The Case of Sampson's Leap

A complicated mystery that Inspector Graham and his team must solve before a local holiday brings an influx of tourists to Gorey. Inspector Graham and his team must consider the death of a young woman to be murder, accident or suicide. A twisted plot with strong undercurrents between the main suspects keep the team busy trying to discern the truth. There's a secondary mystery surrounding the local holiday that Freddy investigates which brings surprising answers for the Gorey community. A first rate addition to the series.

Another superb mystery set in the picturesque town of Gorey. When a promising young actress is found dead beneath the jagged cliffs know as Sampson’s Leap, Inspector Graham and his team are back in action using their individual strengths and skills to solve the mystery. I love all of these characters. <br />That this death takes place at Sampson’s Leap at a time close to the town’s anniversary of Sampson’s Leap highlights that mystery as well. Almost two centuries ago, three women died, and it was believed that a man named Charles Sampson was responsible. However, the discovery of old documents adds questions to that verdict. <br />I am enamored with the characters of this series. Watching them grow and their lives unfold as they solve mysteries makes this so much more than a mystery series. I highly recommend this book and this series. <br />

The discovery of the body of Mia Thorne at the infamous and deadly Sampson's Leap has rattled the residents of Gorey. Mia was here with fellow university students to tell the story of Charles Sampson and his death. She was a talented actress who had her whole life in front of her. Had she jumped or had someone pushed her over the cliff? Inspector Graham and his team need to find the answer to that question. I knew how difficult that would be, but I knew if anyone can do that it would be Inspector Graham. The 175th anniversary of the leap of Charles Sampson added an interesting parallel. It was fascinating. I couldn't put this book down. Alison Golden has written a wonderful mystery within a mystery. All the characters are given their turn in the spotlight even Freddie. I felt that Inspector David Graham had grown and was facing his past and his tragic loss. I'm so glad that he's moving forward with his life. Laura is a wonderful woman. They are a wonderful couple. I'm a fan of this series and I can't wait to see what happens next.

A well-written mystery that plays fair with the reader<br /><br />Detective Inspector Graham is faced with a mysterious death that is connected with a student film and a local legend. Was it murder, suicide, or something else? As with all of the series the character interactions make the story a fascinating study in detection and life. I got an Advanced Review Copy and then bought the book as I want to encourage more works by the author. I think there is no stronger recommendation I could write than it was good enough to buy after having read the book.

<i> <b>"I still don't know if she jumped, fell, or was pushed. Suicide, accident, or murder." </b></i> <br /><br />The Case of Sampson's Leap by Alison Golden is the eighth book in the Inspector David Graham Mystery Series and my – what – sixth book for Golden.<br /><br />For those who are unfamiliar with the Inspector David Graham Mystery Series, it's fast; it's addictive; and you can't help but adore Graham. <br /><br />Each book in the Inspector David Graham Mystery Series can be read as a standalone. So if you start at book 6 or 8, you don't have to worry about not reading the previous books, although I highly recommend them. <br /><br />The Case of Sampson's Leap comprises 75 short chapters, making the book super-fast-paced. It opens with the death of a film student, Mia Thorne. <br /><br />But as Inspector Graham and his team investigate and interview her friends, they find themselves in a super thick web of endless lies. <br /><br /> <i> <b> "To a woman like Mia Thorne, Noah Stimms was merely a toy, a dim foil, a moth to a flame, fluttering pointlessly but eternally hopeful around it until, eventually, he got zapped in a flash of scorching heat and acrid smoke. Mightier men had met similar fates with much the same outcome." </b></i> <br /><br />At the same time, the island of Gorey is nearing its bicentenary of Sampson's Leap. Sampson, an apothecary – a pharmacist, was accused of murdering three women. When the townspeople gave him the choice to either jump from a hill into the raging sea or be killed, he took the first option, only to jump and survive. <br /><br />So the townspeople forced him to jump a second time and that was the end of Sampson. But the area where he had jumped had been named Sampson's Leap ever since. <br /><br />Although the story focuses on Mia's death, we also get bits of history and new evidence comes to light about the 200-year-old Sampson case. After all, both incidents are related to the area known as 'Sampson's Leap.'<br /><br />When reading The Case of Sampson's Leap, you'll share the police's irritation at the continuous dead ends. Still it's impossible to put this book down. I finished it in 2 or 3 sittings!<br /><br />Having read several books in this series, there's significant character development for everyone. While David Graham is fully-developed character, his team began book 1 as a group of newbie officers. Now in book 8, they're smarter, faster, and more creative.<br /><br /> <i> <b> "Graham fixed Noah with a look that would have dented body armor." </b></i> <br /><br />Alison Golden expertly juggles two mysteries in The Case of Sampson's Leap, leaving readers curious on both ends. <br /><br /><b> Overall rating for The Case of Sampson's Leap by Alison Golden: 5 stars. </b><br /><br /><b> <i> Note: I received a free copy of The Case of Sampson's Leap from its author Alison Golden being a part of her street team. This did not in any way influence my review of the book. I was already a big fan!<br />And while I originally finished the book in the allotted time, I had a reviewing-block (spent 7 months not writing book reviews). Hence my review is coming quite late. </i></b> <br />

Welcome Back!!!<br /><br />Inspector Graham is back!!!<br /><br />I have read each and every entry in this series and have always enjoyed the latest installment even more than the previous one.<br /><br />Sampson’s Leap is no exception.<br /><br />Each book continues to hold my attention from beginning to end. There are no “slow” periods wherein your interest might wane or you might possibly wish to skip a few sections.<br /><br />The characters and their relationships continue to develop which I find to be extremely important.<br /><br />If you haven’t read every book about Inspector Graham, do yourself a favor and do exactly that. You will be very happy you did so and anxiously await the next novel - like I always do. <br /><br />Graham and the team are involved this time in solving the case of a dead body found at the bottom of a high cliff overlooking a rocky landing and the ocean.<br /><br />Was it an accident, suicide, or murder? If it was a murder, was it someone from her group, one of the two Aussie surfers who are also filming - about surfing and the upcoming weekend commemoration of Mr Sampson’s plight - or a total stranger?<br /><br />The young lady was part of a small group of students filming a short piece as a project for their university assignment. <br /><br />Almost 175 years ago a local apothecary was accused by the community of killing three women, found guilty by what served as the judiciary system at the time and given the choice of leaping from the cliff or being thrown off by the locals.<br /><br />Mr Sampson the accused- well you should read book.<br /><br />Inspector Graham’s “favorite” blogger (Freddie Solomon) plays an interesting role, as Graham and the local librarian (Laura) further develop their relationship. Laura too plays a role throughout.<br /><br />The entire team plays part as we watch their characters, relationships, and private lives evolve.<br /><br />Maybe we’ll even learn more about the 175 year old Sampson case…<br /><br />DO NOT MISS THIS ONE and YOU WILL BE EXTREMELY HAPPY YOU DIDN’T!

Freddie Solomon is guiding a group of tourists in an area known as Sampson's Leap. Almost two centuries earlier, Charles Sampson had been coerced into jumping to his death for the murder of three women. While speaking of the historic details, one of the tourists spies a body in period clothing on the rocks at the foot of the cliff. Some university students are in the area to make a film commemorating the anniversary of the event. The filming would only be at the top of the cliff, not where the body was lying.<br /><br />The body is that if Mia Thorne, a 21-year old actress who was starring in the story being filmed by the university students. Regis Nosworthy, one of the Australian surfers, admitted he was with Mia at Sampson's Cove, but insists she was alive when he left. The death of such a young lady has unleashed some old demons for Inspector Graham. All of the people involved claim to have alibis, but they do not completely cover the entire time frame of the death. So the question becomes who, if anybody, is telling the truth?<br /><br />Could Mia's death have been an accident or was she murdered? If murder, who had a motive and opportunity? How does this death relate to Sampson's death almost 200 years earlier? Can Inspector Graham untangle the lies and half-truths to uncover the truth?<br /><br />Alison Golden has another wonderful mystery involving history and current affairs. The characters feel like people you might encounter in the normal course of life and the situations are vividly detailed. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged clear to the end. I am anxiously looking forward to more of the fantastic Inspector Graham mysteries.<br />

Sampson’s leap tells the story in hind sight of Charles Villiars Sampson. An apothacarian (Now days he would be a pharmacists), who was given the choice in the mid-eighteen hundred’s to either leap off a 500 ft ledge to his death, or be pushed off the ledge by an angry mob who blamed him for the extremely painful death of three young ladies in their early twenty’s. They had to get him over the ledge twice in order to actually kill him as the first time didn’t take. <br /><br />More clues appear from some journals left behind by one of the members at the time of Charles death that actually throw some doubt as to whether he was actually guilty or not. <br /><br />These were discovered as the body of an actress dressed in period costume was discovered at the bottom of the same cliff that Charles was tossed off of. She was part of a crew of five (four classmates and one of their sisters) filming a piece for graduation credit on the history of the “Sampson’s Leap” festival that was becoming more popular than in times past. <br /><br />Now Inspector Graham get to investigate and determine if it was a simple suicide, or did the young lady have help going over the cliff from one of her “friends” that was in the film project that may have had a grudge against her as she was a very talented actress and would very likely be making a name for herself in the near future. <br /><br />This is the 8th book in the Inspector Graham Mystery series, and I think it is probably the best one yet. <br /><br />This story draws you in and keeps you in throughout. <br /><br />David Graham is also faces a past tragedy in his personal life that needs to be resolved for him to have a better relationship with his librarian girlfriend. <br /><br />

The Inspector David Graham series have all been really enjoyable reads so far, and this book continues that trend.<br /><br />There are several aspects of Alison Golden's writing that I enjoy and they are: firstly the characters, all her characters are believable and fully developed, this is especially true of Inspector Graham's team, there are no stereotypes here, they are all original people with their own quirks and qualities; secondly there are the plots, they are always complex, but never in such a way that the reader feels out of their depth, and in this book there are lots of red herrings to keep things very interesting; finally there is feeling of location, the series is set on Jersey, a place I have been fortunate enough to visit and it is really described well, especially the small island mentality.<br /><br />In this story a university film-making team are filming a reconstruction of a historical event featuring a cliff called 'Sampson's Leap' when one of their number takes a similar leap. The young woman's death raises a spectre from Graham's past, will this colour his judgement? read the book to find out.<br /><br />This is a classic detective/police procedural written by an author who really knows her stuff and definitely knows how to write, and it shows.<br /><br />I am fortunate enough to be on Alison Golden's advance reader team so I did get a complimentary copy of this book, but I have voluntarily written this honest review.

This is a really wonderful series and not to be missed. In this book, Inspector Graham is faced with two mysteries as well as having to release the pain in his heart and bring in the love of his life on the tragedy he has been through that still is fresh in his memory. When a college movie crew comes to town to film a school project about Sampson's Leap the Inspector and his crew are faced with a murder. When one of the actresses, Mia is found dead at the bottom of Sampson's Leap, it is up to the inspector and his crew to figure out whether it was suicide or murder. With all kinds of information on the personality and character of the actress, Graham has his hands full. Add to that, the punishment for nosy Freddy is that he is made to catalogue some old papers in the library where Laura, Graham's girlfriend works, in order to find some history about the judgment against Sampson who was said to have killed three women and made to leap to his death. This book has it all, an old possible murder, a present murder, drugs, jealousy, crazy characters and twists and turns that take you right to the end. What a great read. What a really good series! I received and ARC of this book but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.