A Grave Coffin [Paperback]

While struggling with that distasteful inquest, John works an even more repugnant case. Someone is viciously murdering schoolboys whose link is each one has a parent connected to the police. Unlike the former case that requires him to go at it alone, John uses his full staff of experts as well as his actress-wife to search for a deadly killer.

The twentieth John Coffin tale retains all the freshness of one of the best English police procedural series on the market today. The story line contains two sub-plots that stretch the hero beyond his personal endurance limit. Long time fans will relish John's inquiries into corruption as well as welcome old friends working to stop a brutal killing machine. New readers will gain insight into the series not only from this well written tale, but also from Gwendolyn Butler's insightful brief notes that provide background material.

Harriet Klausner

COFFIN is filled with scattered literary illusions for which a high school knowledge of English should provide adequate background, including references to Oxford and Lewis Carroll and black holes as well as drugs and Sherlock Holmes.

The setting for COFFIN is not as "British" as that found in books by P.D. James or Minette Walters where one can expect minute geographic details. In fact, the background for COFFIN puts me in mind of the Dalziel and Pascoe series--vaguly familiar but you would not be able to find it on a 7.5" map.

The English in COFFIN is British and Butler has a wry sense of humor, but I enjoy the British sense of humor and am familiar with their terminology so I had no problem. If you know what buggery is you won't either. In fact, the strength of Butler's writing lies in the ironic thoughts of her lead character Coffin (and his dog Augustus, i.e. Gus) for whom he thinks.

The plot of A GRAVE COFFIN involves two tangentially related cases. The first case involves the manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, in this instance not illegal drugs for a change but facsimiles of patented drugs that not only rip-off the patent holders but endanger the consumer. The second tale is grisley as it involves the sexual abuse, mutilation and deaths of four boys around age 10.

Butler does a good job of laying out her crimes, leading her detectives onward with clues, and tying up most of the loose ends. Although she is dealing with terrible murders, she does not dwell on the graphic aspects any more than necessary to futher her storyline. In other words, her descriptions of the mutilated corpses are not sensational.

Her cops engage in mostly realistic police work (not an impulsive lone dog in the bunch) although Butler finesses the detailed forensics explanations. Her focus is on the main characters and the behaviour and motivations of suspects. She uses the backdrop of the domestic life of Inspector Coffin and his actress wife Stella and their little Peke Gus. If you enjoy the company of dogs you might enjoy Dectective Coffin and his fluffy white canine companion who manages to become very dirty at times.

This was my first Inspector Coffin mystery and I found it easy to read without having read the earlier books in Butler's series. I'll read others but the series won't go to the top of my list, not because Butler isn't good but because I have so much else to read. I'm still trying to work my way though Dalziel and Pascoe and Janet Evanovich's 1-2-3-4-5-6 series. I bought the hard cover of A GRAVE COFFIN but you might wait and buy the paperback. This is exactly the kind of book to take on a 6-7 hour flight and toss out at the end of your journey.