Soundings S.

2 primary works

A Cold Coffin

by Gwendoline Butler

Published 31 December 1999

'[Gwendoline Butler's] inventiveness never seems to flag; and the singular atmosphere of her books, compounded of jauntiness and menace, remains undiminished' Patricia Craig, TLS London's Second City has been the scene of many a terrifying crime, but the discovery of a pile of infant skulls unearthed near police headquarters is particularly horrifying. Another major worry for John Coffin, Chief Commander, is a triple murder on his patch, that of a midwife and her two daughters. The obvious suspect is her son, Black Jack Jackson, a local villain, but both Coffin and DI Phoebe Astley are reluctant to accept his guilt. Two further murders add renewed urgency to both investigations: one of a doctor, discovered in a hospital laboratory surrounded by grisly trophies, might well be connected to the disinterring of the children's skulls; the other, of a notorious Second City criminal, with the brutal midwife killings. Coffin is able to take all this in his stride, however, until the growing violence comes closer to home - directly threatening the safety of his wife, the actress Stella Pinero.

Coffin and the Paper Man

by Gwendoline Butler

Published 21 June 1990

A young girl's body is discovered in an alleyway in London's Docklands, brutally murdered. Police chief commander John Coffin investigates. From one of the most universally praised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.

A young girl's body is discovered in an alleyway in London's Docklands. The brutal murder polarizes the inhabitants of the newly gentrified neighbourhood under the jurisdiction of police chief commander John Coffin.

Coffin receives a series of notes from 'the Paper Man' promising more bodies if the young girl's killer isn't caught. As the case goes unsolved, more bodies turn up, and now Coffin must deal with escalating neighbourhood turmoil, while unravelling a complex sequence of events to find two killers...