Ripe for Revenge

DCI Roper #3

by Janie Bolitho

In the small English village of Little Endesley, during the hot weeks of summer holidays, the body of brutally murdered Sharon Vickers is found in the woods. She is eight years old.
Jacko Penhaligon, a known child molester, is naturally the prime suspect, although he has no record of violence. The tight-knit village community wish to believe him guilty but offer up no clues. It begins to look like a spur of the moment killing, the perpetrator a passing stranger whom the police would have little chance of catching.
As the murder investigation gets underway, pornographic videos come to light, a fact that directly involves officers working on the case. Other seemingly unconnected crimes take place in the nearby town of Rickenham Green that eventually lead to the identity of the killer.
While struggling with the ups and downs of his own personal life and those of the officers with whom he works, DCI Ian Roper unravels a string of revenge-motivated crimes in this outstanding example of the village whodunit.

Genres: Mystery

191 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Aka Jodie Sinclair.

Born in Falmouth, Cornwall, Janie Bolitho enjoyed a variety of careers - psychiatric nurse, debt collector, working for a tour operator, a book-maker's clerk - before becoming a full time writer. She died of breast cancer in 2002.

Reviews

[Sanya Weathers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have liked this one more before I had a kid. These days, plots revolving around dead or molested kids don't do it for me unless they are exceptionally well written in terms of characterization.

This one's not.

The porn subplot was pretty good, though.

[Jolene MacFadden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ripe for Revenge follows the continuing adventures of DCI Ian Roper solving crimes within the small villages in the English Countryside.