William Brodrick

This did a good (and surprising) job of bringing to a close the mystery of who really killed the man for whose murder Benson went to prison. I found the other thread (the Lynwoods' trial) less interesting. Although there were some fantastic courtroom scenes, the actual solution to why the Lynwoods had acted as they did came a bit out of left field. I also felt the pacing of the book generally was off. It seemed to come to a bit of a disappointing end and then there were various twists and turns and eventually it petered out.… (més)

When Elizabeth Glendinning, QC, unexpectedly dies, her one-time colleague and now monk Father Anselm receives a key with instructions from her to help fulfill one last task on her behalf. Elizabeth’s son, Nick, a physician, is also given instructions from his mother, which apparently involve searching for a missing man who could help to bring down another man whom Elizabeth defended successfully years before but who she knew to be guilty. As the monk and the doctor follow the leads, the story becomes murkier and murkier, not to mention murderous…. Apparently this is the second novel in a series featuring Father Anselm, but I haven’t seen the earlier book. That said, Father Anselm is a very thoughtful, well-drawn character and his willingness to learn from others and to find ways to help them is quite touching. Unfortunately, I found that there were a few too many characters in this story, each one of whom had deep, complex histories that all needed to be thoroughly uncovered. As a result, there’s a good half-dozen individuals who require a great deal of the reader’s attention to understand, and that just felt like a few too many for me, even though all the disparate threads do come together in the end. I enjoyed the writing style and the British setting, I just felt a bit exhausted by the time I was done reading. Still, I may search out more from this author in the future.… (més)