ONE IS ONE AND ALL ALONE

by Anthea Fraser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 8, 1998

Una Bennett, owner of a successful small business, has married widower Malcolm Bennett, highly respected Detective Chief in the Lethbridge police force and father to grown children Jane, Sally, and Tim--all three of whom had hoped he would marry teacher Barbara Wood, spinster sister of their late, beloved mother Carol, and are not warmly disposed to Una. Meanwhile, Malcolm and his old friend and colleague DCI Dave Webb (The Seven Stars, 1997, etc.), who's stationed in nearby Shillingham, are trying to deal with a series of shop robberies in the area. They have lunch together on Malcolm's birthday, celebrated that night at a constrained dinner with Una and his family. Days later, Una finds Malcolm clubbed to death in his easy chair, the TV still on, tuned to the big-game channel he'd been watching, and a window pane broken in the back door. Within a week there's a second fatality in the family as Webb and his men try to sort out connections to the robberies, to Malcolm's stolen ring, and to the unloving relationship between Una and Malcolm's family. An unfussy, straightforward narrative that manages to explore its emotional interactions with sensitivity and, despite an unsurprising finish, to maintain a nice level of suspense.

Pub Date: Dec. 8, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1998

Categories: FICTION