The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon

The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon ISBN-13: 9781464204913 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: Sept. 3, 2015

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Richard Temperley arrives at Euston station early on a fogbound London morning. He takes refuge in a nearby hotel, along with a disagreeable fellow passenger, who had snored his way through the train journey. But within minutes the other man has snored for the last time – he has been shot dead while sleeping in an armchair. Temperley has a brief encounter with a beautiful young woman, but she flees the scene.

When the police arrive, Detective Inspector James discovers a token at the crime scene: a small piece of enamelled metal. Its colour was crimson, and it was in the shape of the letter Z. Temperley sets off in pursuit of the mysterious woman from the hotel, and finds himself embroiled in a cross-country chase – by train and taxi – on the tail of a sinister serial killer.


My Review:
The Z Murders is a suspense novel set in England. It was originally written in 1932, and this is a reprint edition. I enjoyed the Detectives on this one, but the characters were not developed very much. The story was mostly people running around following each other while other people were killed for mysterious reasons. The story was told from several viewpoint characters, but mainly by Richard.

The author seems to like having his main male character fall in love at first sight with an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Though Richard realized he was acting foolishly about the girl, this story pushed it to the edge of reason. A briefly glimpsed girl is a witness--or suspect--for the first murder. The police want to question her, but she disappears. Only Richard knows what she looks like. Rather than tell the police, he follows the girl in an effort to get her to trust him and let him help her. The police follow Richard. As so started the merry chase.

I'm more into puzzle mysteries rather than tense chases, but the story kept my interest. There was no sex. There was some bad language. I'd recommend it to fans of tense chases and men being silly about beautiful women.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.