Hen's Teeth

by Manda Scott

Book Overview

At midnight in Glasgow, Dr. Kellen Stewart learns that her ex-lover Bridget--who was only 41--died of cardiac arrest. With the help of her pathologist friend, Kellen follows the evidence to Bridget's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553579673
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Crimeline
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Manda Scott's first thriller novel...

...had me searching for more. Her gift for pinning her audience to each page leaves you nothing to do but read until you turn that final leaf...and still want more.

Wonderful writing

Although there were parts of the plot where I needed to suspend belief a bit and, liked the characters, although I couldn`t visualize them as much as I would have liked, what really got me was her discriptive writing. I could smell the woods and the river. Feel the horses and the dog. This is what, for me, made it such a good read. Her knowledge of animals and plants is extensive as is her science. I thought I might be a bit uncomfortable with the lesbian angle but wasn`t at all. Relationships are just relationships. All in all I really enjoyed the book and am about to order her others.

Novels as good as this one are scarce as ...................

"Hen's Teeth" is a darned good novel. Scott is a fine craftsman of the written language: her evocative descriptions of animal life, of nature, of the world of science, and of human relationships is fresh and intriguing. The plot is complex and intellectual and involves the reader up and through the surprising ending. And the heroine, Kellen Stewart, is a delight. After I post this review, I'm going to order Manda Scott's next book!

Best on nature and animals.

Original and readable. So much mourning about the saintly brillant murder victims that it was depressing at the beginning. Excellent on dogs and horses. Characters tended to be either very good and talented or very very bad. I did not find the science plausible. We can already biosythesise insulin commercially. An orally active insulin would be an advantage - not something you'd want to change. The climactic action scenes are good. As a heterosexual male I'm probably not qualified to rate the sex. High quality writing - not a cliche in sight.

I'm not a big mystery fan, but I *loved* this book!

This is one of the most emotionally gripping novels I have read in years -- and I'm an English professor who rarely reads mysteries or crime fiction. The plot was page-turning and pulse-pounding, but what I loved was the characters and the emotional tone, and the excellent writing. I love the protagonist, Kellen, and found myself caring greatly about her and her relationships. This is one of the few novels I've read that, without making a big point of it, captures the intensity of lesbian *friendships* (and ex-lover relationships) in a way that evokes my own life and that of the women I know. It's also one of the only novels I can think of in which animals are fully present as characters -- it also captures the human-animal bonds that are such a central part of the lives of most my friends. After I galloped through Hen's Teeth in a day or two, I kept going back to it repeatedly -- and bought several more copies to send to friends. For quite a while I found it hanging around my psyche like a powerful dream.Scott's next novel, Night Mares, is out now, and it's also excellent.