The Best Corpse for the Job (Lindenshaw Mysteries, #1) in Riptide Publishing

Nov 07, 2014 Mark rated it really liked it

Shelves: gay-fiction, crime-and-thrillers, murder-mystery

Oh my, how do you turn a very quaint and traditional English village into complete turmoil? Yes, you have a little murder English style in the local school; then the kettles will be working over time brewing tea to calm the nerves and more biscuits served up then you can shake a stick at.

I loved the whole idea of this story, the characters, plot and setting are all so quintessentially English I was in my element. So for all those anglophiles out there then you will want to get stuck into this b Oh my, how do you turn a very quaint and traditional English village into complete turmoil? Yes, you have a little murder English style in the local school; then the kettles will be working over time brewing tea to calm the nerves and more biscuits served up then you can shake a stick at.

I loved the whole idea of this story, the characters, plot and setting are all so quintessentially English I was in my element. So for all those anglophiles out there then you will want to get stuck into this book for sure.

Adam Matthews is a school teacher who is on the interview panel for the board of governors, his school needs a new head teacher. When I was in school it was headmaster or headmistress so there is political correctness for you once again - lol! When the next candidate doesn’t appear to give his presentation, although they know he is in the school, they go looking for him and find him. Yes, dead as a dodo in the school kitchen. OMG - can you just imagine? Rural, traditional, quiet England thrown into complete chaos by the shame of a murderer in their presence.

First the board of governors are all very different characters. Adam is the new, caring, modern super teacher. Victor Narraway the chairman for the board of governors, old school, strict, who possibly believes a bit of caning never did anyone any harm. Christine Probert, mother of two, bit of a flirt, but assertive, attractive and attracts the attentions of most of the men. Marjorie Bookham who is married to a chauvinistic pig and brute of a husband who firmly believes a woman needs to be chained to the kitchen sink The village vicar Neil Musgrave, your typical English village vicar who knows the dirt on everyone. Jeremy Tunstall a bureaucrat, rule abider and job’s worth to the last punctuation mark. Last, but not least, Jennifer the school secretary who probably runs the place in secret and has been there since time immemorial. The line up is complete and I just loved the balance in all of these characters in the fact they are all very different with very different backgrounds, views and attitudes.

From this point on I was in my element, a real Miss Marple style whodunnit ensues, but here in the role of Miss Marple is Inspector Robin Bright and his investigation partner Sergeant Anderson. What I liked first and foremost was the concept of this whole investigation, it had a very British Cop show feel to it. The ribbing that went on between Robin and Anderson was brilliant, loved it. Anderson knows his boss is gay but still can’t resist getting in the odd good humoured dig or joke. Robin is called in on the case and the investigation starts. However, he was once a pupil at St. Crispin’s school too. His childhood experiences of the school weren’t so nice for him, he was bullied as a child at a time where it was quite possibly viewed as character building. Just being in the school brings all these bad memories flooding back and is the cause of a few of his problems today no matter how successful he has been since he left school. I really felt for him, bullying is a horrible thing and hopefully today’s teachers are more aware of the damaging effects it can have than before.

During the questioning Adam finds himself unequivocally attracted to Robin, but what the hell can you do when you are attracted to the investigating officer? Here we have an excellent case of love being out of reach and provided for some real tension and almost heart-aching moments where you could feel them getting so close, but Robin due to his situation always backing away. What a merry dance this ended up being and for me personally, despite the whole murder-mystery aspect of the story, Adam’s and Robin’s attraction to each other but not being able to take it to a romantic level was just thrilling in itself. It almost had a tantalising quality about it. Robin oversteps the mark on several occasions as he finds himself becoming ever more attracted and if Adam wasn’t on the list of suspects he probably would have jumped his bones immediately. I don’t know if I would have had the patience that Adam had, saying to himself all the time that as soon as this mess is cleared up then the path will be clear to really start to date each other.

However, the whole duty and professionalism thing comes first and at least Adam could respect this. This made the book very light if non-existent on the erotic side, but that was OK for me as the developing relationship between Robin and Adam I found just as intriguing as the murder itself, watching how the attraction builds but always that damned line that Robin is not allowed to cross. Gawd, it must be excruciating. I would be no good as a Police Investigator as put in that situation I know I would probably throw caution to the wind, listen to what my heart and hormones are saying and say “fuck it” and then get the sack and disciplinary hearing at the same time. I felt Robin had a good friend and ally in Sergeant Anderson as he is more than aware of the attraction that Robin has for Adam, teases Robin about it but never lets on to anyone else. After all I guess we are all human and not perfect and I think Anderson knew that his boss would never overstep the mark completely.

The murder-mystery aspect I found intriguing and fun. I never really have been one for trying to work out who the murderer is before the end and prefer to be entertained, just letting the investigation unfold until revealing bit-by-bit the likely suspects and watching the noose tighten. We not only get one, but two murders and plot wise everything was coherent, logically thought out, one of those stories where through Robin’s investigation the loose ends start to come together and the more Robin digs the more comes to light. A little traditional maybe but I liked it very much none the less. What initially looks like an unsolvable case gets a couple of lucky breaks until the murderer is apprehended. Did I start to guess or get an inkling for who the murderer was? Well, to be honest not until about 70%, but then as I said I wasn’t trying too hard myself. So did the murderer come as a surprise. Well, yes I could never have thought out such a convoluted story myself so enjoyed every minute of it.

As for Robin and Adam? Well, by the end of the book they get their HFN. The murderer is apprehended and now they’re relationship can really begin. But then if they managed to survive all this then I’m sure a future together is going to be no problem.

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Mar 27, 2015 Tinka023 rated it it was ok

I thought about rating it 3 stars but decided against it in the end. This book was a nice, pleasant read. I was expecting more and so finished the book feeling a little disappointed. It's unlikely I will read it again. There wasn't even a ounce of sex in it to spice it up a bit. ...more

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