Read Requiem Mass (1999)

Online Book

Author

Elizabeth Corley

Genre

Fiction

Series

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Fenwick

Rating

3.67 of 5 Votes: 3

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ISBN

0747261067 (ISBN13: 9780747261063)

Language

English

Publisher

headline

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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Requiem Mass (1999) - Plot & Excerpts

We meet DCI Andrew Fenwick who is back to work following the break up of his marriage under awful circumstances. He is trying to manage his family on his own with the help of his mother when he goes back to work and is given the mundane task of desk duty. Before long he moves on to a new case which takes him away from the desk and straight into the firing line. It involves five school friends who twenty years earlier were on a school trip when tragedy struck and one of those girls was killed in a freak accident. He has the help of WDC Louise Nightingale and Cooper who both prove to be valuable assets to the case. When Fenwick, Nightingale and Cooper realise that the women involved are now on a hit list they have to race against time to try and track down the man responsible before all of these women become victims. Will they manage to do it or will Fenwick's next call be a to attend a new murder scene? I enjoyed this book and felt that I got to know the characters Fenwick along with his two officers working on the case with him, Nightingale and Cooper. However if I am honest I struggled a couple of times where the book got quite detailed (hence the 4 star, although if I could it would have been 4.5 out of 5) but it didn't deter me and I finished the book with a sense of satisfaction. Corley is very detailed in her descriptions of crime scened which both thrilled and scared me in equal measures. I am a fan of crime authors that use the same characters and create a series so I am pleases I have found a new author. I already have the next Corley/Fenwick book lined up which I have already started.

I was intrigued by the abstract when I first picked up this book. It promised an intricate mystery entwined in secrets. I was disappointed to find it slow-paced, dragged out, and lacking suspense. At points I even considered moving onto another book. The culprit is showcased from the start, there's no real mystery to how he commits his crimes, and the overarching secret connecting everything is rather bland. In fact, the entire book is told in a bland fashion. Perhaps it was going for a realistic feel. For me, it was a little too realistic. Pages and pages were dedicated to mundane procedural activities and at least a dozen times, the case seems to come to a standstill with no progress. It felt like the book came to a standstill too!

What do You think about Requiem Mass (1999)?

This is the first book in the DCI Andrew Fenwick series and details some pretty explicit and gory murders. The clues lead back to a group of schoolgirls and a sudden death 20 years before and Fenwick is pitted against a seemingly invincible and ruthless perpetrator. If you can suspend your disbelief over the occasional copper's hunch, coincidence, lucky break, etc, this is a very good read, gripping and interesting right to the end with its twist in the tale. One strange point. Elizabeth Corley, for me, writes men better than she writes women who are often vaguely sketched in the book while the men are much more realistic.
—Ellen