Past Praying for

by Aline Templeton

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Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Amazon, Suspense, Mystery Thriller

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Aline Templeton grew up in the East Neuk of Fife and was educated at St Leonards School, St Andrews and Cambridge University. She has worked in education and broadcasting and has written numerous stories and articles for national newspapers and magazines. Templeton was a bench Justice of the Peace for ten years and is a former Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland, now living in Edinburgh. She is married with a grown up family.

She has written nine crime novels, published by Hodder & Stoughton in Britain, and has also been published in the United States and several European countries. After writing seven stand-alone books, she started a series set in Galloway and featuring DI Marjory Fleming, the first of which – Cold In The Earth – was an Ottakar's Crime Novel of the Month and an Independent Best Summer Read. The second, The Darkness and the Deep, was published in July 2006, and there are now six books in the DI Fleming series.

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually I gave up on this book at page 100. I LOVE Aline Templeton's series with the female detective so I thought this one would be a page turner too. After reading the prologue I had to look and see if I was reading a V.C. Andrews book. I tried to get into it but not one character grabbed me and I found myself doing other things than picking up the book so I finally said enough is enough and gave it up to go onto a read I could be excited about. Maybe I'll go back to it another time.

[Bonnye Reed]

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[Antigone Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder Where It's Least Expected

A female minister must drop her prejudices to help unmask a killer. Affluence and education do not protect against unhappiness, jealousy, neglect or abuse. Anonymous hate mail targeting a small group of friends has everyone on edge. The harassment evolves to mean spirited pranks, property damages, arson and murder. The police are confounded and concerned. With the help of the minister and her psychologist brother they close in on a killer.

This was a readable book. Not terribly suspenseful it is engaging nonetheless. I identified the doer early on. The twist at the end was silly and unnecessary. But overall a decent read.

[Jillian Higham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four and a half stars actually

I know Aline Templeton's writing well from her "Big Marj" police procedurals. She describes ordinary people so well, in this case people who you would think have nothing to worry about, and opens up their jealousies, insecurities and fear of failing. I kept trying to guess which of the four women was Missy, but couldn't be sure until near the end. Margaret Moon is an interesting character and her brother, Robert is a delight. As usual a really absorbing read from this author.

[Annemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic read. My heart ached for the young lass who, when her mother died, lost the only person who truly loved her. Her father's actions were simply unforgivable, despite his own loss. Who knew the dreadful effect bottled in grief could have on a person. I did not pick which of these women was the guilty one. In fact, when their identity was revealed, I was shocked. Then, just as you think everything is nicely tied up, someone throws a spanner in the works.

[Mrs Susan J Bociek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complex

With excellent writing skills worthy of a classic, the author leads us into the smug community of middle class Home Counties. Domestic scenes at Christmas designed to impress upon the neighbours that all is well, better than well. The usual demons are busily at work: greed, lust, gossip and lies. But hiding in plain sight is a much bigger problem. Much, much bigger.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful and I didn’t bother finishing it

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

great reading

Had me not knowing which lady was the baddie till the end. Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Will read her other books.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychological thriller with lots of characters. Hidden tensions and odd incidents in a rural English village evolve into something much nastier.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Aline Templeton's stand-alone books and a very good one it is too, as are all of her books. It took me a while to find this one, as it is an old book and constantly out of print. However, I eventually managed to get a copy on line. The story here starts with an account of a young girl's sad and tragic life in 1967. Her mother has died and then, her older brother is killed in an accident, leaving her with a cold and distant father, who gives her no love and almost resents her. She has a make-believe friend called, Missy, who likes to create mischief. Then, the story forwards to over 20 years later. The Rev. Margaret Moon has a new parish, where well-to-do villagers seem to lead far from the idyllic lives they appear to lead. There are spiteful, anonymous letters being sent around the village and then, when a fire is set in the garage of one of the locals, things take a nasty turn. "Missy" is back and is now creating more than mischief, she is downright dangerous. So, who is "Missy". There are four women, all friends, and all who could fit the bill. It is a guessing game and a race against time for her identity to be revealed. Clever and intriguing and a good old-fashioned mystery. Really liked it.

[F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it convincing? the beginning, describing the horrendous childhood experiences of the villain makes for gruelling reading. Then we move on 30 years or so to a 'nice' village, and the reader follows a story of strange and violent doings in the 'nice'village, all the time trying to work out which of the 'nice' local inhabitants is the grown-up version of the damaged little girl we met at the start of the novel.
Mrs Templeton writes well, and as I was taught English at school by her many years ago, I like the literary allusions she pops in now and then. But this novel is not one of her best - is it just too clever to be convincing? too contrived? Read and see what you think!

[Carol Mello · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Aline Templeton book I read. Complex psychological mystery. The clues are there for the readers. The reader needs to actually think to figure this one out. As in all Aline Templeton mysteries, no saints here, just flawed human beings. She is not kind to her characters. I really enjoy the challenges she presents to her readers. These are not fast moving mysteries except at the climax. I think this author is superb.

[Carol Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alas, kind of standard-brand "which of the group...." A bit too Agatha Christie for me!

[Terry Crain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as her others

I had a hard time keeping up with the characters, jumped around too much. Her other books have been a lot better.

[Jill Stirling]

I love the Marjorie Templeton series but seriously could not finish this one. Not at all gripping