[Review] Fergus Craig: 'I'm Not the Only Murderer in my Retirement Home'

Carol Quinn is (or was) a serial killer. She's admitted to seven murders, all committed for perfectly good reasons, she thinks. And a few more that the police never knew about.

But that was long ago. She’s served her time and now just wants to live her life out in the luxurious Sheldon Oaks retirement home. She hopes to keep her past hidden but that might be a problem. Because her new friends happen to be a former police detective, a former pathologist and a former Home Secretary. And they all have suspicious minds.

But then a resident, a former police commissioner, falls from the roof. Murder, the police conclude, and obviously, Carol's secret past is exposed. If the reader thinks suspicion would immediately fall on Carol, they would be right. She's only been there for a few weeks, and already a murder has taken place.

Sure enough, she is arrested and even Carol's new friends think that she must have done it. However, this time she didn't. So the only way to prove her innocence is to find the real killer.

The promotional quote on the cover from Miranda Hart shouts 'Funny and brilliant'. It suggests she hadn't read a single word of the book. Because the story isn't funny: it's a proper mystery and yes, Fergus Craig intermittently writes a lighthearted sentence.

What do I think of 'I'm Not the Only Murderer in my Retirement Home'?

There are some serious drawbacks. Fergus Craig obviously hasn't done nearly enough research. He hasn't a clue about police procedures, he hasn't a clue about forensics (a cursory external check of a body is not an autopsy), and he has no clue how the mind of a serial killer works (a killer who only kills people she detests is totally unlike a psychopathic one).

I felt genuine sympathy for Carol Quinn. After spending decades behind bars, she is accused of a murder she didn't commit. How would you feel?

The characters possessed genuine depth, and I genuinely cared about their fates—especially the central four and the the long-suffering DS Welsh, who battled not only the bureaucracy of the police force but also her immediate superior, DCI Bob Beattie. Nearly all the rest of the cast were up to something.

I actually liked this book. It was a cleverly plotted mystery.I've decided to read his next book too. That one will be called 'I'm Not the Only Murderer at This Wedding'.