Nor All Your Tears

By: Keith McCarthy

Narrated by: Seán Barrett

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

July, 1977. Lance’s eccentric father, the retired Dr Benjamin Elliott, has been running a Horticultural Club at local Bensham Manor School, a good deed he decided to take on to impress Ada Clarke, the head dinner lady at the school. One summer’s evening, Lance and his girlfriend Max turn up for the school’s parents evening to show their support of the elder Dr Elliott’s efforts. Much to the consternation and irritation of Detective Inspector Masson, Lance then finds himself in the middle of a local killing spree – once again – where it seems teachers from Bensham School are being targeted.

©2012 Keith McCarthy (P)2012 Isis Publishing Ltd

Another good medico-police procedural

Unfortunately, this is the third in a series, and the first two aren't available on Audible. Hint, Audible: Get on that.

There is obviously some backstory missing, but the reader/listener can make an educated guess about what has happened in the previous two books.

Interesting mix of English suburban village (do the outskirts of London count as "village"), residents with secrets, and an interesting cast of characters.

Shawn Barrett's narration is great and he does all voices well. I didn't see the whodunnit coming.

Interesting placement of the story back in the mid-70s as well.

For fans of the Eisenmenger books, this is another winner by Keith McCarthy. His writing is dryly amusing and droll and I find it very appealing.

Where was the suspense?

I have listened to many of Keith McCarthy's Eisenmenger books and enjoyed them. However, I was disappointed that Nor All Your Tears was essentially a rehash of the Eisenmenger stories (or maybe the Eisenmenger books are rehashes of the Elliot Lance books). So that was the number one disappointment.
The number two disappointment was that there was no real suspense at all. I was never excitedly waiting to hear what happened, because it was being rather dully revealed throughout. It was a very surface book - nothing deep nor nothing real. Like a "cookie cutter" book in a way.
The last thing that disappointed me was not explaining the real deal about Max and her petulance. That was so unrealistic to me, and so unsatisfying that I basically thought "whatever" at the end.
I always feel guilty about giving negative reviews because I like to support authors and their efforts. I have liked his novels before, but this one gets a thumbs down.
The narrator was as ever very good.

Great story

What a great story! You will laugh all the way to the end. The descriptions of his cooking a roast beef had me cracking up! I cooked one just like it in college. He made a salad didn’t wash the greens and they were full of snails. The mystery is well plotted the characters are great. I didn’t see the end coming.

Very thin plot

Any additional comments?

Having enjoyed the Eisenmenger series, I gave this book a try. I was disappointed: plot is very thin, characters are mundane, and there is no dramatic tension. As usual, Sean Barrett does a good job but he has very weak material to work with.