When Anthony Rathe Investigates
Published on 18. September 2018
242 pages
978-1-907230-67-7 (ISBN)
Description
The original Anthony Rathe stories of courtroom criminal cases appeared on American public radio, syndicated by the late Jim French through his Imagination Theater. When Anthony Rathe Investigates continues where the radio stories finished.
Prosecuting criminal cases, barrister Anthony Rathe convinced a jury to imprison an innocent man, who subsequently took his own life. Horrified at his mistake, Rathe abandons his glittering legal career, vowing to truly serve justice.
A series of cases come his way. These four stories, linked by how Rathe is racked with guilt over the suicide, explore crime from a different angle: determination to find the truth, no matter how inconvenient to the investigating officer, Inspector Cook.
The reader is invited to join Rathe in solving these complex mysteries. The first story, Burial for the Dead, exposes sordid family history that led to a murder in a church. In A Question of Proof, Inspector Cook needs Rathe to unravel an underworld murder; in Ties that Bind Rathe solves a crime of passion; and in The Quick and the Dead, modern slavery intrudes into his own personal life.
Prosecuting criminal cases, barrister Anthony Rathe convinced a jury to imprison an innocent man, who subsequently took his own life. Horrified at his mistake, Rathe abandons his glittering legal career, vowing to truly serve justice.
A series of cases come his way. These four stories, linked by how Rathe is racked with guilt over the suicide, explore crime from a different angle: determination to find the truth, no matter how inconvenient to the investigating officer, Inspector Cook.
The reader is invited to join Rathe in solving these complex mysteries. The first story, Burial for the Dead, exposes sordid family history that led to a murder in a church. In A Question of Proof, Inspector Cook needs Rathe to unravel an underworld murder; in Ties that Bind Rathe solves a crime of passion; and in The Quick and the Dead, modern slavery intrudes into his own personal life.
Reviews / Votes
"This had a perfect balance of deduction and soul searching to make the main character compelling. The mysteries were well written with refreshing style." - Bridgit Davis"Short form crime fiction is difficult. The author cannot rely on red herrings, a host of possible suspects, or deeply technical sleuthing. The scene, character and plot must come immediately. The four novellas of this book are masterpieces of their kind.
"Meet Anthony Rathe, a barrister who abruptly retired from practice when a brilliant prosecution resulted in an innocent mans conviction and subsequent suicide. He is now a shade of his former self, haunting the cemetery staring at gravestones meditating on justice. Until, that is, he is forced to consider (not investigate really) four different murders, one for each novella.
"Rathe is a handsome, wealthy, cultured, yet empathetic man who listens to his intuition. Each story is different and enjoyable, if a bit reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes written by Martin Gatiss." - Anonymous, USA
"This was not my usual read but I enjoyed it. I liked the character Rathe very much. This felt more like a gentlemanly approach to crime detection. The fact that Rathe was trying almost to redeem himself from his previous behaviour made him even more appealing. Each case was self contained and fairly succinct. I enjoyed the change in pace from more grisly stories." - Sue Ross, UK
"Well, this was a little different. Set in the present but written in a style that suggests a much earlier time setting. So much so that, for me, I slipped into the past and then was jolted back to the present by some mention of technology. This made for an interesting read!
"So, what we have here is four shortish stories all connected by one concept. Anthony Rathe considers himself guilty of the death of a young, troubled man who, upon being found guilty and sentenced, subsequently killed himself in prison. Rathe finds out later that he was actually innocent of the crime he was imprisoned for and so visits his grave often throughout the book and, despite assurance from the boy's mother, still holds himself responsible. To try and gain some redemption, he makes it his mission to solve other injustices. Whether they be current or historical, he teams up with Inspector Cook and together they do their best to prove innocence, or otherwise, of several characters throughout the book.
"I am not the biggest fan of short stories but I do like anthologies and even though, with the brevity of the tale being told, there is not much wriggle room for the usual twists and turns you find in longer forms of crime fiction, I found that there was just enough for me to get my teeth into with these. Yes, they were occasionally a little bit obvious at times, but I mostly put that down to my voracious devouring of the genre rather than anything the author did.
"Slightly annoying angst aside, I did like Rathe as a character and I thought that his relationship with Cook was well done. They don't really like each other initially but have a mutual respect for one another and it was interesting to see their relationship develop throughout the book.
"As with the relationship between the two main characters, I thought that the stories they embroiled themselves in also got better through the book. The final one being my favourite, and also the most shocking; cause and effect anyone!
"All in all, a nice anthology containing four interesting stories, played out by some well rounded characters, written in an interesting old-feeling style. Hopefully there will be more to come in the series, I'll definitely be up for that!" - Kath Brinck, UK
"Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone." - Stephanie Collins, UK * https://www.sparklingbooks.com/when_anthony_rathe_investigates.html *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Southampton
United Kingdom
File size
0,40 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-907230-67-7 (9781907230677)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Matthew Booth
When Anthony Rathe Investigates
Book
09/2018
Sparkling Books Ltd
€17.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Matthew Booth has appeared at numerous events, discussing topics such as Sherlock Holmes, crime and supernatural fiction, film noir, and Jack the Ripper. A member of the Crime Writers' Association, he is now Editor of its magazine, Red Herrings, and he is the co-host of the film podcast, Cinema Sleuths.
Sparkling Books have also published Further Exploits of Sherlock Holmes, by Matthew, the latter co-authored with the late David Stuart Davies. Matthew is also the author of the Everett Carr mysteries, novels inspired by the famous Golden Age of detective fiction, the latest of which is A Sudden Vengeance. He is also the author of the war-time noir thriller, The House of Skulls, featuring private eye, Alex Priest.
Sparkling Books have also published Further Exploits of Sherlock Holmes, by Matthew, the latter co-authored with the late David Stuart Davies. Matthew is also the author of the Everett Carr mysteries, novels inspired by the famous Golden Age of detective fiction, the latest of which is A Sudden Vengeance. He is also the author of the war-time noir thriller, The House of Skulls, featuring private eye, Alex Priest.
