Not that Taylor's hero is a London toff like Holmes; rather he is an 18th-century bookseller, John Holdsworth, down on his luck, whose infant son drowns in an accident.
His wife falls into the hands of a charlatan who convinces her she can talk to the dead boy's ghost - for a fee, of course.
Disgusted, Holdsworth writes his own work denouncing ghosts and becomes regarded as an authority, soon called upon to solve the problem of a ghost at a Cambridge University college.
To the pragmatic Holdsworth, a putative ghost must mean a violent death and an unlikely sleuth is born.
Well researched and entertainingly written, the novel blends history, murder and romance in a riveting blend.
- Geoffrey Vine
Then DI Tom Thorne is approached by a fledging private eye, Anna Carpenter, who has been retained by Donna to find out whether Alan is still alive and if he has their daughter, now in her teens.
Thorne's life is a mess: he is on the verge of breaking up with his girlfriend, Louise, whom he planned to marry, and a major trial has just ended with the man accused of murder being found not guilty.
Being told to babysit Anna to find out what really happened to Langford is just another pain, pain that increases as the book rattles along.
Lifted from the ho-hum by the fast pace and an unexpected twist at the end, Billingham can chalk up another success for his detective inspector.
- Gillian Vine
Private eye Jayne Keeney is investigating the suicide of a young Australian girl, Maryanne, who had been volunteering at an orphanage when she supposedly took her own life.
She decides the best way to find out what happened is to work at the same institution.
Jayne is an outgoing Australian girl who speaks fluent Thai, giving her a distinct advantage in her undercover role.
Some highly illegal practices are soon discovered in this supposedly Christian establishment.
Although some of the young children are up for adoption, many born to single girls are being illegally adopted without the mothers' knowledge.
This puts Jayne in grave danger as she tries desperately to help out one solo mother to keep her child, while trying to unravel the mystery of Maryanne's life before her death.
The story is set in some of the less salubrious parts of Thailand and the miserable lives of the numerous bar girls and dancers is convincingly described.
The outcome of the investigations is rather unexpected but makes for an interesting story, an unusual plot and location.
- Helen Adams
The novel is a trifle heavy on life inside an Oxford college and extremely heavy on the passions of a lesbian love tangle.
McDermid rightly protests the homophobia still rampant in our communities but the stuff of murder mysteries it isn't.
- Geoffrey Vine
