At Death's Door

In "At Death's Door" British detective writer Robert Barnard proves once again that he always seems to have an engrossing story to tell with believable characters, his witty cracks, his insights into pub life, his fascinating plots, great pacing, and his sense of place. A well-known novelist, Benedict Cotterel is very ill and is cared for by his son Roderick and the son's wife Caroline. In his youth Cotterel had been very much of a lady's man. He had an early affair with the now famous actress Dame Myra Mason, a vixen as Cotterel labeled her in a novel. Barnard has fun portraying nasty people, and he has planted his share in this book with Myra being the nastiest. Myra's daughter by Cotterel, Cordelia, is out to get revenge for the horrible childhood Myra put her through by writing a tell-all expose of Myra. Her mother's series of boyfriends were a trial to Cordelia. Now the actress's daughter is going through Ben's papers and letters to document how much of a witch Myra really was. Ben's son and wife have mixed emotions about Cordelia's project. Myra turns up at the local inn with her new younger husband, bent on stopping her daughter from going ahead with the book. A large cast of characters are present when a murder takes place in the inn. In a Barnard novel you have to keep an eye out for that minor character who may seem just an innocuous bystander, but is key to the plot solution. There's a narrative pull in Barnard's novels that grabs you and keeps you turning the pages gleefully. The canny Welsh Inspector Meredith from "Death of a Mystery Writer" shows up again to prove that he's a sharp and wily investigator. One feature of Barnard's books the stands out is his dialogue; it's right on the mark, focused, and natural. This book has a very cleverly worked out solution to the crime that is tricky but satisfying.