The Unexpected Corpse

"The Unexpected Corpse" is the second of seven "Shirley McClintock mysteries" penned by Sheri S. Tepper and published under the pseudonym of B J Oliphant between 1990 and 1997. It follows the earlier "Dead in the Scrub", with the feisty Colorado rancher this time finding herself entangled in a series of murders which are altogether too close to home for comfort, as various of her relatives start turning up dead after the remains of Uncle January and his third wife, Billy-B, are flown home for burial after being accidentally killed while on vacation in London. With various aspects of familial wrong-doing and villainy, including sexual infidelity, larceny and murder, as well as apparent ties to satanic rites, sex cults and political and judicial corruption, the book has a fast-moving and at times quite convoluted plot, which manages to keep concealed the identity of the killer right up until the final denouement of the closing chapter. Shirley McClintock displays once again her characteristic mix of practical good sense and feminist values, with her laconic partner J.Q. and step-daughter Allison providing the perfect foil to Shirley's tendency towards rash impetuosity when things get too fraught. Their combined outwitting of the various villains of the piece make for gripping and entertaining reading. As with other books in this series, Sheri Tepper's perennial obsessions with such things as the abuse of power and privilege are present as themes but are also largely reined back and certainly do not intrude upon what is essentially a straightforward whodunit offering. The book does show some signs of having been rushed into publication -- it is has a particularly large number of typographical errors as well as a rare example of Tepper making a narrative error, with Shirley spending some time musing over the means by which one of the victims was shot, a day or so before she is made aware that she was, giving the impression that a couple of passages of the book were rearranged at some point without a thorough reread of adjacent sections. Given the prolific nature of this author -- both of the first two Shirley McClintock books were released in the same year, along with the large scale science fantasy volume, "Raising The Stones" -- this is perhaps not surprising and most readers will not be greatly troubled by it; the book remains a fun read, especially for those murder mystery enthusiasts who like a steadily mounting body count (something some readers may find a little overdone). In common with all of the books in this series, "The Unexpected Corpse" has long been out of print but there are usually a reasonable number of not-too-tatty second-hand paperback copies floating around at a fairly low price for those prepared to hunt, however. For those wanting more Shirley McClintock mysteries, the third volume in the series is "Deservedly Dead".

Having just embarked on the "Shirley McClintock" series, I can tell you that they are indeed enjoyable. As would be expected, there is considerabley more character development in this, the second in the series, and it is apparent that the author is really warming to her protagonist. Shirley is opinionated, intelligent, capable and warm, with very definite views on everything, a woman after my own heart. The murders are interesting and complex but not unsolvable. The secondary plot concerning a cult was a little out in left field, maybe a little extraneous, but it was all wrapped up at the end. A very good read and I am looking for the third in the series as I write this.