Serious Intent

by Margaret Yorke

Overview

Following retirement, Marigold Darwin returns to her home village determined to purchase a house. She meets two young boys, Mark and Steve, who hang around The Willows, where old Tom Morton lives. His housekeeper Ivy sometimes babysits Mark, although this may be a mistake. Neither boy is in the least concerned about others, regarding casual deception and theft as just part of everyday life. The same is true of their two friends, who have a seriously disturbed mother. Marigold is gradually drawn into the lives of all and becomes aware of serious shortcomings in the parenting of the boys, and some very real fears in a situation where the misdeeds of one generation are easily passed to the next. Tensions mount and in an intricate plot danger looms, with Marigold’s own life being placed on the line. The characters in this novel hold secrets and intents which Margaret Yorke reveals with her usual skill and capacity to thrill.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755134861
Publisher:	House of Stratus, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/23/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	262
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she now lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire. During World War II she saw service in the Women's Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church. She is widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia. Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she has written some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, 'authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers'. She is proud of the fact that many of her novels are essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, she states that characters are far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing 'I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me'. Critics have noted that she has a 'marvellous use of language' and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She is a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.

Editorial Reviews

Fatherless boys-some of whom yield to bad company, others to good influence-give British writer Yorke's latest a strong emotional dimension. Self-reliant Mark lives with his unmarried mother; angry, thieving Steve with his widowed stepmother. Together they while away afternoons with aged invalid Tom Morton at his home, The Willows. Up the road at Merrifields lives Richard Gardner, a generous man of great patience, with his abusive, manic-depressive wife, Verity, and her sons, vulnerable Terry and tough, rude Justin. As village incidents of vandalism, arson and burglary escalate, each of the boys falls under suspicion. When Tom dies, homely retired spinster Marigold Darwin buys his house. Here Yorke's trademark suspense kicks in: Alan, the man Tom raised as a son, has completed a prison sentence for his wife's murder and finds he is disinherited. Determined to dig up his murder weapon under the shed at The Willows so he can start a new life in crime, Alan nurses his rage, and it's only a matter of time before he claims a new victim. Yorke works a subtle psychological study of bad behavior, yet leaves the reader free to root for the triumphs of those who choose to act decently. Mystery Guild featured alternate. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Once again, Yorke offers an engaging combination of psychological intensity and murderous intent in an English village setting. The secrets of two neighboring houses cause problems for their inhabitants, especially when a killer comes to reclaim a hidden lethal weapon. For all collections.

Library Journal