blown police investigation as a consultant that takes him into a seedy world of internet dating, stalking & oedipus syndrome.
I will say that the kidnapping of his daughter was only briefly touched on & could have been part of the story that was developed a bit more but it didn't detract from the overalll strength of writing style & character development.
Well worth reading.
Fairly Good Detective Novel - By: J.Flood, 05 Jul 2007 
Frank Elder is a retired Detective Inspector, living in Cornwalll. When, his estranged wife callls him from Nottingham, & asks him to help to find her friend's sister, Claire, who seems to have disappeared, he reluctantly agrees.
When Claire's body is found, Elder, notices that the manner in which the dead body was laid out, has striking similiarities, to the first case that he worked on years before, in which, no one was ever charged.
Overalll, this book is fairly well paced. We get a good insight into Elder's strained family life, which is quite prominent in the book. The characters he meets in the course of his investigations are quite believeable, too, & you are left guessing up until quite close to the end, as to who the murderer is.
This is for the screen - By: C Elyod, 12 Mar 2007 
All reviewers have liked this book so I wont go on about it. I have only just discovered John Harvey. With so much rubbish on TV this gem of a book should be adapted for the screen. The novel was gripping & the story believable. This is a must read.
Excellent Crime Fiction Writing - By: J. Chippindale, 15 Feb 2007 John Harvey is best known for his excellent Nottingham-based Charlie Resnick novels. He is also a poet, dramatist & broadcaster. After living in Nottingham for a good number of years, he has now returned to London to live with his partner & their young daughter.
Retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder is awakened from his sleepy existence in Cornwalll by a telephone calll. It is from his estranged wife & she is after a favour. Claire Meecham, the sister of an old friend has gone missing. Claire is a widow in her fifties & no one can thing of any earthly reason why she should have disappeared. Elder's wife think that he will have the contacts & the know how to track Claire down.
Frank agrees to return to his old stomping ground of Nottingham & make a search, but then Claire is found dead. The way her body has been laid out, almost reverently by the killer reminds Elder of a previous dead woman, laid out in almost the same way. It was his first case with the Serious Crimes department, a case that was never solved . . .
Good but not great - By: Book Worm, 18 Jan 2007 I reallly like this author & love the main character but this story got a little long/boring in some places & I usuallly read his books in a day or two, but this one I took a couple of weeks with - it just didn't grip me.
