has a semicolon in it. And I needed some decent reviews.
CHAPTER NINE
Amazon.co.uk
A Most Civilised Murder
(#2 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Dull, dull, dull 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
There are varying grades of crime fiction. At the top are the genuinely exciting and realistic accounts of the investigation of a contemporary murder. Below these are the many competently written, but slightly out-of-date novels that make up the bulk of the police procedurals. Atthe bottom of the heap are all books featuring amateur detectives and quilt-makers. Sadly this book fails to live up to even the last of these. The police in Buckfordshire clearly follow procedures known only to them and Lord Peter Whimsy. I have to concede that this book was written some time ago, but Sgt Fairfax does not seem to have moved beyond smoking a pipe in his study as his main method of investigation; and surely even then the police must have had access to some sort of computerised records? You get the impression that Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) popped into a police station for ten minutes in the late sixties, but has not done much research in the meantime. This is lazy writing by a lazy writer. It is difficult to know why anyone would buy these books when they might be buying Peter James, Chris Ewan or MR Hall. One star is generous.
Fairfax’s Way
(#4 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Dreadful 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
If you enjoy a good detective story, don’t bother with this one. It sucks. Fielding tried to pension Fairfax off in the first book in this series. Sadly, he did notsucceed. The lugubrious Sergeant kept his job and so has been able to bore us through a dozen or so sequels. He is probably my least favourite character in any form of crime fiction – make that any form of fiction, full stop. Not that the book is exactly interesting even when Fairfax is out of the picture for a bit. (Inevitably he gets taken off the case at one point, allowing him to go off and do a bit of amateur detection. Yawn.) Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) waxes lyrical about the Buckfordshire countryside for whole pages at a time. I could listen to him for hours going on about the lesser spotted wagtail’s plaintive call. Not. Then there are the lectures on Norman architecture, ponderously delivered by Fairfax to whichever unfortunate villain he’s questioning. It’s amazing they don’t break down and confess in case he starts on Early English. I’ve rarely come across such a slow plot. Even the squad cars seem to travel around at 20 mph. Proust (to whom there is a knowing nod in the title – God knows why) is a laugh a minute compared to this guy. I won’t give the storyline away. Let’s just say if you read page 17 carefully, you’ll spot the discrepancy in the witness statement that it takes Fairfax until page 253 to notice. Of course, Fairfax must be about 87 years old by now, so maybe that’s understandable. I thought of giving this two stars on the grounds that it isn’t the worst book in the series; but then I thought, no, I just can’t be arsed.
Thieves’ Honour
(#6 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Why? 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
The more of this series you read, the more you wonder why Fielding’s publisher has tolerated this tosh for so long. The plot is in many ways a rehash of at least one of the earlier books in the series. Several passages seem to have been lifted from it almost word for word. The constant wandering from pub to pub in search of evidence – what a cliché! When a writer starts to repeat himself like this, it is a sure sign that the series has gone on far too long. Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) may have once had ambitions to write upmarket fiction, but has settled for this nonsense; when
CHAPTER NINE
Amazon.co.uk
A Most Civilised Murder
(#2 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Dull, dull, dull 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
There are varying grades of crime fiction. At the top are the genuinely exciting and realistic accounts of the investigation of a contemporary murder. Below these are the many competently written, but slightly out-of-date novels that make up the bulk of the police procedurals. Atthe bottom of the heap are all books featuring amateur detectives and quilt-makers. Sadly this book fails to live up to even the last of these. The police in Buckfordshire clearly follow procedures known only to them and Lord Peter Whimsy. I have to concede that this book was written some time ago, but Sgt Fairfax does not seem to have moved beyond smoking a pipe in his study as his main method of investigation; and surely even then the police must have had access to some sort of computerised records? You get the impression that Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) popped into a police station for ten minutes in the late sixties, but has not done much research in the meantime. This is lazy writing by a lazy writer. It is difficult to know why anyone would buy these books when they might be buying Peter James, Chris Ewan or MR Hall. One star is generous.
Fairfax’s Way
(#4 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Dreadful 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
If you enjoy a good detective story, don’t bother with this one. It sucks. Fielding tried to pension Fairfax off in the first book in this series. Sadly, he did notsucceed. The lugubrious Sergeant kept his job and so has been able to bore us through a dozen or so sequels. He is probably my least favourite character in any form of crime fiction – make that any form of fiction, full stop. Not that the book is exactly interesting even when Fairfax is out of the picture for a bit. (Inevitably he gets taken off the case at one point, allowing him to go off and do a bit of amateur detection. Yawn.) Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) waxes lyrical about the Buckfordshire countryside for whole pages at a time. I could listen to him for hours going on about the lesser spotted wagtail’s plaintive call. Not. Then there are the lectures on Norman architecture, ponderously delivered by Fairfax to whichever unfortunate villain he’s questioning. It’s amazing they don’t break down and confess in case he starts on Early English. I’ve rarely come across such a slow plot. Even the squad cars seem to travel around at 20 mph. Proust (to whom there is a knowing nod in the title – God knows why) is a laugh a minute compared to this guy. I won’t give the storyline away. Let’s just say if you read page 17 carefully, you’ll spot the discrepancy in the witness statement that it takes Fairfax until page 253 to notice. Of course, Fairfax must be about 87 years old by now, so maybe that’s understandable. I thought of giving this two stars on the grounds that it isn’t the worst book in the series; but then I thought, no, I just can’t be arsed.
Thieves’ Honour
(#6 in the Buckfordshire Series) [paperback]
Peter Fielding (author)
Customer reviews [newest first]
* Why? 15 December 2012
By Thrillseeker
The more of this series you read, the more you wonder why Fielding’s publisher has tolerated this tosh for so long. The plot is in many ways a rehash of at least one of the earlier books in the series. Several passages seem to have been lifted from it almost word for word. The constant wandering from pub to pub in search of evidence – what a cliché! When a writer starts to repeat himself like this, it is a sure sign that the series has gone on far too long. Fielding (aka Ethelred Tressider) may have once had ambitions to write upmarket fiction, but has settled for this nonsense; when
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