Risking It All

Fran Varady #4

by Ann Granger

Librarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition - ISBN 10: 0747268010

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, British Literature

314 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ann Granger (born 1939) has worked in British embassies in various parts of the world. She met her husband, who was also working for the British Embassy, in Prague and together they received postings to places as far apart as Munich and Lusaka. They are now permanently based in Oxfordshire.

Her first novels were historical romances published under the nom de plume Ann Hulme.

Reviews

[Ha Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You know, nobody’s perfect, and no one becomes perfect because he or she happens to be dying. We love people in life as we love them in death, with all their imperfections.“

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.

In this Fran Varady novel, it is not (for once) the fault of her curiosity that she is caught up in a murder mystery. She is suddenly contacted by a private detective, who has traced her for Fran's mother. She had left Fran's father when Fran was seven and is now dying in a hospice. When Fran visits her, she is told that she has a sister, illegally adopted as a baby by a couple whose own child had died. Fran is asked to trace her too (the illegality has made Fran's mother wary of asking the investigator). But then Fran finds the body of the detective, killed in his own car only yards away from the garage in which she is temporarily living.

The Fran Varady series is by this point well established, and Risking it All has the standard features: sympathetic portrayal of a side of London not normally viewed positively by the genre; well drawn young people, again not typical of the genre; a parallel investigation by distrusted police. It is a most enjoyable series, and Risking it All fits into it like a glove.

[Judith Cranswick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just re-read this great story. After struggling through a couple of very poorly written novels, I turn to a tried and tested writer I can rely on for a great plot with lots of twists and turns, good characterisation and a brilliant sense of tension and excitement.
Why isn't this lady getting the following she deserves?

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been evicted from her house sitting by the odious Bertie and Charlie, Fran Varady is now again homeless, or as her friend Ganesh puts it, dossing in his Uncle Haris’s garage, which is situated at the rear of the newsagests he runs. Which doesn’t sound too bad until one considers the petrol smell, the stacks of old discarded boxes, the rusty bike, and no windows. But things could be worse, it depends on your point of view.

However, when Ganesh reports on a bloke asking after her in the shop, Fran is convinced it is the DSS checking up on her, but it turns out to be one Clarence Duke private investigator hired by Frann’s mother, who had walked out on her when Fran was just seven. Having spent the last fourteen years trying to forget her mother’s existence Fran is wary of Clarence’s message that her mother wants to see her, now she is dying.

Memories flood back as Fran recalls her mother, and with curiosity uppermost she agrees to visit her mother at a hospice in Egham. Yet more shocks are in store for Fran as her mother asks her to find her sister, the child that she gave up, virtually at birth. And so, against her better judgment Fran agrees, and embarks on a journey to find the sister she has never known.

This is the fourth book in the Fran Varady series and in this book the mystery is closer to home, as Fran confronts her own background. But that is over simplifying it, as there are of course others involved. Where had her sister been all these years? What has her life been like? Does she know she is adopted? What of her adopted parents? And why is Clarence Duke following Fran? Then Clarence Duke turns up dead.

Once again Ann Granger weaves a fascinating tale, including all the characters I have come to enjoy. Gan is as ever great support to Fran and although often cross with her, always because he sees so clearly that she is as usual on a spiral to destruction.

I love Uncle Hari, who is convinced that if space debris is going to fall from the sky, it will surely fall through his roof.

A marvellous entry in this series. Recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

[Hilary G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up 6 books by Ann Granger in a neat package (sold as a multi-pack) in a local charity shop. The books were brand new (still wrapped in cellophane) and very cheap, so while I thought they must not be very good (based only on the way they were sold and how cheap they were), but I purchased them.
I am reviewing all three at once so I will list the titles:
Keeping Bad Company
Asking For Trouble
Risking It All
I had never heard of Ann Granger or ever read any of her books. Reading the information given about the author and the list of previous books, I was interested on 2 counts. Ann Granger has written dozens of books in a genre I enjoy (crime fiction) and I have never come across one, and she appears to live in the town where my parents lived for more than 40 years and where members of my family still live.
So far, I have read 3 of the books, all Fran Varady Crime Novels.
To my surprise, I really enjoyed the books and I read them very quickly. Fran Varady is an unusual, original and interesting heroine, quite unlike any other central character in other crime fiction. I really got to like her and admire her. As for Ganesh Patel, what a lovely character he is. Wouldn't we all love a friend like him? The friendship between Fran and Gan is a joy to the reader as well as to them. No soppy romance and the story so much the better for it. The author's writing style is quite charming. often humorous. The reason I read the books so quickly is because the stories are well plotted and progress at a cracking pace. The stars I give to books I have read reflect how much I enjoyed reading them, and I really enjoyed these three. It is a huge compliment to Ann Granger that I had only read two of the books when my brand new Kate Atkinson Jackson Brodie book was delivered from Amazon, yet I read the third Fran Varady novel before starting that. I am glad to have 'discovered' Ann Granger and will look out for her books in future. I have 3 from the multi-pack still to read, those being Mitchell and Markby crime novels and I shall read them after the Kate Atkinson. I hope I like Mitchell and Markby as much as I like Fran Varady and Ganesh Patel.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read anything by this author before and with this being the 4th in a series, I wasn't sure I would get into it, but apart from not understanding a lot about what motivated the main character, I don't think I was at any disadvantage at all.

The story was ok - Fran's mother appears back in her life, via a seedy Private Detective, and asks her to track down a half-sister who was illegally adopted as a baby. Fran does so, but seemingly ends up in danger when the PI is murdered outside the place where she is squatting. There's a sort of mystery around it all, but without a huge amount of characters appearing in the book, it's not too difficult to work out what is going on.

But my main problem was with Fran herself - I mean, she annoyed me intensely. She wants to be an actor, yet doesn't really seem to actively pursue it. She's living in a garage because she hasn't any money to rent a place, yet seems happy to spend money zipping about on the tube and seems reluctant to take the myriad of jobs she's offered. And she leaves her dog in a storeroom - ALL THE TIME! So I rapidly lost much sympathy for her and, although I did read to the end, I don't think I would be interested in her enough to read any more of her stories!

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lame to be honest. I rarely give poor ratings (would rather not write anything )but frankly, this book has so many loose ends when you finish it that I felt the need to say.
I like a good detective that had you guessing but sadly this falls way short.

[Andrya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the character of Fran, as a London squatter of a different era I get a little thrill with the details that ring true and relate to my life experience, thankfully without numerous deaths! Deft plot and quafable pace, I look forward to finding and reading the next in the series.

[Jo-Ann Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Granger is a solid writer and has invented an intriguing heroine with endearing flaws. This is the first I've read of her and I will definitely read more.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoy this series, shame it was a relatively short one.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a story about loose ends and closure. An interesting story and a turn for the better (?) for our main character....I'm enjoying this take on the "investigator" in these mysteries.

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new series for me which I enjoyed . Both the characters and plot were engaging and interesting,

[Madelynn Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but towards the end very rushed and too many questions left unanswered.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, light mystery. A spunky, English homeless woman finds family.

[S.L. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. She had me guessing until the end.

[Julie Footner-Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, not a gripping read but OK.

[CAW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fran gets herself into a tight corner here!

[Mina25 · Rating 1 out of 5]

It came with a newspaper and this is how I got to read it. And let's hear a round of applause for the amount of literary pebbles I can read, honestly! And I am being euphemistic here, generously so.

Right, so Fran Varady, the Hungarian with Italian name living in London in awful conditions and having a desi best friend. Somehow I could not connect with her 'witty' comebacks or internal thinking, and it was not the lack of trying. The story is not uninteresting, but again, not engaging.

There are a lot of sly backhanded bits and ends of popular culture here and there, but they just manage to make the author annoying, not popular.

I read it because I was caught in a very special situation where I could not sleep, but I could not leave the room either and this was the only book I had at hand. One important lessons I learned - the next time I am caught watching my baby sleep, I WILL have something else better to read.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

This is Fran Varady's fourth adventure and she finds herself homeless again. She does however seem to have found some long lost family. This was a really enjoyable read.

This book is full of the type of background detail that moves a character from being a description on a page to a fully fledged series character. Without giving the plot away the result of what happens in this book is that Fran is left in a situation which could put her investigatory talents on at least a semi professional basis which is a good thing for an ongoing series. There're only so many dead bodies a character can come across before it gets better from the readers point of view that there is a good reason for it to happen. This feels like a turning point in the series for me, I can see Fran lasting a long time, I hope she does.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story moves quickly, with unpleasant truths coming up for air. Fran Varady, a most unlikeable main character, is reunited with the mother who had abandoned her years earlier.
The convoluted plot is an interesting one, but I felt unsympathetic to all of the characters. Had this not been an audio book, I feel sure I would not have persevered with the story. I shall not be reading any other books in this series.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the main character in these ones. They don't really pass the "read it backwards and see if what people do makes sense" test of detective novels, but they're entertaining. I tired one of her other character series and didn't make it past the first chapter though so I think she's an author that you can't assume you'll like everything because you liked one.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another really good read from the Fran Varady series.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite interesting to see Fran get in touch with her mother again and be the great hobby detective she is

[Coyney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of her best

[JenniferB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book - characters and writing style were too annoying.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spannender als erwartet, hat nichts mit Fantasy zu tun.
Aber habe das Buch richtig verschlungen :)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say this has been my favourite of the Fran Vardy series! certainly kept me guessing too! :)