Book Description
With his wife, the acclaimed actress Stella Pinero, away on a movie shoot in Scotland, Chief Commander John Coffin is at a bit of a loose end with just the cat and dog for company. But one morning, as he checks through the mail for his wife, he gets a rather unpleasant surprise: horrific pictures of badly abused children sent anonymously to Stella. Rather than worry his wife, he vows to track down the culprit and calls in a trusted colleague, DCI Phoebe Astley, to assist him in his inquiries.
As they investigate Stella’s stalker, another serious problem faces the detectives of the Second City of London. Several young girls have been murdered in Spinnergate with distinct and brutal similarities between the cases. Is there a serial killer on the loose? What is the connection to Stella Pinero, or is it all coincidence? As the investigations get closer to each other in focus, Coffin starts to feel that there are very personal motives at play as his wife’s tormentor racks up the tension. When excavations near St Luke’s unearth a chilling secret buried in the grounds of Stella’s theater, John feels the net closing around those nearest to him and must act quickly or risk losing all that he holds dear.
A gripping exploration of hidden desires and terrors, Coffin Knows the Answer poses some disturbing questions about identity and relationships in the modern world.
From the Back Cover
Praise for the John Coffin series
“Butler has been compared to the ‘Fearsome Foursome,’ the founding mothers of the genre: Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers. It is an apt assessment. She offers her readers atmospheric settings, vivid characters, and a command of the English language that most contemporary writers can only dream of.”
---Bookpage on Coffin’s Ghost
“Butler’s style has grown ever more cryptic.... This outing will be heartily welcomed by Coffin’s legion of admirers.”
---Kirkus Reviews on Coffin’s Ghost
“Butler has built her considerable reputation on superbly crafted psychological thrillers that examine the bleaker aspects of human nature.... A fine crime novel.”
---Booklist on Coffin’s Game
“As always, Butler can be counted upon for an imaginative plot, gritty realism, tantalizing clues, stylish writing...a fine series by a talented author.”
---Booklist on A Double Coffin
“A neat surprise in the tortuous puzzle’s resolution, and more than enough menacing suspense to grip the reader to the end.”
---Kirkus Reviews on A Dark Coffin
“By turns haunting, baffling, and breathlessly abrupt, another satisfying rich, entry in this offbeat, underrated series.”
---Kirkus Reviews on A Coffin for Charley
About the Author
Gwendoline Butler was born in Blackheath, London, and educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. A winner of the Crime Writers Association's Silver Dagger Award, she has written over fifty books. This is the thirtieth novel in the acclaimed series featuring John Coffin.
Coffin Knows the Answer FROM THE PUBLISHER
"With his wife, the acclaimed actress Stella Pinero, away on a movie shoot in Scotland, Chief Commander John Coffin is at a bit of a loose end with just the cat and dog for company. But one morning, as he checks through the mail for his wife, he gets a rather unpleasant surprise: horrific pictures of badly abused children sent anonymously to Stella. Rather than worry his wife, he vows to track down the culprit and calls in a trusted colleague, DCI Phoebe Astley, to assist him in his inquiries." As they investigate Stella's stalker, another serious problem faces the detectives of the Second City of London. Several young girls have been murdered in Spinnergate with distinct and brutal similarities between the cases. Is there a serial killer on the loose? What is the connection to Stella Pinero, or is it all coincidence? As the investigations get closer to each other in focus, Coffin starts to feel that there are very personal motives at play as his wife's tormentor racks up the tension. When excavations near St. Luke's unearth a chilling secret buried in the grounds of Stella's theater, John feels the net closing around those nearest to him and must act quickly or risk losing all that he holds dear.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
CWA Silver Dagger winner Gwendoline Butler offers dark entertainment in her latest police procedural to feature Sir John Coffin, "Chief Commander of Police in the Second City of London," in Coffin Knows the Answer. Two cases, one involving a stalker, the other a serial killer, touch almost too close to home for Coffin. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Chief Commander of Police John Coffin (Coffin's Ghost) has been investigating a serial murderer in London, ultimately finding tie-ins to the "stalker with a paedophile slant" who sent pictures to Coffin's wife. Fascinating British procedural intricacies from a talented hand. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
John Coffin (Coffinﾽs Ghost, 2001, etc.) has been knighted for his services as Chief Commander of Police in Londonﾽs fictitious Second City, but whatever public attention heﾽs drawn has only made his job harder. The case in point this time is two cases. One involves a pedophile stalker who, not content with amassing a disquietingly extensive collection of pornographic photographs of children, has taken to writing boasting letters, with photos enclosed, to the Second City force. The other, even more alarming, features a serial killer who leaves his victims, raped and murdered, strewn throughout the borough of Spinnergate with a distressing lack of forensic evidence. Both perps seem irresistibly drawn to the even higher public profile of Coffinﾽs wife, actress Stella Pinero. The pedophile sends photos and letters directly to her; the killer threatens and kidnaps her. When she escapes, itﾽs with a photo that may well indicate that the two perps are the same. As the taunting messages continue and the body count rises, Coffin—with help from Paul Masters, his lead administrator; Phoebe Astley, the Chief Inspector whoﾽs still carrying a torch for him; and a dozen other assistants, eventually including Stella herself—strains to find the pattern underlying the wave of violence. The answer, when it comes, will be plausible and powerful, though naggingly inconclusive. Mid-range Coffin, with a sobering series of crimes efficiently set forth but disappointingly wound up. Still, every procedural detail, from the workings of the Second City force to the personnelﾽs inevitable personal problems, rings as true as ever.
Art & Photography
Book Info
