Coffin On Murder Street

John Coffin Mystery #23

by Gwendoline Butler

Scotland Yard Inspector John Coffin probes a bizarre series of crimes, from the disappearance of a busload of sightseers and the destruction of a child's toy, to the murder of an amateur crime enthusiast and the kidnapping of an American actress's son. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

257 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1991

About the author

Gwendoline Williams Butler (aka Jennie Melville)

Gwendoline Williams was born on 19th August 1922 in South London, England, UK, daughter of Alice (Lee) and Alfred Edward Williams, her younger twin brothers are also authors. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read History, and later lectured there. On 16th October 1949, she married Dr Lionel Harry Butler (1923-1981), a professor of medieval history at University of St. Andrews and historian, Fellow of All Souls and Principal of Royal Holloway College. The marriage had a daughter, Lucilla Butler.

In 1956, she started to published John Coffin novels under her married name, Gwendoline Butler. In 1962, she decided used her grandmother's name, Jennie Melville as pseudonym to sign her Charmian Daniels novels. She was credited for inventing the "woman's police procedural". In addition to her mystery series, she also wrote romantic novels. In 1981, her novel The Red Staircase won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quite enjoyable murder mystery set in London following John Coffin as he tries to solve the disappearance of a Terror Tour and locate a missing boy while protecting his department from the politicians and keeping his social life on track. Although the story had many twists and turns and plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing I found I couldn't connect to the characters that well, for reasons I'm not sure of. They were all well written and had enough depth to make them seem fairly realistic but there was just something about them that didn't work, that came across a bit stilted and fake (although that could be due to the fact that a lot of them were performers of some sort or another). Overall this wasn't a bad read and the story is pretty good but it was just lacking a little something, which held it back a little.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A local coach firm does tours which take it in the sites of murders on Coffin's patch. One day a coach load of people disappear into thin air. But that is only the start of John Coffin's problems. His relationship with friend and former lover, actress Stella Pinero seems a little cool and he is under fire by one of the local MPs. There is a former child murderer in the area and veiled threats are being made against the child of an actress friend of Stella's. Plenty to keep Coffin occupied.

I found this absorbing reading even though the murder doesn't take place until a long way into the book. There are plenty of strange circumstances and things which don't add up to keep the reader on their toes. I like Coffin as a characters and he shows that he is still a good detective as well as the administrator and manager he needs to be because of his exalted position as the head of the new City force.

I think the author demonstrates very well the slightly uneasy but respectful relationship Coffin's subordinates have with him. While there is definitely a dark element in this story there is little on the page violence and no bad language. I recommend the book and the series to anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. The books in the series can be read in any order.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an easy read yet kept me intrigued to the end. Set in London so the speech can seem a little off at times if you're not used to it. It had twist and turns that weren't unbelievable but nothing boring. You got to know the characters pretty well but not overly like a lot of books try to do. You sorta learn as you go along about character relationships. Some readers are kinda squeamish about murder mysteries but this isn't graphic or bursting with foul language. I'm looking forward to reading the next Coffin mystery. :)

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whizzed through this one! very good and engaging! :)