- Hardcover: 214 pages
- Publisher: Prentice Hall & IBD (1 Nov 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0684197286
- ISBN-13: 978-0684197289
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16 x 2.5 cm
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Review
The death of his wife in childbirth sends unemployed Dermot Heenan into such a tailspin - after a day muttering about how he's been justly punished, he retreats to silence and his bed - that his children are afraid he'll be institutionalized and they'll be parceled out to the tender mercies of Her Majesty's government. So the two eldest, Annie and Matthew, plot to keep Dermot's decline from the world by taking on the management of the house, their two younger brothers, and their incoherent father. All goes surprisingly well until Dermot's brassy ex-lover Carmen O'Keefe (no wonder he was repentant, reflects Matthew) comes around looking for him. After an initial skirmish, Matthew and Annie tell Carmen that Dermot doesn't want anything to do with her; but this tactic, so successful at first, doesn't prevent Carmen from turning up again in their garden, dead. The children have no energy to wonder whodunit; instead, they feverishly hide her body, scan the Leeds newspapers for headlines that never come, and pray that they've heard the last of Carmen - never suspecting that her mother-in-law, Connie, will soon follow her steps to their door. Connie's soothing advent, which at first seems to let all the tension out of the Heenans' story, ends by provoking as many surprises as you'd expect from the versatile Barnard (A Hovering of Vultures, 1993) in this memorably off-kilter tale. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The death of Mary was not unexpected. What was unexpected was that this would drive her husband over the brink into madness. As Carmen O'Keefe starts to ask questions, his children wonder whether they have penetrated the circumstances behind their father's madness. Especially when they find a body.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
The Best
19 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback
I have read all Robert Barnard's books, many of them more than once.
(Barnard is one of the few mystery writers who repays re-reading.)
And of them all, this remains my favorite.
It is a claustrophobic, Dickensian tale of children thrust harshly into being the "adults" of the family because the adults are gone--literally or psychologically.
(This is the ever-present theme in Dickens: the adults act like children, so the children have to act like adults.)
The scene with the little boy driving--hardly tall enough to reach the car-pedals--is the stuff of nightmares and enormous relief.
This is a brilliant book in almost every respect: brilliant novel as well as brilliant mystery.
(Barnard is one of the few mystery writers who repays re-reading.)
And of them all, this remains my favorite.
It is a claustrophobic, Dickensian tale of children thrust harshly into being the "adults" of the family because the adults are gone--literally or psychologically.
(This is the ever-present theme in Dickens: the adults act like children, so the children have to act like adults.)
The scene with the little boy driving--hardly tall enough to reach the car-pedals--is the stuff of nightmares and enormous relief.
This is a brilliant book in almost every respect: brilliant novel as well as brilliant mystery.
Well crafted, subtle mystery
19 April 2010
Format:Paperback
Matthew and Annie, ages 13 and 11 respectively, are abruptly thrust into adulthood when their mother dies in childbirth and their father breaks down. Wanting to keep their family together, Matthew and Annie care for their two younger siblings and do their best to decipher and work the adult world toward their goal of keeping the four siblings together in their house.
Incoherent murmurings of their father lead them to believe he had been having an affair with a housewife with a reputation from their town. They become cautious when she starts nosing around the house seeking their father. When Matthew and Annie find her body in the yard, they confer and decide to bury her to prevent the inevitable attention from authorities an investigation into her murder would entail.
The whodunnit is wondering who, of the cast of adult around the kids, did the deed. Robert Barnard is a wonderful writer who is not afraid of leaving you with a few things to wonder about. This book is no longer in print, but is available as a used book and is well worth a little digging for an unusually good read.
Incoherent murmurings of their father lead them to believe he had been having an affair with a housewife with a reputation from their town. They become cautious when she starts nosing around the house seeking their father. When Matthew and Annie find her body in the yard, they confer and decide to bury her to prevent the inevitable attention from authorities an investigation into her murder would entail.
The whodunnit is wondering who, of the cast of adult around the kids, did the deed. Robert Barnard is a wonderful writer who is not afraid of leaving you with a few things to wonder about. This book is no longer in print, but is available as a used book and is well worth a little digging for an unusually good read.
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