Down Among the Dead Men

Rafferty and Llewellyn Police Procedural Series #2

by Geraldine Evans

Was the popular Barbara Longman killed by the Suffolk serial killer? Or was it a copycat? A copycat closer to home?

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Crime

Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

aka Geraldine Hartnett.

I'm a British author and live in Norfolk, England. I write mystery/detective novels and have two series on the go: Rafferty & Llewellyn and Casey & Catt.

Series:

* Rafferty and Llewellyn Mystery
* Casey and Catt Mystery

I also write historical novels, of which my first is Reluctant Queen: The Story of Mary Rose Tudor, the Defiant Little Sister of Infamous English king, Henry VIII.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

** This is the cover of the Kindle book I am reading; it's not a paperback.

This is a 3.5 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 4 🌟.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

rather 2.5 since I found it somewhat tedious in the long run - I was sure of the murderer from the very beginning, and I was right (I might say as usual, but that would be a little conceited no ? ;-) ) - anyway it's about police procedurals so I guess it's long and tedious - I sometimes found rafferty and llewellyn getting on my nerves, at other times the sarcasms were fun - as I said = 2.5

[R.P. Dahlke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very satisfying Llewellyn & Rafferty police procedural which probably should have been titled “A Rose Amongst the Thorns” as the murder victim was too young, too lovely and too good to have married into the wealthy, if somewhat oily, family of a powerful patriarch. All of which gives Detective Rafferty and his sergeant Llewellyn a giant pain as they desperately try to pry answers from this deceiving lot of miscreants, bumblers and idlers.
Along the way, we get to listen in as Rafferty pokes at the stuffy Llewellyn, until his sergeant uncovers some clue that has eluded the very astute brain of his superior. Rafferty may have a momentary pout, but he’s not so small that he can’t manage a compliment on the dour Welshman.
I’ve become very fond of these two, enjoying the author’s dry British wit and even a chuckle as when Rafferty says he’s had so many red herrings in this case he might as well start a fish farm.
As far as I was concerned any of them could’ve done it until the author deftly revealed the killer. I sure didn’t see it coming!

RP Dahlke
A DEAD RED CADILLAC
A DEAD RED HEART

Kindle @$2.99 or $.99 whenever the mood strikes me.

[Jennie-Lee~abookishwonderer~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Alana Byers-Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this one took me longer to read than the first one and I finally figured out why. And it's not the writing.
It's the characters
The way Rafferty talks and interacts with Llewellyn really annoys me. He's so condescending and rude simply because he didn't go to college. They're supposed to be partners, and I love reading about the developing relationships between cop partners, but Rafferty just treats him like dirt for no reason. This over shadows the cases which is again annoying because they're not that boring.
This book was predictable again and it was quite obvious who the killer was. Yet again the build up took too long and the solution came too quickly but it was completely unemployable to read.
I usually try stick to a series way more than I should sometimes just to make sure they don't get better but I won't be with this one. The characters are just way too mean for no reason and I can't feel the vibe

[Alice Segura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loss and grief do not always bring success

Rafferty and Llewellyn are tasked with finding the killer of a very loving woman, Mrs Shore. No one is found to have a grudge or reason for killing her. The case seems stalled. An extremely clever ending is unexpected. Rafferty’s impatience with his assistant, Llewellyn, gets irritating, but it paints a clear picture of Rafferty, his prejudices and talents.

[Little Red Readinghood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The clues were there I was totally surprised by the murderer. To me the title didn't make sense but the mystery did.

[Val Sanford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love mysteries where I'm totally surprised by the ending. In typical "Christie" fashion, Rafferty gathers the suspects and announces the murder: a shock to all, including his partner and the reader. What Fun!

The story line plods and the supposedly-humorous banter between the two policemen falls flat more often than not, but the plot is ingenious and the reason behind the murder baffling.

I am not going to rush out and read any more of the series, but I will keep Rafferty and Llewelyn on my shelf as I want to return to them again in the future.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story but the main protagonist Raffery needs to be yanked into the twenty first century by his toes. Anyone who has taken various computer courses and still prefers a manual typewriter from the '50's to write his reports on instead of something with spell check and all the other features or word processing is holding himself and others back. It is hard to respect some one who won't try to learn something.

[Cyn2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read with a bit of humor

Enjoyable tale with some chilling details. The relationship between the two detectives is irritating at times but has the saving grace of male competitive humor.

[Jeannine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not going to rush to read more in this series although I have two more to read. While the plot was good, the story drags from one interview to another. There is very little action and not enough interaction between the characters.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice gentle murder.