Product Description

He’d seen her somewhere once—he was sure of that. But the young woman gave no hint of recognition and before this could be explained, everything fell apart. . . . Tim Harding has come to Cornwall at the behest of a friend to represent him in an auction and facilitate the purchase of a much-coveted antique ring. Hayley Winter has come there for reasons of her own . . . and a centuries-old mystery is about to come crashing down around them both.

A decade before, a woman matching Hayley’s exact description died in a suspicious diving accident—at the side of the man giving Harding his orders. Now the ring, said to have been cut off the finger of a drowned British naval commander in 1707, is at the center of a many-tendrilled puzzle. Uncanny resemblances . . . stunning contradictions . . . Then Hayley’s sudden disappearance . . . For Harding, one misstep and a handful of coincidences ignite a search through dozens of lives, back into English history and the age of the Black Death, and forward to a fatal meeting in Germany . . . to find Hayley, her true identity, and the most shocking secret of all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65585 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-23
• Released on: 2009-06-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .90" h x 5.25" w x 8.25" l, .63 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780385342179
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Tim Harding, the hero of this smoothly plotted novel of suspense from British author Goddard (Play to the End), makes an unlikely sleuth. The owner of a middling garden maintenance and landscaping business in Monaco, Harding agrees to travel to Penzance in west Cornwall to help Barney Tozer, his wealthy friend and client. Tozer wants Harding to purchase on his behalf an antique ring that will be in the estate sale of Tozer's late eccentric uncle. In Cornwall, Harding becomes involved with Hayley Winter, an enigmatic young housekeeper who resembles a reporter who drowned 10 years earlier while scuba diving with Tozer. After the ring is stolen and Hayley disappears, Harding's search—into Tozer's odd past, a family superstition and English history—is hampered because everyone lies or hides his or her past. Goddard's gentle pacing and even prose build to an absorbing finale. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
If a man who makes his living delivering multiple twists inside narratives featuring surprisingly capable fish-out-of-water protagonists who uncover long-suppressed historical mysteries suddenly delivered a straightforward plot free of such gimmicks, would his fans be upset? The answer to that facetious question won’t be revealed in Goddard’s nineteenth novel, but loyalists should find Name to a Face a satisfying exploration of the author’s proven formula. Tim Harding, gardener to the rich in and around Monaco, heads to Cornwall as a favor to a shady tax-exile client who owns a piece of his business and happens to be married to his lover. All Harding must do is buy an heirloom ring at the estate sale of his client’s brother. It should be a quick jaunt, but alas, no one can be trusted, and things are not as they seem; soon Harding is entangled in a possible murder mystery involving an eighteenth-century shipwreck and a fourteenth-century legend for which verifiable evidence might exist. It’s comfort food, sure, but the serviceable characters and competent dialogue go down easy, especially when Goddard spices it all up with compelling historical tidbits. --Frank Sennett

Review
“The master of the clever twist.” –Sunday Telegraph

“Second to none when it comes to duplicity and intrigue…A master of manipulation.” –Daily Mail

“One of Britain’s finest thriller writers’.” –Time Out


From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews

first half is decent, then it tails off badly
(from my amazon UK review)

Robert Goddard has written some truly outstanding novels. The best are Past Caring, In Pale Battalions, and Painting the Darkness. I reread those books every couple of years, I've sent numerous copies to friends via Amazon, and I keep 3-4 copies around myself just in case I lose one or loan a copy and at that moment have an urge to read the book again. Goddard's books usually center on the unearthing (sometimes literally) of secrets and events from 20 to 40 years back. He's a master of this genre, with the genre's prototypical example being Du Maurier's Rebecca. The only other master who comes to mind is Ross MacDonald--if you havent't read any of his Lew Archer mysteries and enjoy Goddard's novels, give them a try.

Name to a Face features secrets from 10, 270, 300, and 650 years back. The book starts off in a promising fashion, with the protagonist Tim Harding finding himself in the middle of a swirl of strange events which almost everyone else seems to know more about than he does: this kind of situation is usually a Goddard signature--reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial, but not so ubiquitous. But as Harding learns more, the pace seems to slow rather than to accelerate, unlike in Goddard's best works. The last part of the book almost seems to create more loose ends than to tie them up--it feels as if Goddard has put together parts from different books. I felt myself pausing and saying "What on earth is going on here?". One of the major themes of the early part of the book, if you want a bad and mixed metaphor, turns out to be kind of a red herring in the stargazy pie (popular in Penzance--for US readers google stargazy pie and see the cornishlight entry--you'll see what I mean here!)

So if you enjoy Goddard's novels, this is not bad--but it also is not one of his best works--read the book. If you haven't read any of Goddard's novels, don't start with this, you might not read any of the others. Start with Past Caring, and continue on to Pale Battalions and Painting the Darkness--all three are truly deserving of a 5-star rating.

Constantly Anticipating What Surprises the Master Has in Store For You
British author Robert Goddard has been called "the master of the clever twist" and has achieved worldwide acclaim for producing nearly 20 thrillers within the past few decades. There are many authors out there who excel at keeping the pages turning and mastering plot elements to keep readers off balance --- but there may not be anyone writing today who does it as consistently and effectively as Goddard.

NAME TO A FACE was originally released in the U.K. in 2007, and now this excellent book is seeing publication in the U.S. As Goddard's reputation has grown, and as more stateside readers have been introduced to his fine work, we have begun to see more and more of his previous titles released in the U.S. Reading a Robert Goddard novel is the equivalent of viewing M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense for the first time. The unexpected twist at the end of that film had fans reeling, and you now come to expect the same from all his succeeding efforts. However, where Shyamalan has failed to repeat the thrill of that initial success, Goddard has effectively pulled out all sorts of shocking twists from each of his novels. It is almost distracting when reading one of his books as you are constantly anticipating what surprises the master has in store for you.

With NAME TO A FACE, as with many of his novels, the mystery that transpires takes place in both the past and the present. The protagonist, Tim Harding, has offered to represent his tax-exile friend, Barney Tozer, at an auction in Penzance. The intention is to purchase a ring that has sentimental value to Tozer. However, Harding has no idea that this apparently simple task is actually just the tip of the iceberg surrounding the history behind this antique ring. The ring is actually tied to three tragedies that have taken place throughout history: the sinking of the HMS Association off Sicily in 1707, a murder in Penzance 30 years later, and the drowning of a journalist diving at the Association wreck site in 1999.

Harding is quickly alarmed to find that the ring in question is stolen prior to the auction. As he seeks to take action in reclaiming it, he begins to uncover some of the infamous history behind it. Before Harding can get going with his search, a shocking murder takes place that instantly propels him into a web of conspiracies surrounding the history of the ring. Most suspiciously, Harding has an eerie déjà vu experience as he sees a young woman who he swears he has met before, but doesn't know where or when. Harding takes on the additional task of uncovering who this mystery woman is, having no concept of the fact that there are those nearby who will go to any lengths to keep Harding from discovering the truth behind both the mystery woman and the stolen antique ring.

Harding's life begins to swirl out of control as he finds himself trapped within a mystery that is almost surreal. What Harding is experiencing is actually a signature of many of Goddard's works --- the protagonist who steps innocently into a situation where nothing and no one turns out to be as it/they seem(s). Additionally, Harding begins to question the motives and intentions of everyone involved (including Barney Tozer), further confounding him as he realizes there is no one he can trust. With his life suddenly complicated almost beyond repair, Harding acts out of the desperation of survival mode --- and the swirl of strange events threatens to totally consume him.

I guarantee that any reader who picks up this book will immediately become a Robert Goddard fan, and I encourage readers to seek out any and all of his previous titles. Just as the World's Fair/Disney World attraction "It's a Small World" proclaims that the entire world is more closely connected than people may realize, I can only hope that the worldwide appeal of Robert Goddard's work will now find a fan base of readers in the United States. NAME TO A FACE might do just that for him.

--- Reviewed by Ray Palen

Awesome mystery
A must read - easy to follow with an engaging story line about a century old mystery and intrigue. The characters are solid and have depth which is a great match to the story line that spans centuries. Must read!