Death of a Partner

Wilson & McLeish #3

by Janet Neel

Chief Inspector John McLeish finds his relationship with Francesca Wilson, a high-ranking member of Britain's Department of Trade, undermined by separation, government intrigue, murder, and a lovely new assistant

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Aka Janet Cohen

Janet Neel Cohen, Baroness Cohen of Pimlico is a British lawyer and crime fiction writer. She was educated at South Hampstead High School, Hampstead, London, England and graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Honours, Law.

She started to work as a practising solicitor in 1965. She married James Lionel Cohen, son of Dr. Richard Henry Lionel Cohen, on 18 December 1971. She was a Governor of the BBC between 1994 and 1999. She was created Baroness Cohen of Pimlico, in the City of Westminster (life peer), on 3 May 2000 and sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.

As Janet Neel and Janet Cohen she is the author of crime fiction novels.

Reviews

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often, a series mystery has two elements. The soap opera involving the detective’s life and, incidentally, that tricky murder he has to solve. Admittedly, I am old fashioned in preferring the mystery to the often silly personal life of the detective. Which means a mystery book like this, where the police detective and his accomplished woman friend are having relationship difficulties, can get on my nerves. I have a right, I think. Because heroine goes off to handle a family matter, hero goes into male pout mode, cancels the long planned vacation and shags the pretty young new detective assigned to his case. Because hero now wants to break up, heroine goes into female pout mode and shags the older married professor type work colleague. Someone please rat these two out to HR.

In the meantime, there is a murder of a partner at a PR/lobbying outfit. That’s actually intriguing, involving governmental influence peddling, financial hanky panky, and a murder victim who was quite willing to sex her way to the top.

Our detective solves the case. His brief fling partner goes back to her prior married boyfriend because he’s going to divorce his wife. So that leaves him free to marry the real girl of his dreams and keep this series going to the next installment. She is available because, after a time or three, her brief fling partner decided he needed to spend more time with his family.

1.5 stars for the soap opera. 4.5 for the well wrought mystery. It averages out to three.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful series

Janet Neel’s books are always a great read. I love the various viewpoints of major and lesser characters, and especially the workings of HM’s government. Throughout the series, music, and the musicians, provide the counterpoint and grace notes in an intriguing detective / civil servant partnership whose relationships are imperfectly real.

[Madelyn Flammia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable characters and setting.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every character in here is an asshole.

[Jillian Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expands the series ,deepens the characters plot

Enjoyed it , I like the characters, both male and female ,the government department s are well drawn and amusing

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my own fault for joining mid-series but I felt this spent too much time on the character's personal lives. But it was all really well and sharply observed.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

The murder mystery element was decent, even quite good. Strong pacing and character-writing.

But there's an unusually strong plot-line around romantic relationships, and it is as follows:
1)Protagonist is irritated at long-term girlfriend
2)Protaganist starts sleeping with his work colleague while long-term girlfriend is on a trip
3)Long-term girlfriend has meanwhile been sleeping with a married man
4)Protagonist and girlfriend break up
5)Protagonist and girlfriend get back together.

I mentally checked out as soon as the hero cheated on his girlfriend without second thought or guilt. But even if I hadn't, those romantic plotlines are ludicrous - when two people in a relationship are cheating, they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of making a marriage work.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best detective series I've ever read! Such clever dialogue and nuanced true to life relationships. It's heartening and entertaining. In this one Angela Morgan, a young partner in a British lobbying firm goes missing shortly before her marriage to the Tory Treasury Secretary. Her project is to prevent a bailout by Francesca Wilson's Department. Francesca's beau, DCI John McLeish and DI Bruce Davidson's team soon discover it's a homicide and the list of suspects grows. Francesca's pop star brother Tris gets busted in NYC, she flies to the rescue, upsetting a planned skiing holiday and thus there's a wrinkle in the enchanting romance we've been following in this series. Don't miss this one! It's a pity there are only nine of these sparkling mysteries.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better the first time I read it. On this occasion I felt the personal stuff got in the way of the plot.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

slightly spoiled by reading out of order unsatisfactory clue revelations

[Alex Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't realy bring myself to care for the people in the book as I was doubtless supposed to, but I did enjoy the setup and investigation of the crime, which is after all the main point.

[Bill Stiefel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent John McLeish and Francesca Wilson novel. Good plot which keeps you guessing until close to the end and an interesting twist in John and Francesca's relationship.