When his aunt and uncle disappear from their coastal English town, a man goes down a dangerous path to discover what happened . . . David Booker has returned to Romney Marsh on the south coast of England for a holiday. He’s expecting to spend time helping his aunt and uncle pack up the stock of their second-hand bookshop in preparation for a happy retirement. But when he arrives on a miserable … he arrives on a miserable April night to find his relatives missing without word and without a clue regarding their whereabouts, he gets little in the way of help from the local police, with the exception of Det. Jo Cash. They will team up to find the truth–possibly at the risk of both their lives.
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This was a page-turner. I loved the characters and the realistic way the author spun out the story. The end was a bit explainy, but I loved the writing so much I forgave him for that. There was an original twist in the bad guys’ motivation.
Great books read all three.
Just found a new favorite author! Finished the rest of the books in this series and started Oliver Tidy’s “Romney & Marsh” series. Love the dry wit and humor!
Bad Sons, from Oliver Tidy, is an interesting twist on the English mystery tradition of the citizen-detective. Instead of our protagonist being what I would call the village nosybody, he is instead the nephew of the decedents rather backed into looking for answers in the face of what appears to be a total lack of effort on the part of the police.
While the plot line is adequate – no one is going to be terribly surprised by twists and turns or the final revelation of the killers – it is the development of the main characters that lifts this book above the mundane. It’s the facets of their humanity and their relational development that really keep you turning the pages rather than any hair-trigger suspense. Throughout the book, you feel as if you are becoming much better acquainted with people you would like to claim as friends, a good thing since this is the first book of a series featuring the male and female primary players.
In short, an enjoyable read for an evening or two.
Quite a good mystery, with a rather unique protagonist, and other interesting characters. I consider this author to be “a find” because this mystery and its characters were different enough from those in most other books that it really captured my interest, even though it had started a bit slowly with a unusual situation to set the story rolling along. I’ve since read the next book in the series and enjoyed that one also. I’ll be reading more by this author!
Good author
I picked up this who-done-it because it involves a book shop (although that turned out to be a minor player) and takes place in Romney Marsh (memories of the Scarecrow thereof). The rather unpleasant protagonist returns from abroad to help out his aunt and uncle only they are missing. They are later found murdered and he wants to solve the case since the police seem to suspect him. The writing style is old-school detective type. E.g.: “The sky was a clear as a baby’s conscience.” “The roads were as quiet as a Christmas morning in a home without children.” “With only a sliver of moon, [the night] was darker than a dirty secret. I won’t read more in the series because the lead character just isn’t likeable.
Love Oliver Tidy books. This was the first one I read. Very interesting characters, nice twisty plot. Will read more of his work.Like his explanations of the Romney Marsh area we get a little history lesson along with the story.
It was a riveting novel that reminded me of Dick Francis, with gripping situations, wry humor, and characters that felt familiar and believable.
fun to read. real people and great relationships between them. easy flow of plot, not simplistic but not convoluted as sometimes
these crime stories can be. also gives a very good sense pf place, making the environment a part of the story and giving a sense of being there. have read the following book and will read more.
Good read.
I was extremely appreciative of the richness of the prose. While some reviewers have dismissed this book as too wordy, I prefer well-written stories with things like complex sentence structure and variety, matched to detailed visual descriptions and a skillful use of first-person point of view. The characters were well drawn to show both strengths and weaknesses; there was no urge to portray perfection and brilliance here. That said, there were flaws such as meaningless violence up to and especially including the reason for the murders, which was highly disappointing. For the first book in a series, overall acceptable. And I’m curious enough to read more from this author in the future.
This was a nicely paced mystery. The twists are not obvious, much like the follow on books. There are complaints but overall they seem niggling. Indeed, I enjoyed this book enough that I bought the next two in the series and have not been disappointed.
I look forward to following these characters in future volumes.
disappointed in the ending otherwise very interesting reading
Too much detail in parts. The story line was intriguing, but my interest began to wane about 3/4 through the book.
I liked the story well enough. Not really a page Turner for me though. You pretty much figure who’s responsible right off.
I didn’t particularly care for the main character. He came off as shallow.
But the story is entertaining enough to keep you amused
Kept me interested,
It was only okay.
Good read!