Two young women are stabbed to death in Tyneside. But what’s the connection?After a trip to the coast, Agnes Lockwood is shocked when she finds a young woman tucked away behind the litter bins in Newcastle Central Station. DCI Alan Johnson and Sergeant Andrews quickly set up an investigation.They soon learn that this is only the first case of its kind, when another stabbing takes place on the … place on the Newcastle quayside. Naturally, Agnes is keen to help with the investigation.
DCI Johnson insists that she stays away from the case, but Agnes has never been a woman to be put off so easily.
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Vengeance on Tyneside is the third book in the ‘Agnes Lockwood Mysteries’ written by Eileen Thornton. I’ve previously read the first two installments in this cozy series and was excited to devour this third one during the last few days. The books revolve around Agnes, a ~50ish widow with two grown sons, who has moved back to a place she once lived in years ago. In the past two books she had a flirtatious relationship with a detective on the police force, but in this one, they’ve officially become a couple. The only problem… Agnes feels an obligation to meddle, and she’s often the one to stumble upon a body in the oddest of places. It makes for a good read!
In Vengeance, she’s walking near the river when a faint voice calls out for help. By the time Agnes calls for an ambulance, the woman is too injured to further help. Agnes tries to let the situation go, and she takes a room in a hotel that she has been frequently living in while looking for a new flat to buy. It’s then she realizes some of the employees at the hotel might be involved in the murders. Two more people are killed, and a third is seriously injured. Who is behind these awful killings? And what are they trying to accomplish? Agnes works with her taxi cab driver to travel all around town collecting clues and following the police, including her detective boyfriend, Alan.
Alan tries to be understanding, but he just wants her to stop interfering in his case, especially when the Superintendent wants a quick arrest. Agnes believes they’ve arrested the wrong guy and sets out to prove it. Unfortunately, it kills much of the romance between her and Alan and almost drives them apart. By interviewing hotel employees, some passersby and a few friends of the victim, Agnes begins to piece together the gravity of the situation but puts herself in danger. Luckily, someone comes to her rescue before she ends up the final victim. I would never stay in that hotel if I valued my life. Phew, she is one lucky dame when it comes to visiting that storage room. Ouch!
Thornton has created quite an elaborate protagonist. She could match Poirot and Marple with her eccentricities, and there are moments I’m dumbfounded at how she gets away with getting so involved in a murder investigation. At the same time, it creates such clever tension, I enjoy all the impacts she creates with her insinuations and prying ways. I’m not confident this police force would solve the crimes without her help. Thornton’s simple but direct dialog and personalities find fun ways to clash, leaving readers shaking their head at all the antics. While it’s not outwardly funny / sarcastic, sometimes it comes across that way purely by body language or what isn’t being said between Agnes and whomever she’s chatting to. It’s a great technique from this savvy writer.
The books are easy to read… easily devoured in 3 hours. I split it in two sessions, but I could’ve quickly and happily read through it all at once. Agnes is clearly pictured–Thornton ensures we know who she is and what she is capable of. While she has minimal cohorts, the few who do help always make for good entertainment and action. We haven’t met her family yet, and I’m hoping in the future, Thornton throws us a visit or two to see if anyone can possibly put Agnes in her place. So far, she gets away with everything… but every hero needs an antagonist. I’m dying to meet Agnes’s future friendly foe!
Kudos to Thornton for delivering another fine installment in the series. It’s light reading, more about the process a nosy woman goes through to solve a crime with minimal access to technology and evidence. She relies on her intuition and old-fashioned techniques to break a case. I like those kinds of mysteries, and I recommend this one to anyone else who does too.
In this review I will not say much about the story. Agnes is Agnes, and as usual she is in the midst of a murderous person’s activities. Alan is his usual self, a cop through and through, and protective of Agnes. The rest of the story you will have to read in order to understand why I give it five stars. The story line is very well drawn. The characters are presented with enough flesh to make them seem real. The mesh of the story with characters is brilliantly done as always in Eileen Thornton’s books. What more could you ask for. And easy five star rating.
Agnes Lockwood has a definite tendency to run across dead bodies! And being an amature sleuth she insists on helping solve the cases-despite her her DCI boyfriend, Alan Johnson, not wanting her to. Of course she is usually the one who can actually think out of the box!
This is a very convoluted case involving a couple of deaths. The police think they know who it is–Agnes thinks they are wrong and proceeds to investigate on her own. Which causes problems with said boyfriend!!
Then Agnes herself is caught by the killer—
Lots of twists and turns –you will probably not guess who the real killer is until it is revealed!
This is a clean murder mystery series with lovable characters!! It reads fast-mainly because I doubt you will put it down until the end!
5 Star review Vengeance on Tyneside (Agnes Lockwood Mysteries #3) by Eileen Thornton
Audio Review:
Both the author Eileen Thornton and narrator Deborah Balm are relatively new to me. As with the previous book I listened to in this series, I was riveted from start to finish.
Agnes Lockwood finds herself with yet another dead body in front of her.
Agnes reminds my of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote, on om my favourite series in fact, except of course she is British. The narrator really brought this book to life for me and did a good job keeping me entertained. This was a a book filled with intrigue and suspense which kept me riveted as I listened to this story. The added bonus of the romance between