After a twenty-year absence, Merlyn Cantelo returns to Leeds to attend his late aunt Clarissa?s funeral. Far from being welcomed back into the fold of his large and quarrelsome family, he is viewed by many with suspicion and distrust ? especially since his timely reappearance has thwarted the prospect of a tidy inheritance. However, all is more complex than it seems. The teenage Merlyn only fled his home at the vehement insistence of his sometimes clairvoyant aunt, who foresaw for him a life blighted by violence and death. Moreover, the root of this danger supposedly lies somewhere within the family? Merlyn knows that if he is to discover whether his aunt?s fears were justified, he must come to terms with his tragic past ? and delve into the murky history of the Cantelo family.
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The organist was playing yet another slow, amorphous piece, and for the mourners who had taken their pews early, enough was becoming enough. Read the first page
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The organist was playing yet another slow, amorphous piece, and for the mourners who had taken their pews early, enough was becoming enough. Read the first page
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By Jane Baker
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Even without reading a biography of the author, Robert Barnard, one would immediately know that this is the writing of an educated person. Old-fashioned expressions abound in this novel - Barnard writes with an art which is almost lost in current fiction. So very dryly funny in parts that one laughs out loud. The Cantelos are portrayed as an eccentric family to which Merlyn Docherty-Cantelo returns from India - yet it's not India, it's Belgium, but no matter, everyone is confused. But they've always been confused, that is clear, especially Aunt Clarissa who, though dead, has a star role. It is really on the level of farce and is very enjoyable for that. Yet Barnard is a winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger Award. I didn't find this a very masterful novel of the genre. It made me laugh but it didn't grip me.
By MeMyself
Format:Paperback
I expected more from this novel, struggling to find any great excitement in the storyline I finished the book asking; `What was that all about?'
Natives of Leeds would probably get more out of the story, local knowledge providing them with a visual backdrop that the author does not.
The large cast was confusing but the drawn family tree helped, rather than having their character traits explained I would prefer being shown. These characters don't jump to conclusions they plummet into mind-boggling assumptions, leaving the question: `Where did that come from?'
I usually like the writing style Barnard seems to be attempting but his jerky, jumpy method was annoying. After this criticism I still intend to try again with this author because there is also lots to appreciate, witty turns of phrase, interesting offbeat characters and acute social observations.
Editing of this book appears to have been omitted and it contains a number of mistakes including the main character being wrongly named on the book jacket and Amazon synopsis- his name was Docherty not Cantelo.
Natives of Leeds would probably get more out of the story, local knowledge providing them with a visual backdrop that the author does not.
The large cast was confusing but the drawn family tree helped, rather than having their character traits explained I would prefer being shown. These characters don't jump to conclusions they plummet into mind-boggling assumptions, leaving the question: `Where did that come from?'
I usually like the writing style Barnard seems to be attempting but his jerky, jumpy method was annoying. After this criticism I still intend to try again with this author because there is also lots to appreciate, witty turns of phrase, interesting offbeat characters and acute social observations.
Editing of this book appears to have been omitted and it contains a number of mistakes including the main character being wrongly named on the book jacket and Amazon synopsis- his name was Docherty not Cantelo.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By J. Chippindale
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Robert Barnard, currently lives with his wife in Yorkshire. He was born in Essex on 23 November, 1936. Educated at the Royal Grammar School in Colchester and at Balliol College, Oxford, taking his Ph.D. from the University of Bergen, Norway, in 1972, he spent many years as a distinguished academic while establishing himself as one of today's most distinguished crime writers. His fascination with the pure detective story is evident in his many novels.
Merlyn Cantelo returns to his home town of Leeds. He has come back to the city to claim the house of a late aunt. An aunt, who adopted him after a tormented early childhood. His late aunt had a `gift.' She was known as a medium or as she preferred to be called a clairvoyant. She had predicted that there would be violence in Merlyn's future life and had suggested to him that he should live abroad with her distant family in Italy.
Now Merlyn has returned to Leeds, a place that has both good and bad memories for him. Now that he is back is he about to find out the real truth about his aunt's prediction . . .
Merlyn Cantelo returns to his home town of Leeds. He has come back to the city to claim the house of a late aunt. An aunt, who adopted him after a tormented early childhood. His late aunt had a `gift.' She was known as a medium or as she preferred to be called a clairvoyant. She had predicted that there would be violence in Merlyn's future life and had suggested to him that he should live abroad with her distant family in Italy.
Now Merlyn has returned to Leeds, a place that has both good and bad memories for him. Now that he is back is he about to find out the real truth about his aunt's prediction . . .
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