A Ghost in the Machine

Jacket Description/Back: SOME SECRETS ARE DEADLY IN THIS WORLD-AND THE NEXT... Scrupulously honest and warm-hearted, solicitor Dennis Brinkley was about the most-liked person in the peaceful country village of Forbes Abbot. His only eccentricity: restoring fearsome ancient war machines. So when he's killed by a cannonball from one of his contraptions, even Chief Inspector Barnaby believes it's a freak accident. Until an opportunistic medium claims Dennis is about to reveal his murderer to her ...and soon turns up deceased herself. Now, with two people dead and a possible witness missing, Barnaby must untangle the sinister doings and passionate obsessions underneath Forbes Abbot's vale of seeming tranquility. And the eminently rational chief inspector must uncover evidence of things not seen before time runs out-and a calculating killer forever gets beyond his reach. "Graham's ingeniously constructed novels featuring Chief Inspector Barnaby are actually clever satires, closer to Robert Barnard than Agatha Christie in their cruel theatricality."-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "The investigation is top rate, but it is the eccentricity of the villagers that make for a fantastic cozy-like tale."-Midwest Book ReviewBrief Description: Originally published: London: Headline, 2004. Biographical Note: CAROLINE GRAHAM was born in Warwickshire, England. Her first Inspector Barnaby novel, The Killings at Badger's Drift, was selected as one of the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the Crime Writers' Association. Review Quotes: "Graham's ingeniously constructed novels featuring Chief Inspector Barnaby are actually clever satires, closer to Robert Barnard than Agatha Christie in their cruel theatricality. Although Graham lets a few genuinely nice characters slip away unscathed, her lethal humor can be a bit of a shock for the unknowing reader who finds her among the cozies."-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review"If Agatha Christie, Stephen King, and Maeve Binchy decided to collaborate, this might be the book they would write--a sort of police procedural, murder mystery, horror story, and English-village melodrama all in a single cover. It's an engaging, beguiling, surprising story with wonderfully drawn characters, laugh-aloud humor, sinister twists, and a splendidly multifaceted plot."-Booklist (starred review)"Fans of the A&E series starring Inspector Barnaby will welcome this most attractive village cozy."-Library Journal"With its...richly diverting characters, Graham's well-plotted ninth novel...has more in common with Dickens than with Conan Doyle."--Publishers WeeklyPublisher Marketing: When a bloody, pulverized body is found lying beneath the rustic timbers of an authentic torture device so vicious and complicated as to be blood-curdling, there's sufficient unrest in tiny Forbes Abbot to call in Chief Inspector Barnaby. Was Dennis Brinkley done in by crooked business partners, a teenage seductress, a couple of would-be publishers who've just inherited--and then lost--millions, or perhaps by tired, timid little Benny Fraye, who wouldn't hurt a fly--would she? Barnaby will soon find out just who set in motion the gruesome machine that crushed the unfortunate victim. Caroline Graham's delightful cozy village mysteries, which inspired the continuing Midsommer Murders series starring Inspector Barnaby on A&E Television, have long been fan-favorites;" A Ghost in the Machine" is sure to cement her reputation as one of the best crime writers in the mystery business today. Review Citations:

Ingram Paperback Advance 07/01/2005 pg. 33 (EAN 9780312995157, Mass Market Paperbound)

Publishers Weekly 07/12/2004 pg. 47 (EAN 9780312324216, Hardcover)

Booklist 08/01/2004 pg. 1905 (EAN 9780312324216, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Library Journal 08/01/2004 pg. 60 (EAN 9780312324216, Hardcover)

Romantic Times 10/01/2004 pg. 84 (EAN 9780312324216, Hardcover)

New York Times 09/19/2004 pg. 15 (EAN 9780312324216, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Graham, Caroline Caroline Graham was born in Warwickshire, England. Her first Inspector Barnaby novel, "The Killings at Badger's Drift", was selected as one of the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the Crime Writers' Association.