The Woods Murder by Roy Lewis

The Woods Murder by Roy Lewis
Buy The Woods Murder by Roy Lewis at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: I enjoyed this more than I expected.There's excellent legal background to a reasonable police procedural.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 186	Date: November 2018
Publisher: Joffe
ISBN: 9781789310504
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Jenny Carson was just nine years old when she was murdered whilst taking a shortcut through Kenton Woods. Her father blamed lawyer Charles Lendon for her death - not that he thought he was physically responsible, but because Lendon had refused to allow the local children to use his driveway as a shortcut to school, forcing them to cut through the woods if they were late. Lendon wasn't a popular man - he would say that lawyers never are - partly because of his attitudes, but his incessant womanising had made him a lot of enemies. When Lendon was murdered a couple of months after Jenny's death, there was no shortage of suspects.

Cathy Tennant was an articled clerk in Lendon's office. She knew his reputation, but was unworried by it. Their relationship was purely professional and she respected what Lendon did for her. Her boyfriend, Mike Enson, was less sanguine, but, unknown to Cathy there was a history between Lendon and Enson's family. Neither man was happy about Cathy's association with the other.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hugh Simpson was of the opinion that he and the local force could handle the investigation into the two murders without outside assistance. Chief Constable Rogers was of a different opinion and essentially it came down to finance. If Scotland Yard was called in within the first twenty-four hours it would be cheaper for the local force - and so Detective Chief Inspector Crow arrived to take over the investigation into the death of Charles Lendon.

I enjoyed this book a great deal more than I was expecting to. It's set in a simpler time - probably the early seventies - before mobile phones and DNA testing and it's obvious from the beginning that the plot is not going to be complex, but it is sound. Author Roy Lewis has a background in the law and as Charles Lendon is a lawyer this creates an authenticity often lacking in similar plots. The characters are good if occasionally two dimensional, but I read the book in less than twenty-four hours, preferring it to other leisure activities. I'd be happy to read more from Lewis.

If this book appeals you might enjoy Where the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee.

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