Dry Bones

December 4, 2017
In British author Spencer’s entertaining follow-up to 2017’s The Shivering Turn, Jennie Redhead, a PI with a competent upper second-class degree in English literature from Oxford University and a proficiency in karate, takes on as a client her long-time friend Charlie Swift, the greatly respected bursar of Oxford’s St. Luke’s College. The bodies of two men have been found walled up in an ancient, unused air vent in the basement of St. Luke’s. Charlie, for reasons of his own, has had the bodies removed to the university’s medical department, where the examiners determine that both men were in their mid-20s or 30s, and that they were interred at different times. Charlie asks Jennie to discover their identities before he reports the incident to the police. The novel braids together three strands: Jennie’s investigations in 1974 and chapters set in 1916 and 1943 that follow the lives and deaths of the two victims. Spencer writes with verve and humor while delivering a satisfying mystery plot and some insight into the workings of a great university.

January 1, 2018

When Jennie Redhead's best friend Sir Charles Swift, bursar of St. Luke's College at Oxford, asks her to investigate the two bodies found interred in the cellar, she suspects he knows more than he's telling. After all, he hired a private investigator before he notified the police. And, Charles requests the names of the dead men. He doesn't ask her to find the killer. How does the new murder in 1974 tie to the past? The flashbacks to the war years of 1914 and 1939 introduce the victims and acquaintances, tragic stories Jennie uncovers as she questions the head porters, silent witnesses to student activities at the college. There's a strong sense of time and place evoking the college atmosphere during wartime. However, with the alternating time periods and shifts in points of view, this second Jennie Redhead mystery (following The Shivering Turn) is sometimes difficult to follow. The perpetrators are the only characters who are sympathetic. VERDICT Readers of Charles Todd's historical mysteries or crime novels set in academia may appreciate the ambience.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Following the success of her Woodend and Paniatowski novels, the multitalented Spencer introduces a new series starring Jennie Redhead, whose name and hair match. Jennie is a curious, clever woman who, despite her working-class background, won a place at Oxford and went on to join the police. But that didn't work out when she blew the whistle on her boss, so she resigned and set up her own detective agency. Her latest case involves the disappearance of teenager Linda Corbet, whose mother is sure she is dead and whose father claims she's run away. At first, Jennie takes the case lightly, suspecting that Mr. Corbet is right, since hundreds of young women run away from home every year. But, as the case progresses, Jennie finds herself drawn in. What could have happened to a young woman who by all accounts was smart, popular, and hard-working, and why would she have left home when she was so loved by her parents? Spencer scores another top-notch hit with this new series, which features her usual skillful writing, clever plotting, and intriguing characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)