Nor All Your Tears

Dr. Lance Elliot #3

by Keith McCarthy

The new Dr Lance Elliott mystery, set in 1970s south London . . . - July, 1977 . Lance’s eccentric father, the retired Dr Benjamin Elliott, has been running a Horticultural Club at a local school, in an effort to impress his lady friend, Ada Clarke, who works there. One summer evening, Lance and his girlfriend Max turn up for the parents evening to show their support for Benjamin’s efforts, only to find themselves – much to the consternation and irritation of DI Masson – caught up, once again, in a local killing spree, as it seems that teachers from the school are being targeted . . .

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2011

About the author

Keith McCarthy is a pathologist and writer of crime fiction, known for his Eisenmenger-Flemming Forensic Mysteries. He also writes under the name Lance Elliot.

Series:
* Dr. Lance Elliot
* Eisenmenger-Flemming Forensic Mysteries

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is now July, 1977 and retired Dr Benjamin Elliott, is running a gardening club at the local school. His son Dr Lance Elliott comes to views his efforts at a parent teacher evening but later they discover the body of a teacher much to the annoyance of DI Masson. But this will not to the last one.
An enjoyable and well-written mystery with its likeable characters. Another good book in the series.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to the author for writing this in first person pov and making it work. Its a rare thing for me to find any decent book written in first person but this was one of the exceptions.

I'm not a rabid criminal-novel fan, and certainly the 70's is not one of my preferred eras, but I liked the characters and their foibles, and the writing is smooth and flows well. It was also very refreshing not to have the all-too-frequent 'child sexual abuse' as the basis for the murders.

On the basis of this book ( a free download) I am going to search out the first one in the series.

Five stars (for the fact that I got half-way through Chapter 1 before I realised the pov. :) )

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. A bit hard to read, the way the protagonist puts things. Maybe it's a difference between British English and American English, or the slang he used. A few flaws in editing, which always stick out to me! Your father's wife (not your mother!) is your step-mother, not your mother-in-law.
The story is set in the late 1970s. Told from the viewpoint of Lance, a doctor and son of a retired doctor. His father is rather eccentric, at least that is what we are told, I found him ordinary! Lance's girlfriend is a naive vet. I haven't read the other in the series, so maybe the events that Lance alludes to are contained in that one. I prefer stand alones, and this was understandable, but things did need to be spelled out at times. Left open for a sequel. Maybe there is one, I haven't checked. At any rate, he can do better than the vet for a girlfriend. I wasn't quite sure how old he was supposed to be for his girlfriend's parents to dislike him due to the age difference. She's a vet, so she isn't that young!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hot, dry summer has all the residents of South London suburb Thornton Heath on edge, including the local G.P. and police surgeon Lance Elliot. His retired, widowed father Benjamin is volunteering at the local school, where the two men discover a brutally murdered body. Meanwhile, Lance learns that his girl friend Max, a local vet, is being menaced by Lance's former brother-in-law, a clever psychopath. As the bodies continue to accumulate, Lance comes up with more and more theories, which are greeted with disdain by the local police. Oddly enough, this is a very funny book.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't quite get to the end because I decided I didn't really care what happened in the end to the characters, which was a shame.

[David J. Sanfey · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Harriet only with peoe

Fun read but main hero - Lance is a bit of a prat and though plot structure is good main characters are not very likeable