This omnibus has the first three (of eight so far) Bill Slider mysteries. And they are very good. However while I enjoyed the mysteries - loved them actually - I am still a bit ambivalent about Slider's personal life. It doesn't dominate the books but I find it does sit awkwardly at times.Anyway - the first of the books is 'Orchestrated Death' - the body of a young, beautiful and naked girl is found in an abandoned flat. A series of lucky breaks quickly leads Slider into the world of Orchestras and music. Yet how does a girl with no real income lead such a lavish lifestyle, what is she doing with a Stradivarius violin and what does all this olive oil have to do with everything. Unfortunately I found the ending unsatisfying and, I thought, a bit of a cop out.
The second mystery is DEATH WATCH - and Harrod-Eagles doesn't muck around but throws us straight into the story. A fire in a motel reveals a body but it is uncertain whether this was suicide, murder or some kind of bizarre sexual practice gone wrong. Forced to delve back into the life of the victim we get slowly taken back to the Firecrew of Shaftesbury Avenue in the 1970's to find out what happened, and what has been happening to the rest of the crew. This is Harrod Eagles at her best (I think) as it over-lays many different themes, lies and misleading statements and red-herrings, to build up a very satisfying mystery which we can solve - maybe - before she reveals the killer and the reason.
The last book of the three is NECROCHIP - which starts rather gruesomely when a young girl comes across a finger in her chips. There is just a finger to go on, no body - and Slider has to somehow identify the body before he can even begin to solve the crime. The very complex series of leads and clues to follow are just so wonderful and satisfying. What has the chip shop manager got to do with this all - why are the neighbours so unhelpful - what as a cheap boarding house got to do with it all and where do computers fit into the whole. Reading back over it, all the clues are revealed slowly and we can pick them up or miss them with the clever red-herrings but in to fool Slider - and us.... Again there is an unsatisfactory (I think) conclusion. However the story is so darn good I can almost forgive her for it.
On the Personal side of Sliders life I find that a bit less believable and easy to take. Slider is so wishy-washy. He has a wife, Irene, to whom he has been faithful to all his life - but he meets Joanna, a violinist in the first book and they start an affair which lasts all through these books. The tension between him not getting up the courage to leave his wife and not wanting to give up Joanna gets to be annoying at times. Joanna's reaction to this seems to unrealistic, to me anyway.
Sliders side kick - Atherton, is genial but again rather unrealistic at times. Still he makes a good character that I don't mind that so much either.
In conclusion - I really did enjoy these mysteries but if you read mysteries for the personal development then you will probably be more disappointed.
