Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1957091 in Books
• Published on: 1992-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 205 pages

From Library Journal
Beginning writer Green provides a welcome addition to the canon of traditional British mysteries and a crossover draw for fans of nurse books as well. Nurse Kate Kinsella neatly dovetails part-time duty with medical sleuthing, but searching for the murderer of a nurse at an old ladies' hospital truly tests her skills for the first time. Kate bounces her ideas off landlord/undertaker Hubert as she ferrets out information about the surprisingly deceptive dead woman and sorts out possible motivations. This is straightforward and entertaining.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
First-novelist Green introduces 30-ish nurse Kate Kinsella, whose ambition is to be a detective specializing in medical- background cases. Encouraged by her office landlord, Humbert Humberstone, who runs the funeral parlor on the ground floor of the building, Kate takes on her first client--the aunt of Jacky Byfield, a nurse stabbed to death while running an errand at seedy St. Dymphna's Hospital. Jacky was young, religious, and apparently led a blameless life, but Kate, who takes a job at St. Dymphna's in her search for leads, finds that Jacky had a small fortune in a London bank, and a lover--Mich O'Dowd, a security guard at the hospital. There are more murders and lots of artificially pumped-up suspense before a clumsy reconstruction of the killing leads Kate to a confrontation--awkward and unconvincing--with the killer. Despite its limp-along narrative and a clutch of downbeat characters (who take the edge off Kate's cheerfully amateurish efforts), there's talent here that may be better honed in future outings. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Interesting but fumbling sleuthing
I can'g dislike Kate Kinsella. She has her charm. However, she's unlikely to ever equal England's sharpest investigators. This is her first murder case and it is mildly amusing to see her amateurish beginnings. One does wonder though if her investigations are helps or hindrances. In this case, she looks into the murder of a nurse, a killing which the police seem inclined to dismiss as a random killing rather than a deliberate murder. Kate does mess up a bit and the body count rises before she eventually stumbles onto a solution. This is rather amusing, but I can't really give it a high rating.