A Likeness in Stone

by Julia Wallis Martin

Book Overview

In the spellbinding tradition of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell, author Julia Wallis Martin crafts an intelligent, atmospheric British suspense novel as engrossing as it is original. An entire... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312970773
• ISBN13: 9780312970772
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Minette Walters fans heads up!

This is an engrossing mystery. If you are a fan of Minette Walters dark mysteries, A Likeness in Stone is also a book that you will enjoy. It is well written, with a sound plot that keeps the reader turning pages. I passed this book along to a friend, which is a good sign, because I share only the best! The author did a good job here, and I look forward to reading her next work.

Can a debut be this good ?

A review compared "A Likeness in Stone" to Minette Walters fantastic psychological suspense novels, so I thought I'd give it a try. The reward was more than I had hoped for. Twenty years ago a student had gone missing. The police suspected murder but weren't able to prove anything. Now the body has surfaced and with it the old allegations and suspicions.This is not a classical 'Whodunit'. The focus is less on finding the culprit (though that happens in the end as well) than on how the three student under suspicion at the time have dealt with the disappearance of their friend and lover and how it has influenced their live since. Joan and Ian especially were portrayed so well that their actions even if questionable became understandable. If you like psychological suspense, I encourage you to read Julia Wallis Martin. She may be the coming star if her first novel is any indication.

first book a winner...think elizabeth george...but compact

A Likeness in Stone is an intelligent and well-written suspense. It's hard to believe this is a first book. Wonderful setting, well fleshed-out characters and pieces of the puzzle given out fairly and timely. This is a writer that I look forward to reading many times in the future. Keep it up. You have found your calling!

A very good mystery with gothic overtones

It took almost two decades before the corpse of college student Helena Warner was found by divers in a building submerged by a reservoir. The news of the discovery reaches retired Detective Chief Inspector Bill Driver who never liked leaving a case open. He was positive what happened to her when the coed disappeared and still remains certain that her lover Ian Gilmore is Helena's killer. Bill is driven to join the investigation, something the current force does not appreciate. Two other suspects besides Ian surface Helena's best friend Joan Poole and another former student. As Bill seeks the connections between the deceased and her three potential culprits, another dead body is found that is eerily similar to the Warner case. Bill realizes that he must quickly uncover the killer's identity before the individual becomes a mass murdering serial killer. A LIKENESS IN STONE combines the best of the British police procedural with a chilling psychological drama into an incredibly well-written and exciting debut novel. Bill and the rest of the cast are all top rate characters, but it is the cleverly designed story line which constantly forces readers to reevaluate what they think is going to occur that turns this book into something special. Keep an eye out for J. Wallis Martin because if this novel is any indication, she has a great career ahead of her. Harriet Klausner