Malice on the Moors

Erskine Powell #3

by Graham Thomas

ERSKINE POWELL OF SCOTLAND YARD INVESTIGATES MURDER ON THE MOORS.On a remote, fog-enshrouded estate in the North York Moors, a murderer lays a cunning trap. The prey, it seems, is Dickie Dinsdale, the greedy landowner who bulldozes people's lives like so many old barns.Easily a dozen residents of Blackamoor would derive pleasure from Dinsdale's slow, painful death. But, Detective-Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell asks himself, which of them is bold enough to do the deed?Is it Dinsdale's old gamekeeper, dismissed without warning? The environmentalist he assaulted and humiliated? The sexy stepsister he spied upon? Suspects are as thick as grouse in summer, and bringing down a killer on the wing is very tricky--even for a pro like Erskine Powell. . . .From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 1999

About the author

Pseudonym of Gordon Kosakoski, 1950-2008.
Wrote five novels.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"On a remote, fog-enshrouded estate in the North York Moors, a murderer lays a cunning trap. The prey, it seems, is Dickie Dinsdale, the greedy landowner who bulldozes people's lives like so many old barns.

"Easily a dozen residents of Blackmoor would derive pleasure from Dinsdale's slow, painful death. But, Detective-Chief Superintendent Erskine Powell asks himself, which of them is bold enough to do the deed?

"Is it Dinsdale's old gamekeeper, dismissed without warning? The environmentalist he assaulted and humiliated? The sexy stepsister he spied upon? Suspects are as thick as grouse in summer, and bringing down a killer on the wing is very tricky -- even for a pro like Erskine Powell ..."
~~back cover

Another tour de force for Detective-Chief Superintendent Powell: faced with tantalizing but non-definitive clues, he presses onward while attempting to ignore the allure of the young sergeant assigned to assist him. All's well that ends well, of course, but the fun is in the getting there.

[Pontiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This time, the murder of a greatly disliked rich guy, Dickie Dinsmore, leaves Powell with a load of suspects with a motive to kill.

The questioning of various parties and the repetition of the story of Dickie's death gave a clear picture of what happened, where pieces later fell into place.

Sarah was a good character, doing a great job of following up on all the leads she was given. I also liked Marjorie, Dickie's father and matriarch of the family's empire.

Enjoyable mystery, well written, good read.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective Chief Inspector Erskine Powell of Scotland Yard has been sent up to the North York Moors to investigate the suspicious death of Dickie Dinsdale the heir and current manager of the local estate. Not a popular man, the list of suspects grows as the suspicion of death from other than the adder grows.

This is a rather decent mystery set in the British countryside.

[Avery Venesky]

Graham Thomas’ mystery novel, titled Malice On The Moors, is a very mysterious, creepy book which tends to create a suspenseful feeling that makes the reader want to keep reading more and more. This book introduces a variety of characters and they all face challenges of their own as well as challenges where they have to work together. Thomas does a phenomenal job at being well descriptive. He talks about characters' strengths, weaknesses, who are enemies, who is best of friends, and a lot more. Throughout the story he explains many things in detail which just helps the reader to understand the book more and more. He develops the characters as well as the plot very well. The more you read the more in depth you get and the more you want to read. The book Malice On The Moors uses descriptive language to help make the book more visual for the reader and understandable for the reader. With this, the beginning of the book seemed somewhat slow and I almost wanted to stop reading it. As you continue to read the book more and more it will get better as it goes on. I wasn’t very fond of the part in the book where at the end of most chapters it leaves you with a cliffhanger. Powell states, “Then he leveled his gun at Stumpy’s head and pulled the trigger”. This can leave the reader wondering many things like did he survive?, did he miss?, and did he die? This creates suspense and leaves the reader wanting to read on to the next chapter to find out what happened. As an author, Graham Thomas utilizes strong and descriptive vocabulary which makes the book more interesting as you read on. His mysterious tone throughout the book makes the reader want to keep reading on. If you like mystery and thrilling books then this is the book for you.

[Cws]

M Tho

[Julie]

didn't like it as well as malice in the highlands

[Wendy Pitts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice cozy, little bit of a slow start but it picked up.

[Susan Cottman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice take on the traditional cozy mystery.