- Hardcover: 344 pages
- Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print edition edition (1 July 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843958481
- ISBN-13: 978-1843958482
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Guardian, 08/01/05
Keating is one of the uncontested doyens of British mystery fiction. Elegant, urbane and clever; Agatha Christie would have approved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
In her most traumatic case yet, Harriet Martens finds herself placed in grave danger at the hands of a deft and cunning poisoner. Whilst relaxing with her husband at the Majestic pool one hot August Bank Holiday, Harriet does not expect the refreshing glass of Campari soda at her side to conceal a deadly drug. When she awakes from a doze she is no longer by the water, but in a hospital bed recovering from a near fatal dose of Aconitine. As Harriet makes her slow recovery, she tries to come to terms with the terrible fact that someone wanted to kill her. Even more difficult for her to face is the knowledge that she must find the person responsible, if anything for her own peace of mind. But no sooner has she mustered enough energy to begin making tentative enquiries and initial investigations, than the poisoner strikes again. And this time he is successful...Will Harriet have the strength of mind and body to find the murderer before he finds another victim and before the local population begin to panic? As the murderer's actions become more evident and clues begin to float to the surface, she must put her personal trauma as far behind her as possible, and prepare to reveal the horr
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Audio Cassette
This book is garbage and I very much regret the nine-odd hours I wasted listening to it. The version I got was packaged as a BBC Audio Book. Did no-one at the Corporation actually read it before they wasted money on this recording?
The dialogue is awful in so many ways: dull, meandering, repetitive, unconvincing, prissy, banal, cliched and most of all - horribly dated; so much so that after a chapter or two I checked the copyright to see when it had been written - I was astonished to see it was 2004, I'd expected to see something closer to 1954. After a while I began to wonder if this title was watered-down fiction aimed at an elderly audience who couldn't digest anything stronger, but this theory was blown out of the water by a bizarre Tourette's-style swearing fit the heroine has half-way through.
The plotting is also contrived and ill-conceived, the author making use of a string of pathetic coincidences to keep things moving. Reviewers of other of Keating's books have commented on his lack of attention to police procedures, but for 95% of the book he barely acknowledges that there are procedures; police officers breeze in and out doing whatever they please, whenever they like. Not for a moment do you feel you are living in the real world.
The only bright spot was the unmasking of the main villain, a denouement so appalling bad that it made me laugh out loud. Imagine a Sherlock Holmes short story where out of the blue, and for no particular reason, the murderer turns out to be a knife-wielding clown, riding a unicycle, who has been present at every murder, but that no-one really took any notice of; apart from our heroine, in this case, who conveniently recovers her memory of him 10 seconds before he makes his appearance. Ludicrous.
The dialogue is awful in so many ways: dull, meandering, repetitive, unconvincing, prissy, banal, cliched and most of all - horribly dated; so much so that after a chapter or two I checked the copyright to see when it had been written - I was astonished to see it was 2004, I'd expected to see something closer to 1954. After a while I began to wonder if this title was watered-down fiction aimed at an elderly audience who couldn't digest anything stronger, but this theory was blown out of the water by a bizarre Tourette's-style swearing fit the heroine has half-way through.
The plotting is also contrived and ill-conceived, the author making use of a string of pathetic coincidences to keep things moving. Reviewers of other of Keating's books have commented on his lack of attention to police procedures, but for 95% of the book he barely acknowledges that there are procedures; police officers breeze in and out doing whatever they please, whenever they like. Not for a moment do you feel you are living in the real world.
The only bright spot was the unmasking of the main villain, a denouement so appalling bad that it made me laugh out loud. Imagine a Sherlock Holmes short story where out of the blue, and for no particular reason, the murderer turns out to be a knife-wielding clown, riding a unicycle, who has been present at every murder, but that no-one really took any notice of; apart from our heroine, in this case, who conveniently recovers her memory of him 10 seconds before he makes his appearance. Ludicrous.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
The title says it all.
23 Dec 2007
Format:Paperback
H R F Keating is a much-respected English writer, a champion for and skilled practitioner in detective fiction since the early 1960s. Most famous for his Inspector Ghote novels, he here adds another to a more recent series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Harriet Martens. It is Harriet Martens herself who is at death's door. She is a recovering victim of a serial poisoner who kills by slipping aconitine into his victims' drinks. Her recovery is slow and difficult but her determination to identify the killer is strong.
Keating pays generous homage to Dame Agatha Christie, who he knew personally, and attributes to her a novel she did not write, which gets its title from a line from Keats `Ode to Melancholy' - neither twist Wolfsbane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine.
The particular skill that I appreciate in Keating's novels is what I call his pacing. He allows plenty of time for "warming up" before slipping into top speed. Being a detective fiction reader who tends to forget what I read in the last chapter, I find Keating's books to be more "reader-friendly" than most.
Keating pays generous homage to Dame Agatha Christie, who he knew personally, and attributes to her a novel she did not write, which gets its title from a line from Keats `Ode to Melancholy' - neither twist Wolfsbane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine.
The particular skill that I appreciate in Keating's novels is what I call his pacing. He allows plenty of time for "warming up" before slipping into top speed. Being a detective fiction reader who tends to forget what I read in the last chapter, I find Keating's books to be more "reader-friendly" than most.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Boring!!!
30 April 2007
Format:Hardcover
I don't know, I just found this book to be incredibly dull, and the ending weak. Maybe the writer was trying to create an Agatha Christie feel but, at least in my view, he failed miserably. One good thing was that I checked the book out of the library, so I did not waste anything other than time.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Be careful what you drink.
2 May 2005
Format:Hardcover
Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens of Greater Birchester Police is lounging near a pool on a hot August afternoon, sipping a Campari soda, when she suddenly experiences strange and violent symptoms. Harriet is fortunate; the quick action of her husband, John, and the skills of an expert doctor bring her through what could easily have been a fatal attack. It seems that an unknown assailant slipped a poison called aconitine into Harriet's drink. In H. R. F. Keating's new mystery, "A Detective at Death's Door," other poisoning victims follow, and they are not as lucky as Harriet.
Harriet's recuperation is slow. She is ordered to stay at home for three months, lest she suffer a relapse. However, she cannot lie still while a killer is still at large. She is determined to assist DS Pat Murphy, the Senior Investigating Officer on the case, even if it means dragging herself out of her sickbed. And that is exactly what Harriet does, much to the consternation of her worried husband.
"A Detective at Death's Door" is a breezy and very funny mystery featuring a detective who is irrepressible, curious, and impulsive. Harriet Martens is a determined woman with a vivid imagination. She doesn't suffer fools gladly, but she is willing to make a fool out of herself if it means finding the murderer who tried to kill her. Keating's dialogue is droll, and this book features a whole array of delightfully eccentric British characters. I enjoyed Miss Earwaker, a former teacher and plant expert nearing eighty who takes Harriet on an expedition to find the source of monkshood, the plant from which aconitine is derived. Another memorable character is Harriet's next-door neighbor, Mrs. Pickstock, an extremely solicitous individual who tries to keep Harriet in bed and offers Harriet tasteless organic concoctions to speed her recovery.
Keating keeps the proceedings moving along briskly, and although the story's resolution is not entirely logical, that is almost beside the point. Fans of British police procedurals will be diverted by this entertaining and lighthearted mystery.
Harriet's recuperation is slow. She is ordered to stay at home for three months, lest she suffer a relapse. However, she cannot lie still while a killer is still at large. She is determined to assist DS Pat Murphy, the Senior Investigating Officer on the case, even if it means dragging herself out of her sickbed. And that is exactly what Harriet does, much to the consternation of her worried husband.
"A Detective at Death's Door" is a breezy and very funny mystery featuring a detective who is irrepressible, curious, and impulsive. Harriet Martens is a determined woman with a vivid imagination. She doesn't suffer fools gladly, but she is willing to make a fool out of herself if it means finding the murderer who tried to kill her. Keating's dialogue is droll, and this book features a whole array of delightfully eccentric British characters. I enjoyed Miss Earwaker, a former teacher and plant expert nearing eighty who takes Harriet on an expedition to find the source of monkshood, the plant from which aconitine is derived. Another memorable character is Harriet's next-door neighbor, Mrs. Pickstock, an extremely solicitous individual who tries to keep Harriet in bed and offers Harriet tasteless organic concoctions to speed her recovery.
Keating keeps the proceedings moving along briskly, and although the story's resolution is not entirely logical, that is almost beside the point. Fans of British police procedurals will be diverted by this entertaining and lighthearted mystery.
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