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Title: Coup de Grace

Subtitle: A Sarah Deane Mystery, Book 10

Author: J. S. Borthwick

Narrator: Chris Thurmond

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-25-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

With ready wit and lethal plot, acclaimed author J. S. Borthwick offers up her 10th irresistible Sarah Deane mystery, a heady brew of academic backstabbing - and murder - at a bucolic New England girls boarding school.

Freshly-minted Ph.D. Sarah Deane is hired to teach English at Miss Merritts, only to land in the epicenter of legendary French professor Grace ('Mme. Guillotine') Carpentiers reign of terror. Mme.s peckish passion for excellence has inspired universal fear and loathing. A student discovers Mme.s cloaked hanging effigy. Then Sarah finds a bludgeoned body wearing Mmes trademark cape. But the victim is not Mme.

Is it a case of mistaken identity? Its up to Sarah, aided by her husband Alex, to find the killer before he strikes again - while the prime suspects, three fractious students, and three furtive professors, follow her every move....

Members Reviews:

COUP DE GRACE is very good indeed

When Sarah Deane is offered a temporary teaching job at Miss Merritt School in Carlisle, Massachusetts where she was raised, Sarah just can't say no. But once there, academics take a back seat when she witnesses a teacher being harassed by a foul-minded, foul-mouthed anonymous person set on revenge. There are two well-known teachers at Miss Merritt's, one is considered the cornerstone of her department, the other is said to be the pillar of hers. One of them will be found with her head pounded to a pulp. Sarah finds she isn't the only amateur sleuth in this one, and it seems everyone has his or her own scenario of who did it.

Ms. Borthwick has done a masterful job in creating her characters, especially Madam Carpentier also known as Madame the Knife. I think every high school has a lively group of seniors who resemble Hannah, Rosemary and Zoe. There are many characters involved, but with a glance at the Cast of Characters page offered at the front of the book, I had no problem remembering who was who. The plot is excellent, and half way through the mystery I found myself just as caught up in working out the scenarios as the characters. I don't know that I found it necessary for everyone to use strong expletives so often in the story; sometimes it seemed like over acting, but the mystery and how it was presented, the characters, the humor and the setting were all A+ as far as I'm concerned.

Entertaining mystery

Camden, Maine resident Sarah Douglas Deane receives her Ph.D. in English from Bowmouth College. Sarah also accepts a position for one semester at the Miss Merrit's School in Carlisle, Massachusetts. Her physician-husband agrees to visit his spouse on weekends. The first time he travels to see her, their happy union ends when they discover the corpse of a faculty member, Anita Gorshawk, an Art History instructor.

However, there is doubt as to whether Anita was the intended victim since she was wearing the distinguished cloak of the infamous Grace Charpentier. Apparently, all the students hate the arrogant martinet who teaches French. Grace has received death threats adding to the belief that she was supposed to be the victim. Sarah, unable to stay out of a murder investigation, begins some discreet sleuthing that takes her into more violent encounters.

The tenth Sara Deane mystery retains the charm and humor of the previous installments.