Chelsea Smile

Hennessey & Yellich #15

by Peter Turnbull

This is a new case for Hennessey and Yellich.
Five years after Duncan Percival is rendered a vegetable after a vicious attack, he finally dies. It is now a murder investigation and DCI Hennessey and DS Yellich are brought in to renew the evidence and re-interview the suspects, along with DS Thompson Ventnor who worked on the original investigation.

As they delve deeper, bodies start turning up and the links to a criminal gang become clear. But who is the leader of the organization, and who is pulling the strings now that Duncan Percival is dead? Hennessey, Yellich and Ventnor are drawn into York's criminal underworld where grasses are punished and the gruesome Chelsea Smile is the favoured method of retribution...

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Peter Turnbull is the author of nineteen previous novels and numerous works of short fiction. He worked for many years as a social worker in Glasgow before returning to his native Yorkshire.

Reviews

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duncan Percival had been in a vegetative state for five years before finally dying of his injuries, sustained in a vicious attack. DCI Hennessey, DS Yellich and DS Ventnor, who investigated the original crime, are now considering this a murder investigation that requires going back over all the previous evidence, re-interviewing suspects and witnesses, and so on. They find a tie-in with another murder five years earlier, a double murder actually of an elderly couple, for which a person was convicted but perhaps was innocent after all. And when a fresh corpse appears, a young man apparently executed with two gunshots to the head, it seems the cold cases must take second place to the urgent need to solve this one before more people die…. I think that this is the first time in this long-running series (of which “Chelsea Smile” is the 15th) in which the idea of organized crime as an element of the City of York comes into play; of course any large city will have such criminals, but most of the plots in this series involve individual crimes rather than intertwined ones. In any event, the story is compelling, and Mr. Turnbull’s plain writing continues to be a delight to read, so recommended!

[BJ McSt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another case for Hennessey and Yellich, with a new team member for the case who seems to work well with these two. Gangland doings over years add up to multiple murders, with a number of suspects, plus some surprising twists as the team pushes for answers and proof. Less of the usual background repetition about Commander Sharkey's obsessions, and the same "at home to the gentle reader" pieces in previous volumes, which this "gentle reader" does appreciate. Looking forward to the remaining volumes!

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The police investigate when a man dies 5 years after being attacked.

The first ninety percent of the book was really good with an interesting plot and plenty of believable characters, but I found the ending was too convenient / wrapped up to quickly / neatly.

[June anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing like as good as The Killing Floor...