Rooted in Evil

Campbell and Carter Mystery #5

by Ann Granger

Rooted in Evil by Ann Granger is set in the Cotswold village of Weston Saint Ambrose and features Inspector Jess Campbell and Superintendent Ian Carter in their fifth murder mystery.

When the body of a man, with his brains blown out, is found in a Cotswold wood it looks like suicide. But looks can be deceptive and it doesn't take long for the police to identify that there's more to the case than meets the eye.

People's stories don't add up and when Superintendent Ian Carter and Inspector Jess Campbell start probing it becomes clear that the dead man had ruffled more than a few feathers in this close-knit community. His stepsister had been bailing him out of his financial troubles - much against her husband's wishes - but, with his money worries still mounting, the victim had become a desperate man...

As Jess and Ian dig deeper and deeper into the case, a cover-up is exposed and bitter resentment rises to the surface to reveal a killer.

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

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 29, 2017

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

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have now read two books in this series and that is enough. I do enjoy Granger's 'Mitchell and Markby' books but it is hard to believe they have the same author. This story has a totally unbelievable plot, uninteresting characters and a very odd ending.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner in this amazing mystery series!

I've basically said the same thing for the first four books and number 5 is no exception. What is it that the author does so well? Allow me to enlighten you...
1. The mysteries are unique. Not the same old stereotypical storylines you find in most cozy mysteries these days. The tale always starts with the murder and you never know what you're going to get.
2. Since this is a series, the reader gets to know the main characters better plus you even get a glimpse of some characters from the previous book. But what Ms. Granger does that is exceptional is the introduction of new characters that are original, interesting with back stories that are detailed.
3. The chemistry between Campbell and Carter is delicious. I just wish there would come a point where these two would just get there shit together and realize they are perfect for each other.

Highly recommend.

4 stars

[JenniferB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good development of the main characters and interesting plot. This series is developing well It would have been a higher rating, but the ending was a bit of a twist and I think let the book down a bit.

[Elliott Bowell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had it’s moments but just a classic ‘who dun it’ set in the woods, can just picture them all wearing gilets.

[Denise Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery engaging characters.
Excellent setting.

[Gitti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carl Finch leidet wie immer unter chronischem Geldmangel. Und diesmal hat er tatsächlich auch Menschen im Nacken, die ihm auch mit körperlichen Folgen drohen. Daher startet er einen weiteren Versuch seine Stiefschwester dazu zu bewegen ihm noch einmal Geld zu geben. Nur leider läuft irgendetwas schief und Carl wird in der Nähe seines ehemaligen Zuhauses tot im Wald gefunden. Auf den ersten Blick Selbstmord, doch bald stellt sich heraus, dass das nicht sein kann.

Ann Granger liefert mit „In des Waldes dürstren Gründen“ wieder einen klassisch englischen Krimi. Die Polizei ermittelt, in dem sie Zeugen immer wieder befragt und aus den Aussagen ihre Schlüsse zieht. Nach und nach wird das Bild dessen was passiert ist immer klarer.

Harriet, ihr Mann Guy und ihre Freundin Tessa sind typische englische Landbewohner, die der Polizei gegenüber sehr misstrauisch sind und am liebsten alles unter sich regeln würden. Da wird es für Jessica Campell und ihre Kollegen schwierig Informationen zu dem zu bekommen was eigentlich passiert ist. Schnell wird klar, dass die Informationen nur sehr ausgewählt geteilt werden.

In diesem Band wird das Privatleben von Superintendent Carter, dessen Frau in Frankreich und die Tochter in einem Internat leben, thematisiert. Und auch Beziehungen der Kollegen untereinander werden weiter beleuchtet.

Mir hat dieser klassische Ermittlerkrimi wieder gut gefallen. Es wird viel Tee getrunken, und das Wetter ist meistens eher ungemütlich. Das perfekte Buch für einen Nachmittag mit Tee und Decke auf der Couch.

Von daher von mir eine Leseempfehlung.

[Carol Fillmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

would have preferred a different ending, one with more answers rather than raising more questions. might this matter be continued in another book? I'm hoping so.

[Kersi · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a cute little cozy crime with a very idyllic atmosphere!

[Chicky Poo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un tome qui se lit facilement, j'ai plutôt bien aimé retrouver Jess, Ian et Tom, j'aime l'ambiance qui se dégage de ces romans même si l'enquête n'a rien de très surprenant. J'ai passé un bon moment avec cette lecture.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t recommend an Audible version of this. They changed narrators from Judith Boyd, who had done a fabulous job performing the previous four books, to Julia Barrie, who put on such an irritating, whiney voice for several of the characters that I stopped listening. If the book hadn’t been free through Audible. I would’ve returned it & gotten my credit back.

[Gregory Totman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pointless, vague and ultimately uninteresting. It reminded me of an episode of midsomer murder . Where your average housewife is really a psychopathic killer yet hey I don’t know how that happened I must have been off my meds ! Rubbish. As to the detective duo interaction the writer doesn’t even begin to characterise their personalities.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Campbell and Carter are tasked with investigating a body discovered in some woods and discover secrets and undercurrents in a close knit rural community. I like this series - Jess and Ian are a good duo and the mystery is good. Worth reading, but works best in order.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic storyline. Love the Campbell and Carter series

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec À la Racine du Mal ?
"C'est une petite série policière que j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à suivre jusque-là, j'étais donc ravie d'apprendre la sortie de ce cinquième tome."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Lorsqu'elle trouve le corps de son frère Carl dans le bois, Harriet ne peut s'empêcher de prendre la fuite, prise de panique. De toutes façons, elle en est sûre, il s'est suicidé. Pourtant, la police ne va pas voir les choses de la même manière..."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"Je retrouve une nouvelle fois de nombreux éléments que j'apprécie dans cette petite histoire, comme le cadre et l'ambiance, les points forts d'Ann Granger, mais aussi les personnages et rien que pour ça, c'est un plaisir. L'enquête est bien menée et interessante mais il m'a semblé aussi que certaines ficelles avaient déjà été utilisées dans les précédents tomes, qu'il y avait un certain manque d'originalité et de renouvellement. L'autre point négatif, c'est le côté vie personnelle des inspecteurs qui est ici mis de côté pendant plus de la moitié de l'intrigue alors qu'honnêtement, c'est aussi beaucoup pour ça qu'on suit une série ! Si le Commissaire ne se décide pas enfin à inviter l'inspectrice à sortir dans le sixième opus, je vais commencer à trouver le temps long (et elle aussi je parie)."

Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"J'ai vraiment eu l'impression tout au long du récit que d'affreux secrets se cachaient dans les silences et les réactions des uns et des autres pour finalement découvrir qu'il n'en n'était rien. Ça ne sera décidément pas mon tome favori.

À noter que les couvertures sont maintenant brillantes au lieu d'être mates. Ce n'est pas un très gros changement mais c'est quand même dommage, d'autant que je trouve le rendu moins joli."


http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Rooted in Evil, the fifth novel to feature DI Jess Campbell and Superintendent Ian Carter of the Gloucestershire police.

The novel opens with pathologist Tom Palmer taking a walk in the woods to try and clear his heavy cold and finding a dead body. He initially suspects suicide but little details make him think murder. Campbell and Carter are quickly on the case and it soon becomes apparent that the victim, Carl Finch, was not a pleasant man and led a rather marginal life, so the suspect pool is fairly large in some respects but being found in the Gloucestershire countryside near where he was brought up focuses attention on his immediate family, his stepsister Harriet and her husband Guy.

Ms Granger's work has long been on my radar but this is the first book I have read and it's a bit of a mixed bag. The plotting is solid and intricate enough to hold the attention but it has a very old fashioned feel - it reminds me of books I used to borrow from the library in the 70s and 80s - because the mention of mobile phones and a DNA test are the only modern technology in the novel.

I think the author prefers to rely on investigative technique and I hesitate to say psychology, perhaps reasons for the crime is a better description but I have to wonder. Campbell and Carter seem very one dimensional for an established series. They are just there and there is not enough of them to either like or dislike them which again harps back to an earlier era when the detective was there to detect and the reader was given very little information about him (it always was). The characters being investigated are uniformly unpleasant and it was hard to care which one of them did it. I find Harriet and her friend Tessa's actions incomprehensible and highly unlikely.

Rooted in Evil is a solid if unspectacular read.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of Ann Granger’s Mitchell and Markby crime novels with great enjoyment when they first appeared and have read a couple in this Campbell and Carter series.

Rooted In Evil is the fifth featuring Inspector Jess Campbell and her boss, Superintendent Ian Carter.

This time they are investigating the murder of Carl Finch whose body has been found in the aptly named Crooked Man Wood. The case is played out in the Cotswolds, Oxford and London, in all of which places Carl has pursued a dubious career of financial wheeling and dealing.

Numerous possible suspects and witnesses emerge as well as a lot of family and other personal secrets. There is a large cast of characters including Harriet and Guy Kingsley, the victim’s step sister and brother-in-law and members of a local Art Group.A surprising number of people were in and near the woods at the time of the shooting.

Carl’s history comes under scrutiny. He emerges as a bit of a charmer, a good-looking loser and user, extracting money from whoever he can by various doubtful means to sustain his preferred lifestyle.

There was a lot of rather extraneous detail to be got through, some of it interesting but not too relevant to the plot and rather distracting-which was probably the point of it. However, I thought that some of the withholding of, and interfering with, evidence by witnesses went beyond the credible.

This was an easy read and I did not work out the solution until quite late on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the digital proof copy.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Finch's mother, Nancy, meets a wealthy man while on a train with her 5 year old son. Nancy dies about 8 years later from an undiagnosed brain tumour and Carl stays on with his step father and his daughter. He is treated like a son, but when the old man dies he leaves everything, including The Nunnery, to his own blood. After all, the house has been in the family for generations.

Carl feels that his father should have given him half of everything. He invests in hair brained schemes, gambles, and spends wildly, constantly going to his step sister for more money. The sister's husband also goes from one crazy busy venture to another and they no longer have money to give.

When Carl's body is found in the woods with half his face blown away, everyone seems to be mis-leading the police.

A good book, like the others in the series. but I feel that the ending could have been wrapped up a little better with more personal details.

[Martina Kovaříková · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 hvězdičky, aspoň za mě. Příběh byl zajímavý a alespoň pro mě to rozuzlení bylo docela nečekané. Aspoň po většinu knížky bych na vraha typovala někoho úplně jiného, než kdo to nakonec byl a i těch kandidátů jsem měla víc než jednoho. A ani jsem nakonec neodhadla ten motiv, dost jsem se sekla. A že jich bylo opravdu více. A podobných zvratů bylo v knížce hnedka několik.
Pokud jde o příběh, nejsem si jistá, že jsem ze série Campbell a Carter něco četla a potěšilo mě, že to nevadí. Není to jedna z těch knížek, kdy je zmiňován děj předchozích, takže není nutné to číst popořadě. To beru jako plus. Maximálně se dozvíte něco ze soukromého života postav v minulosti. Ale to ničemu nevadí. Vraha vám to neodhalí.
A tento příběh mě navíc opravdu zaujal a byla jsem zvědavá, kdo je vrahem a proč. A hodně mě to zaskočilo.
Jess, Tom i Carter jako postavy jsou mi sympatičtí. A dobře mi nahradili Alana a Meredith.
Celkově se mi knížka líbila, takže ji mohu doporučit.

[Reggie Billingsworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was more along the lines of "uh,...really???"
I normally like Granger's work and rely on the almost guaranteed quality of her writing and characters, dialogue etc., but as the complexities of this gruesomely murderous event hoved into view it became more fantastically operatic in its drama than an interesting puzzle. Talk about Midsommer Murder extremes!

The tiniest increments of relationship were allowed between Campbell and Carter...and barely worth mentioning but I expect were included as that is an apparent theme the author wishes to continue.

Hey. Not every one is a winner but I still persist in believing that Granger knows what she's doing and that I shall continue working my way through the series.

[John Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Campbell & Carter #5. This author has written various other series as well. I got about halfway through, possibly reading on autopilot, and was thinking this was not a bad mystery. Then I started noticing the inane and probably impossible dialogue. Characters were caricatures (I laughed when another reviewer said one woman was like Cruella) and the police were bland. They might have been on autopilot, too, because they overlooked or were fooled by one suspect who should have been highest on their list.
Still, I guess they got here in the end.
Rating 2.9. I don't think I'll look for any more of this series.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprise Ending

Well, I am happy to say that Book #5 continued in the theme of improving upon the first two. I honestly had no idea who the killer was until it was revealed. Now, I will say, once it was, Granger didn't seem to know where to go with it, but it wasn't enough to put me off the book. The cyclist in the middle of the story was a nice touch, and pairing her off with poor Tom was a good way to end things. Not the best mystery I've ever read, but a decent, enjoyable way to spend an evening.

[Alex-Mot-à-Mots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presque un cosy-mystery anglais dont j’ai aimé l’atmosphère so british.
J’ai eu de la peine pour Carl, la victime, qui a cru toute sa vie qu’il hériterai de son beau-père et qui se trouve déçu au-delà du possible.
Je n’ai pas aimé sa demi-sœur qui ne joue pas franc jeu avec lui et le laisse s’imaginer en futur chatelain.
Nathalie, l’amie de Carl, m’a paru bien caricaturale en Cruella.
Un titre qui promettait une explication philosophique mais dont le contenu m’a déçu : la jalousie seule serait donc à la racine du mal ?!

[Amanda Lavelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this one. I did find that the focus was more on the characters involved within the mystery rather than the detectives, as it has been in previous books in this series. Also other lesser characters have had their story lines brought more into the foreground so it does feel like everyone is getting more fleshed out as we progress through the series. I did guess who had done it but I don't think that spoilt it for me in any way.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a generous 3-star rating as I thought that the novel was more like a 2.5. I found it slow to start with strange dialogue throughout. I don't live in the UK, but some of the dialogue seemed very odd and old-fashioned for the characters, most of whom seemed to be around 40 years old. I have read a number of Granger's other novels and enjoyed them more -- this one didn't work as well for me.

[Linda Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Finch in is trouble and he has a chip on his shoulder. Not many people have a good word to say about him. When he is found shot dead in the wood close to his stepsister it is not at first clear whether it's murder or suicide. Campbell and Carter investigate further. Squeaky shoes get on someone's pip.
A story told with the human side of the police coming through and with wit and a few giggles.

[Carole-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good offering from Ms Granger. A few mis-directions; people trying to fool the police; a rather nasty piece of work in one character who we only meet twice: once at the beginning of the story, and the other at the end (shady person with no real relevance to the story); and - for me - a surprise result (aka I didn't work it out who-done-it!)

[Ruth Lawton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not having read any other books in the series I didn't know what to expect, so it may be just this book but... Everyone seemed to resent or despise or be irritated by everyone else. No fun, no laughter, no easy friendly relationships. Story interesting enough for me to keep going but I won't bother with more

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 1st July 2021

A good, quick murder mystery. Enjoyed the different twists and revealed secrets within the story. Liked the characters as well and the setting. Overall, a good enjoyable book.

But I would say that I thought some bits were either unnecessary or dragged a bit to long/ far. However that could just be my preference.

[San · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5. Another solid addition to the Campbell and Carter series. More feelings blossoming between C and C which I'm still up in the air about simply because I find the books interesting enough without needed to have a romance aspect to it. This books adds to the typical cozy small-town British mystery vibe with the addition of family drama and secrets coming to the surface. Once again Ann Granger did a good job of making me suspect just about everyone as being the culprit until finally the true culprit and motive is revealed. As usual, a definite recommend.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have grown attached to the main characters in this series. In each book, their stories are carved out just a little more, creating anticipation for the next book. Fingers crossed we see some romance soon!

The murder in this book felt different from the previous ones. I enjoyed how they tied in one of the main characters into the murder.