Grounds for Appeal

January 16, 2012
The discovery of a headless body in a Cardiganshire bog prompts Welsh pathologist Richard Pryor and Angela Bray, his forensic consultancy business partner, to swing into high gear in Knight’s solid third 1950s mystery (after 2010’s According to the Evidence). Meanwhile, a new woman in Pryor’s life—Priscilla Chambers, a former medical associate of Angela—fills in while Angela is briefly away tending to her aging mother. An underplayed conflict arises as Pryor compares the two women, both of whom pose potential romantic interest. A couple of subplots involve a paternity question and an abused woman’s appeal of her murder conviction. While retired Home Office pathologist Knight puts the budding technology of scientific crime solving at the forefront, often at the expense of character development, this period procedural is not without its peculiar charms.

February 15, 2012
A Home Office pathologist continues to expand the boundaries of his practice in postwar Wales. Richard Pryor and his forensic biologist partner Angela Bray (According to the Evidence, 2011, etc.) are growing the practice they started in the Wye Valley after his return from Singapore in 1955. During the weeks Angela spends tending to her sick mother, Richard is joined by Priscilla Chambers, whose passion for anthropology is put to use by the case of the possible ancient bog body. When the body is dug out of the bog, hands tied and headless, they quickly realize that this is a much more recent case of murder. Their only clue is a Batman tattoo. While the police are busy trying to establish the identity of the dead man, the group gets another interesting case. They are called in to review the evidence and possibly testify at the appeal of a woman serving a life sentence for murder on slim evidence. A doctor has testified that the crime was committed within a very short time period, the only interval that evening when the woman had no alibi. The police get a break on Richard's first case when they hunt down a head a Birmingham gangster has used as a warning to those who might be tempted to cross him, and Richard identifies the head as belonging to the body in the bog. But he is less successful in the other case, which brings him up against the hidebound traditions of British justice. No thrills or chills here, but a solid look at the pathologist's work along with evocative period details of a country slowly recovering from war.

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March 1, 2012

A headless body found in a remote Welsh bog throws the locals for a loop. Thanks to Dr. Richard Pryor's forensic services, the police are able to date the bones to the end of World War II, and since that's just a decade earlier, there's still a chance that someone is going to remember this crime. Surprisingly, clues from the skeleton lead to Birmingham, triggering dark memories of wartime Britain. Pryor's office also finds itself involved in a London domestic violence case, a complicated paternity dispute, and more. Since the novel is set in 1955, the new methodologies employed by Pryor's forensic consultancy bring an air of excitement to crime solving. VERDICT Knight's gentle historic forensic series is gaining steam with this third title (Where Death Delights; According to the Evidence). The pace is steady, with cases added as the novel progresses. The scientific methodology, references to postwar British life, and smart, bantering characters will appeal to those who like substance with their entertainment. [See Prepub Alert, 11/14/11.]

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2012
A headless body found buried in a Welsh bog in 1955 draws the attention of an archaeologist, thinking the corpse may be very old. Then forensic pathologist Richard Pryor detects a tattoo of Batman on the corpse's arm. The investigation provides a valuable chance to shine for Priscilla Chambers, filling in for Pryor's partner, forensic biologist Angela Bray, who's attending to her ill mother. As police seek the head and identity of the man, who appears to have been murdered, Pryor and Bray, back at work, gather evidence for the appeal of a woman charged with killing her abusive partner. Aspiring winemaker Pryor also is asked to assist a nearby French vintner with a problem that is tearing his family apart. Surrounded by women at work, Pryor is reluctant to start a relationship within his forensic family, yet he finds himself eyeing both beautiful, extroverted Priscilla and cool, elegant Angela. Retired pathologist Knight combines solid science and culture of the period and an attractive cast of characters in another entertaining entry (after According to the Evidence, 2011) in the Pryor series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)