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Title details for The Mistress of Alderley by Robert Barnard - Wait list

The Mistress of Alderley

A Novel of Suspense

by Robert Barnard
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Robert Barnard, one of the great contemporary masters of classic mystery, returns with a brilliant new tale of passion and deception.
Well-known actress Caroline Fawley has given up a successful stage and television career for love and life in the country. International business titan Marius Fleetwood can't marry her. He already has a wife, though he claims they are "just friends." But Marius has done something very special for Caroline: he has "bought" her Alderley, an elegant country home. If he should die, he's arranged to leave her enough money to maintain the extensive house and gardens.
Of course, some inquisitive villagers would be happier if Caroline and Marius were respectably wed. People in small towns know all, and they will talk, especially about a glamorous actress. Caroline's adolescent children, Stella and Alexander, seem to accept Marius's weekend visits without distress. And older daughter Olivia, an opera singer on the rise, is too involved in her own career and romantic intrigues to express much interest in her mother's personal life.
Caroline is happy and the world is good. Until one day when Caroline's life begins to fall apart. First, a mysterious young man backpacking his way through the countryside arrives at the door. He says his name is Peter Bagshaw, but Caroline sees instantly that he must be related to Marius; perhaps he's even his son.
What else has Marius hidden from Caroline? Who is this man, Marius Fleetwood? Is everything about him a lie?
When a murder occurs, detectives Mike Oddie and Charlie Peace must probe the lives of numerous suspects who had good reason to kill. As always in a Barnard mystery, the fun is in the details, the characters, the twists. With big houses, wealth, opera, and obsessive devotion as some of his ingredients, Robert Barnard gives us a witty, richly nuanced novel worthy of the crime-writing star that he is.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    March 11, 2003

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780743254311

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780743254311
      • File size: 279 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 10, 2003
      Witty and subtle character portrayals, against a substantial background of opera and theater, lift the latest suspense novel from prolific British author Barnard (The Bones in the Attic; Unholy Dying; etc.). Actress Caroline Fawley has seemingly found her final and perfect role: that of mother and mistress. She and her two teenage children, Alex and Stella, are happily ensconced in a splendid house in the village of Alderley, where they are joined weekends by self-made business tycoon Marius Fleetwood. Marius spends the week with his wife, Sheila, who's pregnant by another man. Caroline's oldest child, Olivia, is a rising opera singer about to make a much-anticipated debut in La Forza del Destino
      in nearby Leeds. Caroline's idyllic, if somewhat unconventional, life is not so much shattered as it is dismantled when Marius disappears on the opera's opening night and the veils of deception that shrouded their lives begin to be stripped away. Having spent much of her life creating illusions on film, Caroline must now come to terms with those created by others. Ingenious twists to a satisfying plot make for fine entertainment. (Apr. 14)FYI:An eight-time Edgar nominee, Barnard has won the Nero Wolfe, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity awards.

    • Booklist

      March 15, 2003
      Barnard, a prolific and much-loved British writer of whodunits, will please his fans with another mystery set in Yorkshire featuring his recurrent sleuth, Police Sergeant Charlie Peace. Predictably for Barnard, no bodies appear until a third of the way into the story--which, as usual, gives the author time to develop his characters before sending them down the rocky but entertaining road to murder and mayhem. Caroline Fawley is a retired TV actress now living at Alderley, an elegant mansion in a charming village near Leeds. Caroline is being kept by a business tycoon whose murder brings in Sergeant Peace, and the delicious pacing that Barnard is known for falls into perfect place. Caroline learns awful truths about her lover after his murder, when a note leads her to question his fidelity. Charm and wit, along with the exquisite pacing, complete the Barnard formula for a thoroughly enjoyable read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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