“If you like good old-fashioned storytelling, meet Dave Slater and sidekick Norman Norman, two wonderfully, humanly, flawed characters who will soon feel like old friends.”This boxed set comprises the first four books in the series, including:DEATH OF A TEMPTRESSOne missing woman.Two scapegoats looking to put the record straight.Ruth Thornhill went missing six months ago, but when asked to … looking to put the record straight.
Ruth Thornhill went missing six months ago, but when asked to investigate Dave Slater soon finds enough discrepancies between the original case file and the facts to realise there’s been a cover-up. Curiosity aroused, he begins to ask questions and rattle some cages. When someone tries to push him under a London bus, Slater knows he’s onto something big, but now the stakes have been raised his boss insists he needs help.
Slater is horrified to find his partner is new to the station and rumoured to be as good as useless, but his boss insists, he has no choice. It turns out new partner DS Norman Norman isn’t quite as hopeless as rumour suggests and, just like Slater, has also crossed paths with the Serious Crime Unit.
The stakes get higher still when they uncover some disturbing connections to the missing woman. These include a Chinese businessman, an online escort agency, a top London banker and, most dangerous of all, senior officers from the Serious Crime Unit.
Can the new partners uncover the full story, or is this going to be the first and the last case they work together?
JUST A COINCIDENCE
How can a body appear in the middle of a patch of long grass without leaving tracks?
It couldn’t just drop from the sky, could it?
As they begin examining the scene a dog arrives carrying a stick. Or, maybe it isn’t a stick. In fact, now he can see it properly, Slater recognises it as a bone, and he’s pretty sure it’s human….
Finding more than one body near a quiet English woodland would seem to be quite a coincidence, but with years between their deaths it can’t be.
Or, can it?
FLORENCE
What if you had a guilty secret you’d rather no-one else knew?
How bad would it have to be for you to commit murder to keep it quiet?
A little old man has been found dead in his home. It’s sad, but these things happen all the time. Dave Slater takes a look but sees nothing suspicious to report. Then the old man’s house is ransacked. Of course, it could be an opportunist burglar, but Slater gets the feeling someone is looking for something specific.
Maybe he was wrong about the old man’s death, but what secret did he know that would cost his life?
Slater & Norman feel the answer must be in the past, but how far back do you have to go to find it?
THE WRONG MAN
Who is most likely to kill a woman?
Statistics say it’s more likely to be someone they know, not a stranger.
Fingers are soon pointing at murdered Diana Woods’ ex-husband, Ian, who appears to be everyone’s prime suspect. But Dave Slater has his doubts. What people have been led to think they know and what they actually know aren’t always the same thing.
It’s becoming clear Diana was very believable, but was she as squeaky clean as everyone suggests, or was she hiding something?
New evidence leads to a new suspect, but everything seems to be just a bit too obvious. Something doesn’t add up.
If only Slater could put his finger on it.
The Slater & Norman Mystery series is a blend of character, suspense and humour, that never takes itself too seriously. With plots full of red herrings, and a twist in every tale, this is a refreshing,
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I like police procedural and even more when there are interesting characters that you care about. Books 2 and 3 are the best, in my opinion, but 1 and 4 are good too.
Nice police procedural with unusual details of personality and policing .
I am only on the 3rd of the 4 books in this set, but I am really enjoying the entertaining style this author displays.
I really enjoy this author and his characters. They are interesting and unexpected.
Just about ready to start the fourth book in the series. Love the characters and the story line of the first three books, a look forward to the fourth book. I will probably end up reading the entire series.
I have already reviewed this book!
Very good, well written British crime/police procedure novel.
I have stayed up late several night because I can’t stop reading these books!
Dave Slater Mysteries Boxed Set 1 – This is a new author to me and I found some of his stories interesting and others disappointing. While the first two books were interesting and easy reading, the second book started changing the personalities of two of the three main characters, a DS and their superior. By the fourth book, the personality changes were too drastic to be believable, so out of character for these two gents.
Death of a Temptress #1 – My first read by this author and I enjoyed this story. There are plenty of criminals coming out of the woodwork. There is good intrigue, good characters and the interesting relationships between the police trio. Along with a variety of characters, good storylines are combined with good dialogue. 4*
Just a Coincidence #2 – This book starts where Temptress ends. There is good humor along with good characters, good storylines and good intrigue. There may be the beginning of a possible romance? 4*
Florence #3 – This book starts three months after Coincidence ends. I enjoyed this book the most of all four. Greatly disappointed that there is a change in the personalities of one of the DS and their boss; I think out of character for both of them. This story is rather intriguing with a good bit of suspense in the last part of the story. Again, there are good storylines and good characters. 4*
The Wrong Man #4 – This book starts three months after Florence ends. I found this story disappointing. Both the actions of Norm and Murray, way out of character for them, got on my nerves. What started in Florence is fullblown in Wrong: these two are always gung-ho to arrest someone without any real evidence. This story is a bit simplistic with the phone and its assembly, which is just an example of how the author is making his three characters stupid. While the storylines were interesting, how the author handled the dummying down and personality changes of his characters recued my interest in reading past this book. What started as an easy to read good series with the first two books was wiped out by this book and the simplistic plot and dialog. Along with not being well written and rushed, I lost respect for the police trio, although the author let Jolly be herself. 3*
Dave Slater Mysteries Boxed Set 1 end.
I thought this book stated how two different personalities could still work together and have a different spin on the end result.
Like his style.
Slater and Norman Mystery Series Box Set 1
I love British police mysteries. Love the language, the dry yet acerbic humor the Brits are famous for, the hint of sarcasm, the mockery of a top-heavy, over-authoritative organization, and the protagonists who prevail against all odds weather inclusive, with the help of just a steaming cuppa.
That is why I was looking forward to this set of four books, about a small police outfit, somewhere in the boondocks, understaffed, underbudgeted, ruled with an iron fist of an aging DI, and two sergeants who couldn’t be more different one from the other, yet work seamlessly well together.
The first book, which I already read before I got the set, was most enjoyable and in line with my expectations. The second, not too so but still acceptable. The third was boredom. The fourth, boring to tears. What does Mr. Ford think how many repetitions of laughing about Norman’s weight, girth, unhealthy eating, and mooching of lunch from Slater, the reader can endure? Or, are those just fodder to fill up the number of pages author must deliver?
It also seems that Ford has a fixation with nymphomaniacs because they occupy center stage in two of the books without adding too much to the narratives.
But what takes the cake is crossing the red line for me is an absolute decisive NO, at the start, that changes to Yes at the end, because all other logical solutions were exhausted. SAD.
Despite all this, I give the set three stars because I read every one of the books to the end. And it is a definite credit to Mr. Ford.
So-so book. Mystery was interesting enough. Got tired of every female hitting on younger detective. Also, you know the instant that the older, heavier detective says he never runs, he’s going to hit A fleeing suspect with a car
Nice restful reading. Read all eight, which is unusual for me