Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Death on the Eleventh Hole by James Michael Gregson

James Michael Gregson (1934-2016) was an academic, teaching for 27 years before taking up writing full time. He was a golfing enthusiast and his expertise spills over into his books occasionally. He wrote two mystery series, one with 19 books about Detective Inspector Percy Peach and Detective Sergeant Lucy Blake in Lancashire, England, and the other about Superintendent John Lambert and Detective Sergeant Bert Hook, policemen in Gloucestershire, England. Death on the Eleventh Hole is the 15^th book in the 29-title series with Lambert and Hook. Originally published by Severn House in 2002, Lume Books released it again in 2015 with several others by Gregson.

Kate Wharton is a prostitute who has fallen into the better paying role of drug pusher as she saves money to leave Gloucester and start a new life somewhere else. She’s decided to leave the drug trade behind and is brave enough to tell her handler, who takes the news as well as might be expected. Days later Lambert and Hook discover her body on a golf course where Lambert is coaching the long-suffering Hook on his game. Their murder investigation revealed no discernible ties from Kate to golfing, which puzzled Lambert, who hated to see his beloved game sullied in this way.

Some of the best parts of this story are Lambert’s attempts to teach Hook how to play golf. Hook doesn’t really want to learn, but goes along to keep the peace with his supervisor. Lambert is too keen on the game to be a good instructor and he can’t read his audience at all. I was exasperated with Lambert on Hook’s behalf. A significant subplot is Lambert’s approaching retirement, as he grapples with the idea of leaving a job he loves.

The writing is competent, the story moves along briskly, and the characters are delineated realistically and succinctly. The one deficiency in this book is a big one: the culprit was plain midway through. The motive wasn’t but the killer was telegraphed clearly on multiple occasions. For those to whom plot is important, and I am one of them, this shortfall is a problem. I liked the book well enough though to put both of Gregson’s series on my TBR list for further exploration. Especially recommended for fans of British detective series and for readers searching for summer binge candidates.

 

·         ASIN: ‎ B012T8I5RA

·         Publisher: ‎ Lume Books (July 27, 2015)

·         Publication date: ‎ July 27, 2015

·         Language: ‎ English

·         File size: ‎ 4190 KB

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.