Jumping the Cracks

by Victoria Blake

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0752874624
• ISBN13: 9780752874623
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Orion
• Length: 302 Pages

Customer Reviews

Suspense and humor; a great combination

First Sentence: Sweat drips off him as he half-runs, half-walks along Holywell; his T-shirt and trousers flap, soaking wet, against his skin. PI Sam Falconer has become partners with her friend Alan and opened a branch of their PI agency in Oxford, Sam's childhood home. A large man, Norman Sweetman, has asked her to care for his Chihuahua overnight, but quickly finds he's not coming back in the morning. The curator of the Pitt Rivers museum, known for its shrunken heads and witch in a bottle, hires Sam to patrol at night as he fears things are missing. It starts with an attack, attempted dog-napping and progresses to murder. I've become a very big fan of this series, although it took me awhile. In many ways, it's as much about Sam's dealing with her past and her personal growth as it is the particular case within each book. Sam's foibles and fears make her very real. Blake gives Sam wonderful supporting characters, both throughout the series and in this particular book, that are diverse and interesting, but not eccentric. There is a very good sense of place, excellent dialogue, a wonderful humor that made me laugh at times but equal suspense that had me quickly turning the pages. I am very glad to have found Sam Falconer and hope there will be more books in this series.

Oxford secrets

Private Investigator Sam Falconer grew up in Oxford, living with her mother and step father in one of the colleges where he was a Don. She is asked to guard a collection of weird museum pieces, including a number of shrunken heads, by doing night duty as a guard at a small museum of exotic and erotic artifacts. Very soon after she takes up her duties, two murders take place and she is left in charge of an extremely feisty chihuahua, by a large man who keeps disappearing, just when she desperately needs some answers from him. Sam has a troubled, psychologically involved background and the strange and dangerous events of the present, threaten to tip her over the edge. It's a good, fast and exciting read which lovers of modern day thrillers will really enjoy.