A Grave Coffin: A Commander John Coffin Mystery

This is one of the later novels in the John Coffin series, and takes place when he is a police Commander. It is probably better to start with an earlier book in the series to establish the characters, but the book reads fairly well as a stand alone novel. It involves two cases, one the problem with the manufacture and sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, possible because of the huge markup in the price of patented drugs. The other case is the discovery of the bodies of missing children. The two cases run in parallel. The case is fiction,using fictional settings and characters, but set among real locations, the practive of many mystery writers since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes. It this case we find ourselves in the restored Docklands area of London, with side excursions into Oxford and other cities. Readers should be advised that the story is set in the UK and written using the King's English. The terminology and sentence structure are a little different than the English used in the US, but if you are used to reading mysteries with UK settings you should have no problem.

This is the first book I have read by Ms. Butler and it was very enjoyable. The first thing the reader notices is that this book is very British, not only in the names of people and places but also in the attitudes and nuances of the people.Commander Coffin is faced with the daunting task of having to solve two cases at the same time. The first is a case involving four young boys that went missing from their private school. The second is a case that Coffin is dragged into involving underground pharmaceuticals and apparent crooked cops. Coffin is a good Commander as well as a detective. Coffin immediately gets on with the task of solving both cases and in the process becomes the target for murder. Who is behind the disappearance of the boys? Is there a crooked cop on the force? Where is the fake medicine coming from? Join Comander Coffin as he searches for the answers.

The mutilated corpse of a peer shakes up the entire London's Second City police force. Detective Harry Seton was allegedly working on the illegal manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, but apparently was actually investigating police corruption. His superiors order Chief Commander John Coffin to serendipitously continue Seton's inquiries into law enforcement official's dishonesty.While struggling with that distasteful inquest, John works an even more repugnant case. Someone is viciously murdering schoolboys whose link is each one has a parent connected to the police. Unlike the former case that requires him to go at it alone, John uses his full staff of experts as well as his actress-wife to search for a deadly killer.The twentieth John Coffin tale retains all the freshness of one of the best English police procedural series on the market today. The story line contains two sub-plots that stretch the hero beyond his personal endurance limit. Long time fans will relish John's inquiries into corruption as well as welcome old friends working to stop a brutal killing machine. New readers will gain insight into the series not only from this well written tale, but also from Gwendolyn Butler's insightful brief notes that provide background material.Harriet Klausner