Corridors of Death (Robert Amiss #1)
by Ruth Dudley Edwards
My rating: 
MysteryImagine Yes, Minister with added murder, and you'd have a good idea of what to expect of this very British mystery. Senior civil servant Nicholas Clark is murdered at work, and none of his colleagues could really claim to be sad about his fate. Indeed, the police are positively overwhelmed with possible motives - it seems that everyone had a plausible reason to want Sir Nicholas dead.
The point of view switches between Amiss (a civil servant) and Milton (the policeman who ropes him into helping with the investigation), giving insight into both their perspectives on developing events. I really enjoyed the interplay of the main characters, as well as the caricatures of civil servants and politicians who surround them. Although this book was written in the 1980s, it's all too easy to imagine similar events taking place today in the timeless corridors of Whitehall.
My only reservation was that I found the circumstances of the death (which I won't go into to avoid spoilers) somewhat implausible. However, this did fit in with the generally exaggerated feel of the novel, so in that sense it wasn't a bad fit.
I'll certainly read more by this author - I've heard they get even better as the series progresses.
2 comments:
Once again, always enjoy your book reviews.
I love books written from two or more perspectives. Somehow I think that for the writer the challenge is bigger. A bit of a thespian job, too, methinks. Impersonating all those characters.
Great review.
Greetings from London.
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