This short novel introduces Inspector John Crow. To date, there have been seven subsequent titles in the series.

This is an old fashioned mystery. There are no cell phones, IMs or computers, just the solving of the case.

Peter Marlin is in trouble. He is married to Jeannette who recently returned after an unexplained absence from home. During the time that she was away, Peter found a new relationship. Unfortunately for him, his wife is murdered and he looks pretty guilty.

Readers will enjoy trying to solve this case that is set in the 1960s. Can they figure everything out before the ethical Inspector Crow?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

This read wasn't too taxing. I found it easy enough to read quickly, which I love getting the opportunity to do, once I got through the first third. This portion was very slow moving, and I did consider leaving it and returning at later date. Thankfully I didn't though as it really picked up and the story as a whole became captivating. I was really eager to discover how it would all pan out, even if the author did over burden us with unnecessary details at time. It was worth a read but I'm not sure I'll remember too much about it this time next year.

Meet Crow Of The Yard....
Enjoyable mystery featuring the rather moralistic and upstanding Inspector Crow of Scotland Yard and the first in this series. Swiftly moving, engaging and well plotted with a well constructed finale. A really enjoyable read and a good start for Inspector Crow.

I read a lot of modern day crime thrillers and it was really interesting to read one set in the 1960s, when there was a lot less resources available to the police. It's quite a slow paced read that doesn't gather much pace for a while and quite character driven. I wasn't completely gripped but I enjoyed it and it was a refreshing change from the fast paced thrillers I often read.

Set in the 1960's, this book was a fresh welcome from all of the modern day crime novels. Readers are introduced to John Crow and find themselves sympathizing and wanting more from the character. With the lack of forensic testing in the 60's, there's a lot of guessing and finger pointing taking place, which makes the book into a great "who done it" mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the privilage to read this wonderful book!

A gripping and captivating murder mystery with the right amount of spice to liven it up. Poor Peter being the number one suspect of his wife murder, and the disgusting revelations revealed about his wife whom he loved dearly, he was in anguish, but the lawyer in him won't give up so easily he needed answers and set out to find such. The results are not what he expected but he is a fighter. An intriguing and deeply engrossing read.

Extraordinarily fine first installment of a new series from Roy Lewis, a master of the police procedural. Detective Inspector John Crowe is sent by the Murder Squad in London to solve cases in the provinces. Crowe is far from the usual lead character. He is tall, guant, almost sepulchral. But he is thorough, he is blunt, and he's good at what he does. I thoroughly enjoyed Lewis' extraordinary fine description of his characters, the plot movement and twists, and the denouement. I thank the publisher for letting me read an advance copy and look forward to new installments of this intriguing series.

Struggled to get into this one unfortunately. Just didn't pull me in like similar books have. Thanks for the copy NetGalley

Excellent book with a great storyline. Characters that are so well written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

This was one of those slow paced crime classics. Not quite Agatha Christie and. not quite English countryside this was set mainly in lawyers chambers and involved the partners in the office.

Inspector Crow (a most unfortunate name I thought) but quite suited to the part. Not very impressive in his physical appearance but very upto it otherwise, he is not happy with he verdict in the recent murder of Jeanette, wife of one of the partners. The husband was exonerated completely but a whiff of scandal remains and he knows it is best if he resigns moves away and try to start anew. Before he does this however, another murder takes place and he is back squarely as a suspect.

It is now upto him and the Inspector to clear his name and this is going to be difficult to do. Peters timings are just not right and it is only by a chance that he is finally able to set himself free and at the same time find out who actually killed his wife.

This is a slow paced read so it is not one of those high suspense, edge of the seat thrillers but it has it's fair share of charm for some readers.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the fact that it was set in a time before hi tech and was a good old fashioned detective story. The only downside to this was it seemed quite slow but that is how it was in the era the book is set.
The characters were believable but not particularly endearing, to be fair they were portrayed as not particularly nice people so I just couldn't warm to them.
It was a well constructed book and was quite a slow burner with a few twists and turns along the way kept you guessing to the end.
If you are after a good old fashioned detective story then this is for you, if you prefer slick hi tech crime fighting this may not be quite the book to read.

This book is set in the 1960's and centres around a solicitor Peter Marlin whose wife Jeanette is murdered . The book starts when Peter leaves the Coroner's court with the verdict of murder on the death of his wife. The day then gets worse he is asked to leave the Law Practice where he works and goes out and gets drunk. When the Police bring in a detective from outside the area to investigate, a number of issues come to light and in the end reveal the murderer.

This is a good read and is very enjoyable

To my shame, prior to being invited to take part in the blog tour for ‘A Lover Too Many’, I hadn’t actually heard of Roy Lewis before. Well let me tell you, I have certainly heard of him now. I love a bit of nostalgia and so I picked up the book and eagerly dived straight in. I was not to be disappointed either because I loved reading ‘A Lover Too Many’ but more about that in a bit.
Peter Marlin is the main character we come across initially. His wife has died and he attends his wife’s inquest at Coroners Court, where the Coroner rules that Peter’s wife was murdered. Of course the finger of suspicion points at Peter in a big way. His life seems to start to fall to pieces from then on. He loses his job, people go out of their way to avoid him and he is constantly viewed with suspicion. When Inspector John Crow is brought into the story, Peter views him with suspicion as he thinks that Crow will just confirm what everybody else is thinking. How little does he know….. Inspector Crow is one of those police officers who go where the evidence is taking him and he isn’t swayed or influenced by public opinion. Crow is thorough, clever and above all he is honest. What will Detective Inspector Crow decide? Is Peter Marlin guilty of his wife’s murder? What will the verdict be? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It took me a little while to get into this book because of the way it is written. It’s not that the book is badly written as that couldn’t be further from the truth. I find it to be very well written. This book was originally printed at the end of the 1960s when language, attitudes and writing styles were so much different to those that we have today. So when I got used to Roy’s writing style and the language he used, I really did get into this book and then some. Boy oh boy. I became seriously addicted to reading ‘A Lover Too Many’ as I was desperate to find out if Peter did kill his wife. I had my own suspicions as to what had happened but I was wrong. The more I read, the more I got into the story and the quicker the pages turned. I didn’t realise how quickly I was getting through the book until I looked up to check and saw that I was two thirds of the way through the book, which I was so disappointed about. I was enjoying the story and the characters so much that I just wanted the book to continue. I was so gripped by the writing that I began to interact with the book. Before anybody says anything, yes I know it’s a work of fiction but if I am enjoying a book, I tend to immerse myself in the book and I live the story. At times I felt like I was Crow’s unpaid and invisible assistant.
It’s true to say that I did enjoy reading ‘A Lover Too Many’ and I look forward to reading more of Roy’s books. I can’t wait to read the next instalment in the series featuring Detective Inspector Crow and here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

An old-school mystery featuring Peter Marlin, suspected by the police of murdering his wife, and Detective Crow, initially inclined to think him guilty. Add in a mix of mistresses, shady business dealings, company politics, and more murder to get a traditional whodunit set in the UK in the 1960's. The story is slow going at first but picks up steam about halfway through, with enough suspects, motives, and plot twists to keep things fun in a classic way. The special prefatory warning to readers about the lack of modern forensic methods and the prevalence of drunk driving at the time is more patronizing than helpful, as are many of the British-to-American English entries in the glossary ("air raid," "shop," "Doc Marten's," etc. ). Wow, thanks--good thing you helped us little Americans understand all that difficult and obscure jargon.

I love it when new authors come along and Joffe have signed up someone with a massive back catalogue, Roy Lewis, so expect lots more reviews from me regarding him and his books.

This book is different from the usual Joffe books as it is set in the 60's, a time before forensics, DNA and the technology police use today, so takes things back to basics.

The language and issues in this book took some getting used to as the use of language and people's attitudes have changed so much in the 50 years since this book is set and originally written.  Once I got my head into what the book was about it was an enjoyable read, although a bit slow in places for my liking.

The book starts off with a woman's body being found and the police discovering she was strangled.  The main suspect is obviously her husband, as he has left her and is in a relationship with another woman, something that was frowned upon back in the 60's apparently.

Whilst the police are investigating the case they come upon lots of other suspects, along with blackmail and greed, so have to slowly rule everyone out the old fashioned way.

Although the book was slow in places it was still a nice read, and I will definitely be reading the next in the series once it is re-published.

Peter Marlin's wife has been strangled. The coroner has given his report. Peter loved her so much he did not see her faults or overlooked them. Can he let all of it go and move on? His partnership in the law firm is about to come to an end but what to do next. Or does he have the information to find the killer and maybe he needs that to move on. The more he thinks he knows the less he actually knows about what was going on that brought about her murder. Inspector Crow is now on the case and would be able to find out what happened if Peter would stay out of his way. Interesting read.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

In this reissue of A Lover Too Many by Roy Lewis, Peter Martin's wife has been murdered. While not initially accused of the crime, there are a lot of questions to be asked. Part of the reason is that at one time Peter's wife left him for another. Peter himself has had his own dalliance with a woman named Shirley. Now that his wife has been found dead, these facts raise suspicion towards him. Peter is partner in a law firm, and now his job is at risk.

Inspector John Crow from Scotland Yard is now investigating, with Peter as the main suspect. Intent on proving his innocence, Peter hires a private investigator. However, things go horribly wrong when he is murdered in Peter's home. Will the nightmare that Peter is living ever end? By the way, the story was set in 1960s Scotland, so the approaches to the solving of this crime was handled far differently than it would be today.

While I was very interested in the answers that would eventually be revealed, I found this story very difficult to get into. I struggled with Peter and some of the other characters. Also, I had to gloss over the legalese in this book. I felt it had no relevance to the story at hand. The first part of the book was told strictly from Peter's point of the book. The policing of the story takes up the rest of the book. After about 40% the book did gain traction and I was able to be entertained. While this may not quite be what I was looking for in a book, A Lover Too Many is the first in a new Inspector John Crow series, and that holds much promise.

Many thanks to Joffe Books and to Books n All Promotions for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is our introduction to Inspector John Crow who is described as very tall, rail thin and a very good detective at Scotland Yard. The date, sometime in the late sixties: the place, England. Therefore, there is no DNA, forensics is not as thorough as they are now, and certainly no mobile phones or personal computers to summon assistance.

The novel opens on the day of the inquest into the death of Peter Marlin’s wife, Jeanette Marlin where the Coroner confirms that she was strangled. Peter had been the one to find her body at their home, but everyone is aware that he was having an affair, and that she had left him for some months and had only recently returned. The police suspect that he is responsible and Crow is called in.

What follows is a thoroughly enjoyable and we are introduced to a variety of characters, solicitors, secretaries, wealthy business men, etc. We are privy to blackmail, affairs, and business/financial dealings. All in all, enough to keep you guessing and keep you reading. Do not expect something intriguing and twisty with evil characters aplenty. Do expect to witness human frailty and lack of judgement rather than global plots and threats. Do expect to be entertained and reach the end with a bit of a satisfied sigh.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

A LOVER TOO MANY by ROY LEWIS. Good old fashion crime drama. A bit slower paced with many interesting characters.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Plenty of suspense in this one. A the clues as to the murderer are there, but so are a couple of red herrings. Inspector Crow is warned off looking into one suspect - how will he find out if that's the murderer.

Unusually the murder is already several weeks old by the start of the book. The husband has an alibi for the night in question - or does he? Where was the victim in the months apart from her husband? Does it matter.

The book kept my interest - and was a page turner for me - from start to finish. Couldn't wait to get to the end, while being sorry that I'd finished it.