Murmuring the Judges

Bob Skinner #8

by Quintin Jardine

An armed robbery trial is about to take a macabre turn as a judge suddenly collapses in mortal agony. But as the wave of brutal robberies continues, it emerges that the judge's death may have been murder—and he's not the only judge whose life is in danger. It's down to Bob Skinner to piece together a puzzle of sinister complexity.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Audiobook, Detective, Fiction

407 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1998

About the author

Quintin Jardine (born 1945) is a Scottish author of three series of crime novels, featuring the fictional characters Bob Skinner, Oz Blackstone, and Primavera Blackstone. He was educated in Motherwell and in Glasgow where he studied at what was then the city’s only University. After career as a journalist, government information officer and media relations consultant, he took to the creation of crime fiction.

His first wife, Irene, with whom he shared over 30 years, from their teens, died in 1997. He is married, to his second wife, Eileen. They live in both Scotland and in Spain

Reviews

[Deb Mervold · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 cases are brought to conclusions. I look forward to reading more by this author,

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the Chief Constable is on vacation, DCC Bob Skinner is running the show. The city is plagued by a series of bank robberies that leave one civilian and a young police officer dead. The robberies are carried out with military precision. Someone is also killing senior judges.

[Ursa Minor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tightly paced book, with some good characterisations, and a decent though in the end slightly over neat plot. I would read more by this author and may find him growing on me as I do -I hope so for there are seeds of potential here. There are a very large number of characters and several subplots and apparent subplots but these are handled surprisingly deftly and I didn’t find following the various threads confusing. The denouement was a bit left field - and I certainly did not guess the antagonist/s but I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing here. There was a feeling that ends were forcibly gathered up and the culmination separately constructed and grafted on, rather than organically grown out of the narrative and the flow of the case. The best final revelations in detective/crime novels should ideally feel as if they were just at the tip of your tongue or hidden in plain sight, and brought into view by a smooth swerve in perspective that shows the whole picture.

My biggest grouse against the book however is with the writing, which is - uneven at best. I think other reviewers have also commented on this. While the book purports to be set in Scotland and there are some nice set scenes somewhere they sometimes feel as if they might have been copied from a travel brochure - this effect is heightened by the sudden and inconsistent insertions of ‘dialect’ or ‘brogue’ which don’t quite ring true. Elsewhere men in their forties and fifties who have apparently been born and brought up in Edinburgh/ Scottish lowlands/ highlands use strangely Americanised turns of speech, and intermittent references to the ‘green eyed DCS” and the “pretty blonde” police Constable or somesuch stir up shades of nineteen nineties teen fiction....still, a good effort, and some nice characters, who are worth following a couple of more times perhaps to see where they go and how.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

31/2 to 4 stars. Another page turner with DCC Bob Skinner. Entertaining read and of course Bob always wins.

A series of armed bank robberies occurs in Edinburgh and the Borders and a brave bystander and a police woman are shot and killed. The team led by DCS Andy Martin eventually put all the pieces together. DCC Skinner is bored with his acting chief constable job while Jimmy Proud is on holiday and wishes to be in the thick of investigations once more. Two judges and then a third, after exhumation, are found murdered. It all leads to a team of military precision.

However the ‘head criminal’ known as Hamburger is finally found and his identity is a bit left field, meaning unexpected, and to be honest I had to search back in the book to find out who he was! As I said a good read but hard to keep track of all the names and characters at times.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - 4 1/2 stars. This book, 8th in Jardine's excellent Bob Skinner series, was one of the better ones so far. In this one, Bob is called in when a judge, who everyone thought had had a heart attack, turns out to have been murdered. And soon there are more. Also, there is a spate of violent robberies going on and Bob and his team are desperate to find out who is causing this and stopping them. Once again, Bob uses his quick wits and connections to investigate both cases and zero in on possibilities. This was a fast paced and interesting read and I continue to enjoy this series and look forward to the next book.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a No for me. I did find myself picking it up readily and the story moved forward quickly. Ultimately, though, there were way too many names and tenuous story lines/relationships to really understand the plot and resolution. I also can't stand mysteries that wait to save throw some CRUCIAL information at you until the very end, making it impossible to solve on your own.

[Henry Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too many characters to keep track of!

[Sherry Partington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving the characters

[Alan Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book in the series but loved the characters and the storyline

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overly complex, too many plots and sub plots, and hundreds of characters.
Could not get into it, so I stopped.

[Annie Weatherly-Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book in this series. two stories running in tandem, both intriguing, murderous, with lots of twists and turns and surprising ending. Really like this one.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quentin Jardine books are a bit of a guilty pleasure, like garlic mayonnaise or a glass of wine at lunchtime. They're never ever going to be classics but they are enjoyable all the same.

Long before David Beckham was named 'Golden Balls', my family knew Bob Skinner by the same moniker. He can do no wrong. He's just amazing at everything he does; squash, football, police work. The guy could jump out a plane and he'd be able to grow his own parachute.

I don't really believe any of the police procedures given in this book (though I stand here ready to be corrected) and the story was a bit farfetched by the end, but I accept these books for what they are. Excellent fun. They're clean, not overly graphic and I love to read anything set in Edinburgh and the Lothians. It's like going home for the day.

Anyhoo, Murmering the judges specifically? Good fun, well written but just don't think about it too much!

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of cold witches tits and over-the-top, almost comic dialog. A bit much for me. All crimes are neatly solved by Big Bob. It would seem that it would certainly help to have read the books before so you understand the private life things that are going on. And it's one of those books that end with an event that starts off the next in the series. meh.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quintin Jardine must love writing this series - Bob Skinner is SOOO larger than life, excelling in golf, squash, and everything else he tries. Very compelling stories, though -- I'm reading my way through them all.

[Afsana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the skinner series and this is another good book and it is iteresting who the villian is and how everything is connected

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good book in this series.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Scottish crime thriller. Listened to it as an audio book and the reader had a distinct but clearly understandable Scottish accent which added to the enjoyment of the book.

[ElaineY · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must be the only one who found this utterly boring. Started and stopped several times and am giving up.