The Office of the Dead (The Roth Trilogy) - Hardcover

Taylor, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312203489 ISBN 13: 9780312203481

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2000

Synopsis

In a continuation of the Roth Trilogy, which traces the psychological evolution of a female serial killer, a series of modern-day murders may have a bizarre link to a woman burned at the stake in the fifteenth century and to a scandalous minister of the 1890s.

About this title

Review

There are thrillers in which the use of language is pared down and functional to ensure the swiftest possible movement of the plot. But some writers have demonstrated that it is possible to utilise prose of the most elegant and sophisticated variety without sacrificing one iota of the riveting narrative quality. Andrew Taylor is one of the finest stylists in the genre, and remarkable pieces of work such as The Barred Window have made his books essential reading for the most discerning of crime enthusiasts.

The Office of The Dead, third in the Roth trilogy (The Four Last Things and The Judgement of Strangers), links the histories of two families, the Appleyards and the Byfields. It's England circa 1958 and Wendy Appleyard is in deep trouble. She's facing divorce with no money or work experience, so she looks to her oldest friend, Janet Byfield, for assistance. Unlike Wendy, Janet appears to be enjoying everything that life can offer: a good-looking husband, a loving daughter and an exquisite home in the Cathedral Close of Rosington. Her husband is an ambitious young clergyman, on the verge of promotion.

But there is the worm in the rosy bud: sins of the past begin to make a devastating claim on the present, and death comes to the Close, along with a mystery that reaches back to the previous century involving an ill-fated poet priest and opium addict called Francis Youlgreave. Wendy, as the outsider in this close-knit community, begins to suspect the truth about the dark secrets around her, and finds herself having to unlock a double mystery.

Taylor's theme, as in so much serious literature, is the inexorable hold that the past has over the present--and this is rendered in language of the most thoughtful and exuberant kind:

My mother thought Hillgard House would make me a lady. My father thought it would get me out of the way for most of the year. He was right and she was wrong. We didn't learn to be young ladies at Hillgard House--we learnt to be little savages in a jungle presided over by remote predators.

--Barry Forshaw

Review

'Masterly ... will have the [listener] turning back to check the identities of Taylor’s ambiguous characters and relish his fine writing.' (The Scotsman)

'It is in the domestic sphere that Taylor triumphs ... A highly sinister piece of work.' (TLS)

'The writing is consistently good.' (The Sunday Times)

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312203489
• ISBN 13: 9780312203481
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 340