Hard Going (Bill Slider Mysteries Book 16)

I have read all that is available to me from this series...hope there is more. She is great author...with gripping storylines and superb characters. British policing at it's best from Cynthia. I loved every one in the series and I know you will too. Such a talented writer...sorry 've copied and pasted these reviews but time is short, and I read a lot.

I had been waiting with great impatience for this book to become available, and it was worth the wait.As usual with her books, Harrod-Eagles uses beautiful prose, and the plot follows a clear path to the denouement.Although Slider and his fellow detectives are always trying to solve a murder, the author does not wallow in the gore, and she is too good a writer to depend on horror and shock tactics.I also enjoy the clever puns and sly allusions.The anxiety her readers endured while waiting to see if Bill and Joanna would find a way out of their financial and accommodation difficulties was finally laid to rest, but not until the last couple of pages, which kept the reader in suspense.I would certainly recommend this book to friends and family, though I think they should read the earlier books in the series first.

so witty so clever

Not great. Not enough Joanna and baby George in this one. Slider's interaction with his little son is one of my favorite things. For some reason this one seemed slower going than most of the previous, but since I found the victim and the people who cared about him so appealing I wanted to know who/why they ended his life.

Always adore Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, I reread her Slider books regularly (in sequence, as each builds on the one before). She has a genius for characterisation, and I feel as if Slider and his friends are people I know, admire, and envy just a little. Even though her plots can wander around in circles a bit, the writing is always brilliant enough to make up for it. I find myself often stopping and re-reading a page, just to enjoy the sheer artistry of her dialogue.

I love the characters in this series, but I found this particular book to be indeed "Hard Going". Also the puns and silliness that I enjoy so much, such as the fish dish Atherton makes called "Raison Sole D'etre", seemed contrived and -- dare I say it? -- even irritating this time around. Usually I laugh out loud at least once, but this book was lacking clever repartee. It was also sadly lacking Harrod-Eagles' deft hand with plot. Think I'll go back and re-read some of the earlier books to remind myself why I like this series.

As always, an impeccably crafted British police procedural by a superb writer! If you have never read one of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider mysteries, start at the beginning of the series and "go straight on till morning." She has created a continuing cast of characters so indelibly drawn that you could recognize them if you saw them on the street or at a table at Starbuck's. She dips her pen in occasional sarcasm and irony, but always with a light touch.

An interesting addition to the on-going saga of Bill and Joanna and their policemen friends. An interesting plot twist, where a man who is too honest about his intentions ends up murdered. As always, C. H-E's books are a pleasant way to pass the time.

I've read all the Sliders and always look forward to a new one coming out. A nice way to drop off to sleep or have a Sunday lie in with some tea and toast.

The whole of the series of Bill Slider detective stories are quite simply brilliant. I have read them all several times and still enjoy them as much as ever. If you like British police procedurals, these stories are a must. There is no gratuitous violence and the storyline seems true to life but full of clever twists. The characters are brilliantly drawn, the locations true to life and the whole book written with an underlying subtle sense of humour.

Why was a well liked, elderly philanthropist murdered in his own study? Slider and team make it their business to find out. Packed with puns, bursting with banter, this is another excellent addition to this superlative series. Superb reading.

I love all Bill Slider books and this one was most enjoyable. I have already forgotten the plot because it is the interaction of the characters and the continuing story of their relationships that I enjoy, but he the plots are usually interesting and twisty. I am already looking forward to the next book. I think this is a brilliant series, Bill Slider is without doubt my favourite fictional detective!

A first rate police procedural from a 'master' of the genre. The relationships between the police are seen with a sense of reality and the chapter headings are extremely amusing. Brilliant.