Fotografía de autor

Lesley Horton (1939–2018)

Autor de On Dangerous Ground

5 Obras 166 Miembros 7 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Incluye el nombre: Lesley Horton

Series

Obras de Lesley Horton

On Dangerous Ground (2003) 43 copias
Snares of Guilt (2002) 40 copias
Devils in the Mirror (2005) 39 copias
The Hollow Core (2006) 25 copias
Twisted Tracks (2008) 19 copias

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Fecha de nacimiento
1939
Fecha de fallecimiento
2018-11
Género
Female
Lugares de residencia
Keighley, West Yorkshire, UK

Miembros

Reseñas

I've enjoyed this edgy series for Horton's unflinching look at the problems of race, religion, and national identity in Bradford, Yorkshire, and The Hollow Core is the strongest book yet. In her life before becoming a writer, Lesley Horton was a schoolteacher, she ran an educational unit for pregnant school girls, and she was a volunteer for Victim Support. As the book deals with issues like domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy, and arranged marriages, each situation has such a feeling of truth and anger and sadness and exasperation that I had no trouble at all in understanding that Horton has personally dealt with each one.

In all the British police procedural series that I read, I think it's rather surprising that Horton's is really the only one that deals head-on with the thorny issues of race and religion. (And it would have to if a true portrait of Bradford was wanted.) She does it in a very realistic way, beginning with her characters-- an excellent ensemble cast. Handford is a good Anglo-Saxon police officer who's up for a greatly desired promotion. Being labeled a racist seems to be firmly in his past. (And it should be.) His Muslim sergeant Khalid Ali had a rather rough transition to the team, but now he's liked and respected by everyone. He's come into his own. Adding a highly connected young constable to the team is a bit of genius, since we're then allowed right into the home of a very important, very devout Muslim family to see how different it is to our own.

The plot of The Hollow Core is compelling and kept me engrossed from the beginning. The way Handford and his team work together to tease out each clue, each bit of information, and try to put it all into some sort of comprehensible order fascinated me. When the author began to weave each policeman's own private worries, strand by strand, into the story, the element of tension rose. How is that one going to deal with the stress? Is this one going to see the evidence that's right in front of his face, or is he going to worry about what is happening at home? This is a story that's both personal and wide-ranging, and I'll move on to the last book with a mixture of anticipation and sadness at the thought of an excellent series ending much too soon.
… (más)
½
 
Denunciada
cathyskye | otra reseña | Jul 12, 2014 |
First Line: If anyone had asked her, she could have explained why she wasn't afraid.

After several years on the job, John Handford and Khalid Ali have turned into two of the best investigators on the force. But nothing remains the same. Both men have been promoted, and the new Detective Chief Inspector Handford and Detective Inspector Ali are working on separate cases. Although Handford is more than happy with his new boss, he feels untethered because his wife has accepted a teaching position in the United States, and he very much misses having her loving and level-headed presence in his life.

Handford is trying to find a young woman who's vanished without a trace, and Ali is tracking the killer of a 96-year old woman who was murdered in her own home. The two cases seem to have nothing in common, but the more the two men dig, the more the investigations seem to converge. Philandering husbands, insurance scams, an ex-con set on revenge... Horton's plotting is diabolical, and the only person who can deal with it is the multi-layered character of DCI John Handford.

It's not necessary to read the other books in this series before opening this book, but with such excellent plotting and characterization, I'd hate to see you deny yourself the pleasure of reading the entire series. It's one of my favorites.
… (más)
½
 
Denunciada
cathyskye | Jul 8, 2011 |
An interesting novel. The basic scenario was very clever, focusing on racial tensions in Bradford, though the characters seemed a little wooden. This was Ms Horton's first novel, and, having read one of her subsequent ones I can see that she did make the characters evolve and developed a greater facility for making them more plausible and realistic.
 
Denunciada
Eyejaybee | Dec 18, 2010 |
A gritty tale of murder and enforced child prostitution set in Bradford and featuring DI Handford. Cleverly plotted but perhaps a little longer and unnecessarily convoluted than might have been desirable. However, I would certainly enjoy reading more of this series.
 
Denunciada
Eyejaybee | Nov 12, 2010 |

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Estadísticas

Obras
5
Miembros
166
Popularidad
#127,845
Valoración
½ 3.4
Reseñas
7
ISBNs
48
Idiomas
4

Tablas y Gráficos