EXCERPT: It was on a Wednesday evening that Martin Hume decided to kill his wife. He sat alone in the comfortable, cheerless house. He had watched A Question of Sport with no great interest. The sitcom that followed seemed to him even more banal than usual. He had finished The Times crossword. Murder came into his mind like an unexpected and welcome visitor....

ABOUT THIS BOOK: It is a will-known fact that most murder victims know their murderers -- usually very well. So when Verna Hume is found strangled in her own home the police immediately turn to her husband, and when it becomes apparent that the couple did not get on, they arrest him.But one man is unconvinced. Detective Inspector Peach finds it hard to believe that the mild-mannered Martin Hume is capable of killing anyone, and sets out to prove it. With the investigation reopened, it soon becomes evident that Verna Hume had a talent for making people dislike her and was universally loathed, especially by her close family and friends. Now, Peach is faced with six suspects, all with motives, all with the opportunity and all with something to hide...

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't like this book at first, was thinking of abandoning the read....Although this is not historical fiction, the characters are somewhat old-fashioned, and it feels like it could have been set a long time ago, but for the presence of computers......

In places the language is, well....perhaps an example will show you what I mean rather more clearly than I can put it - 'A lissome, athletic, lust-inducing figure, that PC Julie was. It was clearly Darren's duty to protect her from the lubricious advances of the old sweats and afford her his own lechery-free advice and experience.' But, praise be, it was not all like that otherwise I truly would have abandoned it!

The story is actually quite a good one. Martin Hume has had quite enough of his philandering wife, especially now that he has realised that he has fallen in love with someone else. So he begins to figure out how to kill her as she will not give him a divorce. Does he do it? Read it to find out, because I'm not going to tell you.

This is a cosy murder-mystery. There is no bad language, no overt sex (it is talked about but not described). There is no shortage of suspects - for Verna was not well liked, and for very good reasons.

To Kill A Wife is a quick easy read. It will never set the world on fire, but I enjoyed it once I got into it.

***

THE AUTHOR: James Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Endeavour Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of To Kill A Wife by J.M. Gregson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This is a reprint of a book from 1999 and it's safe to say that it's dated and quite simplistic reading! Verna is married to Martin. They hate each other and one day Verna is found dead. So who killed Verna? Was it Martin or one of the many enemies Verna had amassed?

This book was originally published in 1999. It is somewhat dated and predictable. The marriage is "dead"-Martin wants a divorce but Verna refuses while enjoying numerous affairs. Martin has an affair with her sister and upon returning home from a weekend away finds Verna dead. He's wished her dead many times but did he do it? Add him to the long list of potential suspects that had issues with Verna. My biggest problem with "older" books brought back is that the subject matter stays "old" and doesn't necessarily age well over time.

The storyline is good, it is a classic whodunit, in a very British style. Most of the characters are elaborated and believable. So far, so good....unfortunately the investigating inspector and his (female) sidekick are particularly unattractive. He keeps referring to the victim as a drawer dropper (not once,but about 30 times or so)and she feels compelled to say " even so...."!!!!!.
Now if this were written in the dark ages,well,a sign of the times and all that nonsense ,but it is written in the late nineties, so frankly a drawer dropper (and many more funny (?)remarks ) are more than bizarre and definitely outdated.

Excellent read with intriguing twist and turns. Making it difficult to second guess the outcome. The plot was very feasible and believable. Enjoyed this thoroughly not wanting to put it down. I will be recommended it to my book club !!
Nicky Jay

This was my first time reading J.M. Gregson and any of the Inspector Peach series, and this was truly a fun and entertaining “whodunnit” mystery! This is the story of a miserably unpleasant and vicious woman named Verna. Verna and Martin have been unhappily married for years and she has refused to give him a divorce. So what does Martin do? He decides that he is going to kill her. Martin is falling in love with Verna’s sister, Sue and is ready to get on with his life. Verna has multiple lovers on the side, Hugh and Robert, but also has several enemies including her business partner Barbara, her Dad and Step-Mom, her sister Sue, and of course her husband Martin. After deciding to kill Verna, Martin suddenly feels rejuvenated – working harder at his career as an accountant, spending more time with friends, spending more time with Sue and her young son, and also finding the strength to ignore and/or not react to Verna’s mean and hurtful comments and actions. Martin is sent over 200 miles away one weekend to Oxford for a business conference, and when he returns that Sunday evening – he finds Verna dead. So who killed her?

I loved this mystery because Verna had angered, hurt, alienated, or pressured everyone in her life – so everyone was a potential suspect. Martin was honest from the beginning with the detectives Peach and Blake, but everyone else lied at least once about their relationship with Verna, when they last saw her and where they were at her time of death. The detectives quickly learn how many people hated Verna but keep reminding themselves that she still did not deserve to be murdered. Slowly they interview the main players, discuss findings, interview them again, and so on until their lies begin to unravel. But even after discovering how many people have lied they still can’t prove who killed her. Eventually, however, the killer decides to face the music and confesses after realizing that their alibi fell through.

To Kill a Wife was wonderfully fast-paced and kept me guessing the entire time. Frequently in murder mysteries, it’s difficult to figure out what someone would be murdered and what possible enemies they could have had. But in this case, everyone hated this evil woman, especially her own family members. The point of view alternates throughout the novel but seems to be mainly from the detectives or Martin, however, the reader does get a few chapters from Verna’s point of view prior to her death shedding a somewhat different light. Don’t get me wrong, she was horrible, yet there are a few moments here and there when her vulnerability is exposed related to her affair with Hugh. Poor Martin literally struggles controlling laughter at the irony of his being arrested for murdering his wife, considering that he had been planning her murder in his mind but never got the chance to do it. After his release for lack of evidence he honestly doesn’t give her murder much thought, except relief to live his life and that he didn’t have to resort to killing her himself. Yes, murder is wrong, but I was with Martin on this one! He deserved some peace.

I loved everything about this novel except for two things. First, once the killer confessed and was in custody, there was a very abrupt ending. You’re reading along on this wild ride, find out who killed her and then that’s it, the end. Which honestly, the mystery was solved so no need to go on, but I’m used to more subtle transitions and conclusions. J.M. Gregson has written several books in this series though so I would be curious to know from anyone that has read him before if this is just his standard way of wrapping things up. Secondly, the grammatical errors were off the charts. But – this was an ARC that I received prior to the publication date, so I’m hoping that these were corrected before final publication??

Overall I found this novel to be gripping and suspenseful from the beginning and was absolutely not able to put it down. Actually, dinner was served about an hour later than planned because I refused to cook until I finished! I cannot recommend this novel enough for someone in the mood for a fantastically puzzling murder mystery.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book kind of left me confused and wondering what I had just read. The synopsis pretty much gives the entire story away so there were no surprises. It just was an odd book to me. I read it in a couple of hours because it didnt require much thought to keep up. My 3 star rating was generous.

Martin Hume has repeatedly asked his wife, Vera, for a divorce. She has refused each and every time. It's not because she loves him. It's not because she would like to save her marriage. No ... she refuses because it would give him pleasure and she can't have that!

Vera Hume is a harridan. She's mean, cruel and has no redeeming qualities. And her poor husband is not the only person who gets the sharp edge of her tongue. Her sister, Sue, has grown up with Vera .. you'd never think they had the same parents.

Martin is thinking / dreaming of ways to kill his wife. And he's not the only one!

Vera is also having an affair .. and she's decided that this man should commit totally to her. He doesn't exactly see eye to eye on that matter! She has cheated a former business partner out of her share of their successful business. Her own father and step-mother would not miss her should she 'disappear'.

Coming back from a business trip he finds Vera dead ... she's been strangled.

DI Dennis Peach doesn’t think Martin did it. And his partner Lucy Blake is in agreement. It’s clear that Martin is innocent, his alibi watertight, and so it’s up to Peach and Blake to uncover the real murderer.

Although somewhat dated (first published in 1999), this is a solid mystery. It's not what I would call suspenseful, but it's an engaging read. It's a race to the finish to see who-dun-it.

I can't say I actually liked the characters. Martin is weak ... Vera is a witch ... Sue is too sugary sweet... Peach is rather boring... But ... I did like the story premise.

Many thanks to Endeavour Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Loved this book! What a great read! Highly Recommend!

Another excellent Inspector Peach mystery. This one is really good as it has a lot of twist and turns and the guilty person could be anyone. I love the way Gregson infuses life in all his characters, with real human emotions and situations which are believable. I enjoy Inspector Peach take on interrogating suspects

3 and 1 / 2 stars

Martin Hume is fantasizing about killing his unfaithful and mean-spirited wife, Verna. He has many methods of doing it. Quite coincidentally, he starts an affair with his sister-in-law, Sue, Verna’s sister. When he returns home from a conference, and a weekend fantasizing about killing Verna, he finds her dead in her bedroom.

Enter Detective Inspector Denis C.S. “Percy” Peach. DS Lucy Blake is his sidekick. While DI Peach was on his day off, Martin was arrested for the murder of his wife.

There are quite a few suspects in this little drama. We have the sister, the husband, the dissatisfied ex-business partner, Verna’s father (who seems to have something he’s hiding), and her current – or former- lovers to name a few.

On the trail of the unnamed murderer are Peach and Blake. They interview witnesses, relatives and some acquaintances of the dead woman. They seem to be receiving some straight answers, but others are evasive. They do feel as though they are making some small progress however.

The murderer turns out to be … well who they turn out to be.

This is a fairly well written book that was originally published in 1999. Although DI Peach was a little inconsistent in his behavior; DS Blake’s behavior was steady. Not too bad a little book.

I want to thank Netgalley and Endeavour Press for sharing this book with me.

Verna Hume isn’t an easy woman to be around. Her husband, Martin, knows that all too well.

Their marriage had long since died and out of spite, Verna refuses to give Martin the divorce he wants.

And in the meantime, she has numerous affairs with other men – her latest man, one Hugh Pearson of Pearson’s Electronics.

It’s then that Martin thinks: I could just kill her.

As he toys with plans to kill her, he feels a new lease of life. Everything from his career to his social life is on the up.

He starts an affair of his own – with Verna’s sister, Sue; a single mother to a wonderful little boy.

Oblivious to everything but her future with Hugh, Verna completely ignores Martin going away for the weekend.

To his surprise, when Martin returns home, he finds Verna dead; to add to the irony, he’s arrested for her murder.

It seems an easy case to the police but DI Dennis Peach doesn’t think Martin did it. And his partner Lucy Blake is in agreement.

As the pair soon discover, Verna Hume had many enemies other than Martin and Sue.

There’s her long-time business partner and friend, Barbara Harris, who had a nasty disagreement with Verna the day before her death.

There’s Hugh Pearson, who while happy to sleep with Verna was not keen on Verna’s insistence that they get married and set up home together.

There are her own parents, her father and stepmother – Dean and Alice Osbourne – whom, Verna treated awfully.

And then there are all her ex-lover.

It’s clear that Martin is innocent, his alibi watertight, and so it’s up to Peach and Blake to uncover the real murderer.

OMG - I love these books - Just cannot get enough of them - bloody brilliant!!!!

This was a pretty mundane and awful book. First published in 1999, it's being re-published by Endeavour Press here in 2017. The problem is, the book reads like an out of date book, especially up against so many strong books and authors in the crime genre.

I found Inspector Peach to be one dimensional, no depth to his Detective personality at all. Highly forgettable. The plot started out okay. It's a true whodunit after a murder makes many people a prime suspect.

But it dragged. Lagged and quite frankly I lost interest at 70%. Page flicking to the end.

One huge problem is things in the book are not altered to reflect modern times. Like brands of cars, equipment. You can tell it was written back in 1999. One appalling passage highlights a woman shock at seeing a "black man" in such a high position as a doctor! That she rarely sees black people at all. How racist that is in this day and age?

As Peach slowly investigates each suspect there is really zero action, no thrills and nothing to really hold you close. There are SO many more good crime books out there I'm surprised this is being resurfaced. It certainly needs editing to bring it into the modern age at least.

1 star. Very average and dull. I've got to be honest. Much better books out there.

I received a copy of this book from Endeavour Press via NetGalley. All review opinions are entirely my own and unbiased.

Excellent! I had no idea what to expect or what the true story was, in the most wonderful way. I had to stay up late last night/into the morning to see how this one ended. One of those books you're lucky to stumble upon and makes you glad to be a reader. Five stars!