| Publisher | Severn House |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 29 February 2016 |
| ISBN-10 | 0727885952 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0727885951 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 240 |
| Price | £ 20.99 |
Written in Red
by
Cold War intrigue from 50 years ago comes to the fore in modern day Oxford as dog-walking friends Anna, Tansy and Isadora are pulled into the murder of an academic.
Review
Annie Dalton is a prolific YA author venturing into crime fiction, aided and abetted by her daughter – and very comfortable they look too. I found myself absolutely bowled over by The White Shepherd, the first in the Oxford dog-walkers series. And the sequel is a delight from silky head to perky tail.
Two overdone crime fiction tropes that usually send me scuttling for the exit are cute animals and a leading character with enough baggage to sink the QE2. And this time out I twitched nervously when I saw there was a 1960s Cold War plot. But Dalton puts her own fresh spin on all these seemingly clichéd plot elements.
When we left Anna Hopkins at the end of The White Shepherd, she was just getting used to the unaccustomed feeling of having supportive female friends around her. And both Tansy and Isadora are back – the former lodging with Anna who is surprisingly relaxed at having her sanctuary invaded.
Isadora drags the friends into a mystery when Professor James Lowell is found murdered at Walsingham College, where Anna works part-time as an administrator. And it looks like the professor’s murder has its roots in another murder 50 years previously.
In many ways, the Oxford Six story is the least interesting aspect of the book. It’s perfectly well-plotted, and has a neat twist or two at the end, neither of which I spotted. I was happily engrossed with a couple of sub-plots and with the cast who are so immaculately drawn that I truly believe I’ll spot them next time I go to Oxford! There is even a brief appearance for Natalie of the passive-aggressive post-its.
Dalton is clearly settling in for a series, and has resisted the temptation to have everything tied up over-neatly between books, or to leave implausible cliffhangers. So Anna has to deal with the appearance of an old friend and a revelation about her tangled past. But that’s not to say her past history is all resolved – far from it. And that rings true.
The police input is often at a distance, and realistic, although it’s given an edge by Tansy’s continuing relationship with Liam. But what really cements this book on top of the eclectic cast is the thoroughly accurate portrayal of female friendship. Never mind Sex in the City – Annie Dalton has it spot-on!
Two overdone crime fiction tropes that usually send me scuttling for the exit are cute animals and a leading character with enough baggage to sink the QE2. And this time out I twitched nervously when I saw there was a 1960s Cold War plot. But Dalton puts her own fresh spin on all these seemingly clichéd plot elements.
When we left Anna Hopkins at the end of The White Shepherd, she was just getting used to the unaccustomed feeling of having supportive female friends around her. And both Tansy and Isadora are back – the former lodging with Anna who is surprisingly relaxed at having her sanctuary invaded.
Isadora drags the friends into a mystery when Professor James Lowell is found murdered at Walsingham College, where Anna works part-time as an administrator. And it looks like the professor’s murder has its roots in another murder 50 years previously.
In many ways, the Oxford Six story is the least interesting aspect of the book. It’s perfectly well-plotted, and has a neat twist or two at the end, neither of which I spotted. I was happily engrossed with a couple of sub-plots and with the cast who are so immaculately drawn that I truly believe I’ll spot them next time I go to Oxford! There is even a brief appearance for Natalie of the passive-aggressive post-its.
Dalton is clearly settling in for a series, and has resisted the temptation to have everything tied up over-neatly between books, or to leave implausible cliffhangers. So Anna has to deal with the appearance of an old friend and a revelation about her tangled past. But that’s not to say her past history is all resolved – far from it. And that rings true.
The police input is often at a distance, and realistic, although it’s given an edge by Tansy’s continuing relationship with Liam. But what really cements this book on top of the eclectic cast is the thoroughly accurate portrayal of female friendship. Never mind Sex in the City – Annie Dalton has it spot-on!
Reviewed 12 March 2016 by Sharon Wheeler
