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7 Obras 34 Miembros 8 Reseñas

Obras de Lucienne Boyce

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Principal Officer Dan Foster of the Bow Street Runners is sent to collect smuggler Watcyn Jones from Beaumaris Gaol on Anglesey, and bring him back to London for a trial at the Old Bailey. As if having to travel the wilds of North Wales isn't bad enough, Dan is saddled with an inexperienced constable as his interpreter and assistant. At least it's a routine assignment and shouldn't take more than a few days. But when the prison escort is ambushed and Watcyn Jones escapes, a straightforward transfer turns into a desperate manhunt. And as Jones's enemies start to die, the chase becomes more urgent. Dan's search for the killer brings him up against a ruthless smuggling gang and his chances of getting off the island alive begin to look less promising.
I have never read any of the other books in the series so I am grateful that this one was able to be read without that as like the first handful of chapters provided a lot of information that I assume was also covered in the others. However, some of this stuff didn't seem necessary to this story and elements that were examined a lot were sort of rushed to a bare resolution in the end. It felt a little unfulfilled given all the attention to them. I can understand how someone would really love this novel becasue it is well written, but for me it was overly narrated. I got bored with the excessive descriptions of people and places and wanted to get more of the crimes.
I found it hard to relate to any of the characters in the story and didn't necessarily find any more likable than the others. I did find a few to be the easy targets for suspects and quickly deduced who was responsible for the crimes being committed, another element which felt slightly unresolved to me for a murder mystery novel. I have to say for me this was a miss but I think it is a good novel and if you enjoy the series or even historical mysteries you should give it a go as it's a relatively quick read.
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Denunciada
BookReviewsbyTaylor | Dec 10, 2022 |
Principal Officer Dan Foster of the Bow Street Runners is called to a murder in the outhouse of a public house in Holborn. But soon he is surprised by the request from John Townsend to help in another murder. What could his possible motive be. This murder is of Louise Parmeter, ex-lover of Prince George. There is also the mystery of threats to Foster.
Unfortunately for the story these three storylines are not really related to each other.
The story was enjoyable enough, though I found that I really didn't take to any of the characters.
A NetGalley Book
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Denunciada
Vesper1931 | 4 reseñas más. | Jul 29, 2021 |
Bloodie Bones is set in 1796 and introduces us to Dan Foster, a Bow Street Runner. Bow Street Runners are known as London's first professional police force and Dan is called upon when Lord Oldfield's gamekeeper is murdered during a confrontation with local poachers. Dan adopts the pseudonym 'Dan Fielding' and goes undercover in Barcombe where he is quickly welcomed into the local poaching gang after showing his fighting skills when a boxing challenge comes to town.

As Dan starts to follow clues and hunt for evidence, it becomes clear that the killer could be anyone. So many people could have a motive for wanting Josh Castle out of the way and I certainly had my suspicions about one or two of them. Even local bogeyman, Bloodie Bones, becomes a suspect when threatening notes are left at further scenes of unrest.

I loved the character of Dan; he is far from perfect with his shady past and roving eye. He has had, and still has, quite a hard life but he shows his softer side when he takes young Walter under his wing and tries to keep him on the straight and narrow, with the added benefit of enabling him to get close to Walter's mother, Anna. There are some excellent buried secrets in Barcombe for Dan to unearth which ensured the pages kept on turning repeatedly for 'just one more chapter'.

Full of cleverly placed historical detail, Bloodie Bones is a riveting murder mystery with a keen sense of period. I can close my eyes now and easily visualise the huge mansion, vast woodland and creepy graveyard. The historical facts were cunningly placed in the text like hidden treasure, just awaiting the reader to stumble upon these little golden nuggets. I was amazed when Lord Oldfield actually read The Riot Act to the villagers when they converged on Oldfield Hall. After looking up the Bow Street Runners, I was surprised to see that it was founded by Henry Fielding in 1749, so I loved how Lucienne Boyce used Fielding as Dan's pseudonym.

I thoroughly enjoyed Bloodie Bones; it really is an outstanding book filled with suspense and mystery. I will definitely be looking out for book number 2 to see what adventures are next for Dan Foster.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest opinion.
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Denunciada
Michelle.Ryles | Mar 9, 2020 |
Having loved Bloodie Bones, the first Dan Foster Mystery, I have been eager to get back to this period of Georgian history. Although I haven't yet read book 2, I didn't feel disadvantaged at all as Lucienne Boyce gives enough of Dan Foster's back story to fill in any blanks I may have had.

Dan Foster's story is one thread of the book and I'll come back to that in a moment, but the murders he is investigating are the main story. Dan is just about to investigate the brutal murder of a penniless woman, presumed to be a prostitute, when a lady of higher class is murdered and his focus is forcibly shifted. Dan isn't the sort of policeman to give up without a fight (pun intended) and it is his talent for pugilism that draws him into boxing at the request of the Prince of Wales. I love that word 'pugilism', it makes boxing sound so fancy!

There's a lot going on in Dan's life at the moment; he has a wife and a son, although his wife isn't his son's mother. As if that isn't intriguing enough, he is also in love with his wife's sister who has just got married. What on earth have I missed? I need to read The Butcher's Block immediately! Although I have clearly missed things by missing out book 2; it didn't spoil my enjoyment one bit, it just makes book 2 all the more alluring to me in order to fully fill in the blanks.

I really felt as if I had been transported to the slums of London when reading Death Makes No Distinction. I think with the Prince of Wales featuring and gentlemen huzzah-ing now and again, I pictured the scene somewhat like Blackadder III, with garishly painted ladies of the night and drunken madams frequenting the pubs and rowdy drunken lords patronising the gentlemens clubs.

The murder mystery aspect is excellent and there are so many suspects that I really couldn't have guessed who the actual perpetrators were. I think it was because it was so hard to guess that I didn't really try to work it out and just enjoyed the thrill of sniffing out clues along with Dan Foster.

Death Makes No Distinction is a superb historical murder mystery with a down to earth and realistic protagonist. I think it could definitely be read as a standalone and I have no doubt that any readers picking up Dan Foster's story at this stage will be eager to read the previous books too.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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Denunciada
Michelle.Ryles | 4 reseñas más. | Mar 9, 2020 |

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Estadísticas

Obras
7
Miembros
34
Popularidad
#413,653
Valoración
3.8
Reseñas
8
ISBNs
11