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Pieces of Justice
Murder takes on a variety of guises in this collection of sinister stories. Whether it involves a henpecked husband who needs a mountain holiday, a widow with horrific plans for her neighbors or a little old lady who is an accomplished assassin, each dark work is subtly and masterfully crafted by an outstanding author of the genre.
- GenresMysteryShort Stories
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 12, 1995
About the author
Margaret Yorke
86 books53 followersMargaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 21, 2024
The first few stories in this book were a lot of fun. Then I realized they pretty much all felt the same and quickly the pattern became so obvious it was no longer keeping my interest at all. I like that the author is writing "mysteries" about ordinary people committing, and often getting away with, subtle murders. But how many stories about a vaguely unhappy couple on vacation where one kills the other can you read in a row? Perhaps more than I could.
This repetitveness isn't entirely the author's fault, as the stories weren't written to be published in one volume; they appeared over 16 years in magazines and anthologies. So, collected together, their inadequacies shine in ways they probably didn't when they were first created. Still, if you can get this book from the library and you enjoy quirky short stories it's worth reading the first one, and a few others, too. Just don't expect to be riveted throughout the collection.
This repetitveness isn't entirely the author's fault, as the stories weren't written to be published in one volume; they appeared over 16 years in magazines and anthologies. So, collected together, their inadequacies shine in ways they probably didn't when they were first created. Still, if you can get this book from the library and you enjoy quirky short stories it's worth reading the first one, and a few others, too. Just don't expect to be riveted throughout the collection.
December 27, 2009
Collection of short stories -- all pretty worthwhile, though not every story knocked my socks off.
In fact, so many of the stories are set during a vacation holiday, where there HAPPENS to be a seaside cliff, and "someone" just HAPPENS to be walking by... what a tragic accident? "But was it really an accident?!"
Things got a little bit like that after a while.
Still, the first story in the collection, "The Liberator," is particularly good. Also, the stories are listed chronologically. Nearly all of the stories have appeared in various mystery magazines before, and this book just gathers them together.
The last story in the collection involves Yorke's Oxford scholar detective Patrick Grant. In this story, Grant is just about to begin his stint at Oxford and has recently divorced a woman named Liz. (In the Yorke books I've read which feature him, he is already at Oxford).
Worthwhile reading for fans of Yorke, but I would recommend one of Yorke's novels if a Yorke fan wants try to turn someone else on to this talented author.
In fact, so many of the stories are set during a vacation holiday, where there HAPPENS to be a seaside cliff, and "someone" just HAPPENS to be walking by... what a tragic accident? "But was it really an accident?!"
Things got a little bit like that after a while.
Still, the first story in the collection, "The Liberator," is particularly good. Also, the stories are listed chronologically. Nearly all of the stories have appeared in various mystery magazines before, and this book just gathers them together.
The last story in the collection involves Yorke's Oxford scholar detective Patrick Grant. In this story, Grant is just about to begin his stint at Oxford and has recently divorced a woman named Liz. (In the Yorke books I've read which feature him, he is already at Oxford).
Worthwhile reading for fans of Yorke, but I would recommend one of Yorke's novels if a Yorke fan wants try to turn someone else on to this talented author.
September 3, 2024
Lots of bossy women and domineering men who get their just desserts. Lots of couple on cruises and holidays who aren't really enjoying each other's company. A theme of unhappy and childless marriages. Lots of relationships that aren't as good as they should be or as good as they appear. There are those who receive sweet relief and those who don't quite get the relief they expected. This collection is billed as "short stories of suspense" and while there are many suspenseful tales and some murderous stories there are several here that don't really fill the bill as far as I'm concerned. No mystery, no suspense--just stories of people who don't really like each other. Margaret Yorke doesn't seem to have thought much of the institution of marriage--whether longstanding arrangements or an impending ceremony.
A great number of these stories are morally ambiguous and there are a few where I disagree heartily with the outcomes. But one thing Yorke does do is make you think. Her themes here are on justice and cause & effect. What may seem like justice to you or me, isn't necessarily the justice she metes out in her stories. But who decides, in the end, what justice is? The best of the bunch "Means to Murder" and the finale, "Greek Tragedy." The rest are variable. ★★ and 1/2. [rounded up here]
"The Liberator": An older woman on holiday decides to become an avenging angel, dispatching men and women who have become too big a burden on others...until someone turns the tables.
"It's Never Too Late": Sometimes revenge doesn't have to be violent.
"Always Rather a Prig": After a reunion of her old girls, a schoolmistress is disappointed in the way a few of them have turned out. She does what she can to set things right. [one in war; one drowned]
"I Don't Believe in Santa Claus": Neither Timmy nor Janet want to go the the Christmas party, but Santa has a surprise in store for them.
"The Reckoning": Ellen has had enough of Maurice's over-bearing ways and decides to kill him off on the day he reaches his allotted "three score and ten."
"Such a Gentleman": Phyllis's godson had always been such a gentleman. Could such a gentleman kill?
"A Time for Indulgence": What should a meek woman do if she discovers her husband is a predatory killer? Our narrator knows and says she's going to do it....
"Fair & Square": Mrs. Ford can't stand to see her old flame's daughter being "managed" by the overbearing woman who stole Michael away from her.
"The Fig Tree": Thirty years ago our narrator schemed her way into marriage with Bernard--cutting out Teresa. When they meet up with Teresa while on holiday, one of them isn't coming back...
"A Woman of Taste": A woman on a cruise with her domineering husband is shown what she really is by a sketch artist.
"Mountain Fever": After years of bowing to his wife's wishes to go to the beach on holiday, things finally fall in place for Bob to go to the mountains.
"The Wrath of Zeus": A man with a keen interest in Greek mythology is on holiday with his less-than-beloved wife. When an angry sea comes up while they are both swimming, he believes that the god of the sea is going to answer his prayer for relief.
"A Sort of Pride": While on a trip to Greece, Dolly finds out that her husband has secret in his past.
"Gifts from the Bridegroom": A man decides to forego the planned wedding ceremony and head for parts unknown. His plan affects an equally unhappy married man...
"Anniversary": Mavis endured three years with a wealthy old man...looking forward to the day when she would inherit and be ready to travel and do all the things she always wanted to do. After a seemly year of mourning, her bags are packed and she'll be ready to leave in the morning. Or will she?
"The Mouse Will Play": Mrs. Bellew has come down in the world--moving from a large home to a small house in a commuter village. Her supposedly prosperous husband having left behind nothing but debts upon his death. To fill the time that once was taken up playing hostess to his business associates and maintaining their spacious home, she begins to take notes on her neighbor's activities... and sending appropriate anonymous notes...
"The Breasts of Aphrodite": Lionel wants nothing more than to destroy all evidence of his wife's wanton behavior while on holiday.
"The Luck of the Draw": Carmen can't believe her luck when she wins a drawing for a free cruise. But her luck isn't quite the same when the boat returns to England.
"Means to Murder": It isn't until years later that our narrator discovers what really happened to his mother that New Year's Eve of long ago. But it's never too late for justice.
"A Small Excitement": About one's man's effort at justice for the woman he harmed through their affair.
"Widow's Might": Another self-appointed assassin taking out people deemed worthy of execution. These widows are pretty dangerous....
"The Last Resort": Lois makes plans to escape her abusive husband...little knowing he has plans of his own.
"Greek Tragedy": Patrick Grant, Yorke's recurring sleuth, takes a cruise and finds that murder can travel a long way.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
A great number of these stories are morally ambiguous and there are a few where I disagree heartily with the outcomes. But one thing Yorke does do is make you think. Her themes here are on justice and cause & effect. What may seem like justice to you or me, isn't necessarily the justice she metes out in her stories. But who decides, in the end, what justice is? The best of the bunch "Means to Murder" and the finale, "Greek Tragedy." The rest are variable. ★★ and 1/2. [rounded up here]
"The Liberator": An older woman on holiday decides to become an avenging angel, dispatching men and women who have become too big a burden on others...until someone turns the tables.
"It's Never Too Late": Sometimes revenge doesn't have to be violent.
"Always Rather a Prig": After a reunion of her old girls, a schoolmistress is disappointed in the way a few of them have turned out. She does what she can to set things right. [one in war; one drowned]
"I Don't Believe in Santa Claus": Neither Timmy nor Janet want to go the the Christmas party, but Santa has a surprise in store for them.
"The Reckoning": Ellen has had enough of Maurice's over-bearing ways and decides to kill him off on the day he reaches his allotted "three score and ten."
"Such a Gentleman": Phyllis's godson had always been such a gentleman. Could such a gentleman kill?
"A Time for Indulgence": What should a meek woman do if she discovers her husband is a predatory killer? Our narrator knows and says she's going to do it....
"Fair & Square": Mrs. Ford can't stand to see her old flame's daughter being "managed" by the overbearing woman who stole Michael away from her.
"The Fig Tree": Thirty years ago our narrator schemed her way into marriage with Bernard--cutting out Teresa. When they meet up with Teresa while on holiday, one of them isn't coming back...
"A Woman of Taste": A woman on a cruise with her domineering husband is shown what she really is by a sketch artist.
"Mountain Fever": After years of bowing to his wife's wishes to go to the beach on holiday, things finally fall in place for Bob to go to the mountains.
"The Wrath of Zeus": A man with a keen interest in Greek mythology is on holiday with his less-than-beloved wife. When an angry sea comes up while they are both swimming, he believes that the god of the sea is going to answer his prayer for relief.
"A Sort of Pride": While on a trip to Greece, Dolly finds out that her husband has secret in his past.
"Gifts from the Bridegroom": A man decides to forego the planned wedding ceremony and head for parts unknown. His plan affects an equally unhappy married man...
"Anniversary": Mavis endured three years with a wealthy old man...looking forward to the day when she would inherit and be ready to travel and do all the things she always wanted to do. After a seemly year of mourning, her bags are packed and she'll be ready to leave in the morning. Or will she?
"The Mouse Will Play": Mrs. Bellew has come down in the world--moving from a large home to a small house in a commuter village. Her supposedly prosperous husband having left behind nothing but debts upon his death. To fill the time that once was taken up playing hostess to his business associates and maintaining their spacious home, she begins to take notes on her neighbor's activities... and sending appropriate anonymous notes...
"The Breasts of Aphrodite": Lionel wants nothing more than to destroy all evidence of his wife's wanton behavior while on holiday.
"The Luck of the Draw": Carmen can't believe her luck when she wins a drawing for a free cruise. But her luck isn't quite the same when the boat returns to England.
"Means to Murder": It isn't until years later that our narrator discovers what really happened to his mother that New Year's Eve of long ago. But it's never too late for justice.
"A Small Excitement": About one's man's effort at justice for the woman he harmed through their affair.
"Widow's Might": Another self-appointed assassin taking out people deemed worthy of execution. These widows are pretty dangerous....
"The Last Resort": Lois makes plans to escape her abusive husband...little knowing he has plans of his own.
"Greek Tragedy": Patrick Grant, Yorke's recurring sleuth, takes a cruise and finds that murder can travel a long way.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
February 4, 2023
A classic English gentlewoman with a dark imagination.
The picture on the back of Margaret Yorke's books shows a patrician-looking Englishwoman, quietly dressed with short, thick grey hair. She looks like the daughter of a duke or an earl and the wife (or widow) of a retired military officer. She'd clearly be at home spending a weekend at Balmoral with the Queen (a distant relative, perhaps) and equally at ease manning the cash register at the "Fancy Goods" booth at the church festival. She definitely grows beautiful roses.
In reality, Yorke's life wasn't conventional. She came of age during WWII and her marriage fell apart early on. She raised two children as a single mother, supporting them as a librarian. She was the first female librarian at several famous academic institutions. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a rare woman who broke out of the clerical ranks in that era.
She wrote mysteries (including the Patrick Grant series) and psychological thrillers, some of which are as unnerving as anything I've ever read. She left no autobiography and all we know of her comes from her stories and books. They indicate an intelligent woman who hated cruelty, greed, arrogance, and snobbishness. Like her contemporary Ruth Rendell, she cared deeply about people while never losing sight of the dark corners of human nature.
Some of these stories are about murderers. Not career criminals, but average middle-class people who are moved to take the life of another person. Sometimes they're motivated by kindness. Is it morally acceptable to kill someone to improve the lives of others? In some of the stories, the author seems to approve, but in others she doesn't. What are we to think?
Some are stories about that most trite of all crimes - the murder of a spouse. In all cases, the murderer is a sympathetic character who's driven to rid himself/herself of a horrible partner. So do they live happily-ever-after? Perhaps we can escape the police, but not fate.
At the core of most of these stories is marriage. Young people must pair off to provide the children to perpetuate the race. Some marry for love, some from greed or loneliness or weakness or sex or a desire for a housekeeper. If you're cruel and need a victim, marriage is your best bet. Children can be tormented, but eventually they grow up and get away. A spouse has no escape except divorce or death.
Happy wives are the exception in these stories. There are a few independent single women, but they are objects of pity or resentment for men and women alike. Society needs a fresh supply of children and the structure that marriage provides, so the pressure to get married and stay married is strong. Those who ignore it are outcasts, as Yorke herself must have been after her divorce.
Then there are the old, half-forgotten crimes committed in youth. After so many years, the guilty one grows complacent. But if the sin IS discovered, that person may be surprised to find that others can be as brutal as they were. The worm turns often in these stories.
Yorke's writing is precise and cool, with no sentimentalism. She is the dispassionate observer, seeing the horrors in ordinary lives that the rest of us miss. She received little recognition during her life, probably because she never produced a long-running series with the same detective. Since her one short series (featuring Professor Patrick Grant) is weaker than her stand-alone thrillers, I think she was correct. But publishers want books with a well-known detective, even if those books get weaker as the series progresses. What publishers want and will promote determines sales.
I hope that Kindle versions of her books will reach a new generation of readers to appreciate her talent. She's one of my favorites.
The picture on the back of Margaret Yorke's books shows a patrician-looking Englishwoman, quietly dressed with short, thick grey hair. She looks like the daughter of a duke or an earl and the wife (or widow) of a retired military officer. She'd clearly be at home spending a weekend at Balmoral with the Queen (a distant relative, perhaps) and equally at ease manning the cash register at the "Fancy Goods" booth at the church festival. She definitely grows beautiful roses.
In reality, Yorke's life wasn't conventional. She came of age during WWII and her marriage fell apart early on. She raised two children as a single mother, supporting them as a librarian. She was the first female librarian at several famous academic institutions. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a rare woman who broke out of the clerical ranks in that era.
She wrote mysteries (including the Patrick Grant series) and psychological thrillers, some of which are as unnerving as anything I've ever read. She left no autobiography and all we know of her comes from her stories and books. They indicate an intelligent woman who hated cruelty, greed, arrogance, and snobbishness. Like her contemporary Ruth Rendell, she cared deeply about people while never losing sight of the dark corners of human nature.
Some of these stories are about murderers. Not career criminals, but average middle-class people who are moved to take the life of another person. Sometimes they're motivated by kindness. Is it morally acceptable to kill someone to improve the lives of others? In some of the stories, the author seems to approve, but in others she doesn't. What are we to think?
Some are stories about that most trite of all crimes - the murder of a spouse. In all cases, the murderer is a sympathetic character who's driven to rid himself/herself of a horrible partner. So do they live happily-ever-after? Perhaps we can escape the police, but not fate.
At the core of most of these stories is marriage. Young people must pair off to provide the children to perpetuate the race. Some marry for love, some from greed or loneliness or weakness or sex or a desire for a housekeeper. If you're cruel and need a victim, marriage is your best bet. Children can be tormented, but eventually they grow up and get away. A spouse has no escape except divorce or death.
Happy wives are the exception in these stories. There are a few independent single women, but they are objects of pity or resentment for men and women alike. Society needs a fresh supply of children and the structure that marriage provides, so the pressure to get married and stay married is strong. Those who ignore it are outcasts, as Yorke herself must have been after her divorce.
Then there are the old, half-forgotten crimes committed in youth. After so many years, the guilty one grows complacent. But if the sin IS discovered, that person may be surprised to find that others can be as brutal as they were. The worm turns often in these stories.
Yorke's writing is precise and cool, with no sentimentalism. She is the dispassionate observer, seeing the horrors in ordinary lives that the rest of us miss. She received little recognition during her life, probably because she never produced a long-running series with the same detective. Since her one short series (featuring Professor Patrick Grant) is weaker than her stand-alone thrillers, I think she was correct. But publishers want books with a well-known detective, even if those books get weaker as the series progresses. What publishers want and will promote determines sales.
I hope that Kindle versions of her books will reach a new generation of readers to appreciate her talent. She's one of my favorites.
September 2, 2018
A good read of short stories.
September 16, 2023
Pieces of Justice
Margaret Yorke at her best !
Great short stories
Great characters
And the twist at the end !!
Not much beats Margaret Yorke !
Margaret Yorke at her best !
Great short stories
Great characters
And the twist at the end !!
Not much beats Margaret Yorke !
July 20, 2013
This is a book of short stories, written by the author in the period 1977-1993 and previously published in various crime magazines. However, when they are put together in one volume and read together, you realise how similar and formulaic they are. Most feature people on cruises and/or foreign holidays, usually retired couples or those of a 'certain age', and the relationships are either a husband who has constantly dominated and belittled his wife until she is forced to the conclusion that she has to leave and/or 'bump him off' or vice versa, i.e. a dominant wife driving her husband to consider drastic actions. Quite often in these stories, such actions backfire dramatically! The style and setting were quite dated too and haven't really stood the test of time. Having read this and one of her novels, I'm afraid I won't be seeking any more out - life is too short!
October 25, 2018
A nice collection of short stories, though a bit repetitive in nature. Most of the stories end with a twist, which is quite pleasurable to read.
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