Published by Joffe
Books,
9 July 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-83526696-0 (PB)
Originally
Published 1 April 2015 as
Green and Pleasant Land.This is the sixth book in Judith Cutlers’ Fran Harman series.
Recently retired as a chief superintendent and married to her old boss ACC Mark
Turner, the two return from their honeymoon and are invited to lead a team investigating
a cold case involving the disappearance of a glamourous footballer’s wife and
her four-year-old son. Twenty years ago, Natalie Forman’s abandoned car containing
the body of her baby son still strapped in his car seat was found by a passerby.
The initial investigation was seriously hampered by extreme weather conditions which
blanketed the whole area in snow for several weeks. It was assumed that Natalie
must have headed off into the forest with her oldest son and became lost, but
their bodies were never found.
From the moment they arrive, Fran
and Mark are made aware that they are not welcome. The officer who requested
their participation has been forced into retirement and no one from the police,
the family or the public seems to want to assist the pair in their
investigation and at times are openly hostile. The more determined the locals
appear to want to keep the past buried, the more resolute Fran and Mark become
in their search of the truth of what really happened on that fateful night.
The unusual, intriguing plot that continually
twists and turns piling on problem after problem keeps the reader guessing until
the final pages. The characters are well-drawn, and the reader is never sure if
the loyalty of even the small team assigned to help with Fran and Mark’s
investigation can be relied upon.
An excellent read which I can wholeheartedly
recommend.
------
Reviewer:
Judith Cranswick
Judith Cutler was born in the Black Country,
just outside Birmingham, later moving to the Birmingham suburb of Harborne.
Judith started writing while she was at the then Oldbury Grammar School,
winning the Critical Quarterly Short Story prize with the second story she
wrote. She subsequently read English at university. It was an attack of
chickenpox caught from her son that kick-started her writing career. One way of
dealing with the itch was to hold a pencil in one hand, a block of paper in the
other - and so she wrote her first novel. This eventually appeared in a
much-revised version as
Coming Alive, published by Severn House. Judith
has eight series. The first two featured amateur sleuth Sophie Rivers (10
books) and Detective Sergeant Kate Power (6 Books). Then came Josie Wells, a
middle-aged woman with a quick tongue, and a love of good food, there are two
books
, The Food Detective and
The Chinese Takeout. The Lina Townsend
books are set in the world of antiques and there are seven books in this
series. There are three books featuring Tobias Campion set in the Regency
period, and her series featuring Chief Superintendent Fran Harman (6 books),
and Jodie Welsh, Rector’s wife and amateur sleuth. Her more recently a series
feature a head teacher Jane Cowan (3 books). Judith has also written three
standalone’s
Staging Death,
Scar Tissue, and Death In Elysium. Her new
series
is set in Victorian times featuring Matthew Rowsley.
Death’s Long Shadow
is the third book in this series.
http://www.judithcutler.com
Judith
Cranswick
was born and brought up
in Norwich. Apart from writing, Judith’s great passions are travel and history.
Both have influenced her two series of mystery novels. Tour Manager, Fiona
Mason takes coach parties throughout Europe, and historian Aunt Jessica is the
guest lecturer accompanying tour groups visiting more exotic destinations aided
by her nephew Harry. Her published novels also include several award-winning
standalone psychological thrillers. She wrote her first novel (now languishing
in the back of a drawer somewhere) when her two children were toddlers, but
there was little time for writing when she returned to her teaching career. Now
retired, she is able to indulge her love of writing and has begun a life of
crime! ‘Writers are told to write what they know about, but I can assure you,
I've never committed a murder. I'm an ex-convent school headmistress for
goodness sake!’ Her most recent book is Passage
to Greenland
http://judithcranswick.co.uk/
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