Skeleton at the Feast (A&B Crime) [Paperback]

Author Patricia Hall balances the Oxford mystery with the case of a 13-year old girl who was raped and beaten back in Yorkshire. Reporter, and Thackeray's girlfriend Laura serves as a bridge, spending weekends in Oxford with Thackeray and working on both cases.

Virtually all of Hall's male characters are damaged, trying to make a life for themselves despite the loss of so much. Thackeray has never recovered from his years at Oxford, and now must relive that terrible time and the cover-up that he has never forgotten. His sergeant, Kevin Mower, is slowly self-destructing out of grief for the loss of his love. Strong women, Laura, her grandmother, and DC Val Ridley provide the strength to keep the males moving.

Hall's writing is vivid and American readers are likely to enjoy her judicious use of Yorkshire dialect. The mysteries themselves are fairly anti-climactic, however. In particular, the the Oxford murders seem a little too disconnected. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop--but it never did. Likewise the Yorkshire mystery was quickly resolved once Thackeray returned to the job--so quickly that I wondered why it took so long in the first place. SKELETON AT THE FEAST is interesting and thought provoking, but needs a bit of sharpening to be a really compelling mystery.

The Master of the college, which happens to be Michael's alma mater, wants his former pupil to investigate the sudden disappearance of Professor Mark Harrison. The professor vanished with his girlfriend, but left behind a wife under psychiatric care, a son dead from a drug overdose, and a bitter daughter. Much to Michael's surprise, his investigation leads to scandals and crimes that the college would prefer never see the light of day.

Patricia Hall's ongoing series starring Michael Thackery and his girlfriend Laura Ackray continues to be one of the better British police procedurals on the market today. SKELETON AT THE FEAST is a complex, multi-layered mystery that shows how ugly the academic world can turn. The romance between Michael and Laurie is progressing and fans of the series will take much pleasure in this novel and want to read the next book in this delightful series

Harriet Klausner

What makes "Skeleton at the Feast" such great reading is that we get to know a little bit more about DCI Michael Thackery and the past that haunts him and that helped shape him. We also get to see how much policing in England seems to have become a little bit less the pursuit of law and order, and more about clearance rates and numbers. And while the Oxford events that are related in "Skeleton at the Feast" make for compelling reading, what makes this mystery novel doubly interesting is that Patricia Hall has juxtaposed what occurs in Oxford with a case of violent assault that has taken place in Bradfield which Thackeray's sidekicks DS Mower and DC Ridley have to cope with under the command of the new acting head, the ambitious DI Jackie Bairstow, who is after Thackeray's job. How Hall manages to juxtapose these two different subplots, and yet makes everything seem so seamless, is absolutely brilliant.

The greatest charm about this series (and book) is that Patricia Hall has created a group of characters whose well-being we have come to care about. With each new mystery novel we learn a little more of each character and empathise with the ups and downs in their lives. The Yorkshire Mystery is a wonderfully absorbing series, and "Skeleton at the Feast" fits in superbly.