$4.41 with 76 percent savings
List Price: $18.49

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery May 16 - 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery May 14 - 15
Usually ships within 2 to 3 days
$$4.41 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$4.41
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Rite Judgement: Heads Roll, Death And Insurrection (Dada Detective Agency) Paperback – October 22, 2021

by Pete Adams (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$4.41","priceAmount":4.41,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"4","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"41","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"pUD6RAPrQuIMYgnruDN%2FiHT0cAaVhNNpxQdsSzKTMccLkVD1izhnyXQVU4TnlKKPjC5DjkKUfB%2Fo542T2USrD%2Fg%2BNjv9ApbY07NDQQYxJ2GTnitcwqPsbo%2Ft5dxZVVGjh8fTn3qGDO2%2Bm%2BEtaSYYkg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Heads roll. Corpses dance. People will believe what they want to believe.

After Sister Winfrede, leader of the second violins in the famous Nun's Orchestra in Portsmouth, is found decapitated, both the police and the MI5 are called in to investigate.

More bodies soon follow, but the deceased don't seem to stay dead. One of the victims, Bea Flat, is seemingly resurrected and ready to conduct the orchestra, and ominous signs tell of a connection to something sinister.

Melding myth, legend and contemporary crime fiction, Rite Judgement is a story of good against evil, of mysterious events that you can never be sure actually happened, and above all of hope and the mind's capacity to believe anything that might make dreams come true. And in the middle of it all, Jack Austin and the DaDa Detective Agency.

Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 3
    DaDa Detective Agency
  2. Print length
    332 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Next Chapter
  5. Publication date
    October 22, 2021
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.74 x 8.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    4824107709
  8. ISBN-13
    978-4824107701
  9. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Next Chapter (October 22, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 4824107709
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4824107701
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.74 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

RJS
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-bending crime drama!
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
A prudent conceit recognized through ancestors is not lacking in wealth. And, they are convinced they know best while playing risky games that bring on timely consequences.

Sister Winfrede, in a nun’s orchestra and a geography teacher at the Winfrede’s Roman Catholic Convent school was found in a pool of sacrificial blood. M15 and the law enforcement agency are summoned to the case of her beheading. Later, additional people are found dead—but wait—why are they showing up alive? Something menacing is lurking beneath the surface in this mystery.

The DaDa Detective Agency and Jack Austin are in the eye of the storm when it comes to combining parables and urban tales strewed throughout this mind-bending crime drama.

There is an ambush of action that does not stop in Pete Adam’s newest release, ‘Rite Judgement.’ If you like tales of the darkest parts of mortality then check this one out. Pete has written a five-star thriller that will have you shaking your head and even laughing at times!

Though it is the sequel to Road Kill it can be a stand-alone novel but get Road Kill first if you want the entire story.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Ominous and quite intriguing
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2022
What a frightfully grand story in Rite Judgement by Pete Adams. I am a definite fan of this author! Whatever this author writes, I want to read. This author has a great imagination and I'm glad it's being shared with stories. The story brings in the believable, even if almost impossible. Oh, it's not just about the dead, and there is no such thing as last rites, as the dead come to life. Sometimes things happen that can't be explained, and when that happens, we may not want them explained. Believing is seeing, and this book has a plot that is full of darkness, yet there is lightness and not only fighting good versus evil, but it's almost as one has been visited by the devil, himself, or he sent someone in his place! This author brings the story (and murdered corpses) to life. It is a very well-written plot, and I enjoyed it. This read is more than just words on a page. I will definitely add more of this author's books to my bookshelf. Rite Judgement is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews.

I read this book and give my honest and unbiased review. ~Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
Helpful
 Report
avid kindler
4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal cabaret, dressed as a whodunnit
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2022
I think I may be the target audience for this book - raised on Monty Python, Spike Milligan and the Goons, with a fair bit of Salvadore Dali thrown in; interested in the British establishment and its foibles; left leaning to the point of frequently falling over. The story, masquerading as some kind of crime thriller, revels in its own silliness, and throws in daft names, crazy conceits, absurd situations, almost as if the tradition of the sixth form review or the boyscout jamboree were going out of fashion... If your background is different you may be a bit baffled by this book, but read on, let yourself float on the sea of Pete Adams' surreal imagination. Beneath all the knockabout madness there are lots of political, artistic, literary references you can pick up like bits of a crossword puzzle. And there is, almost, a bit of a message. Anyway, just read and enjoy. You'll come out of it not knowing quite where you've been, but possibly feeling quite refreshed.
Helpful
 Report
Julie S. Porter
5.0 out of 5 stars Short on Plot, But Long on Tone and Theme
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2022
Spoilers: Pete Adams' Rite Judgement Heads Roll-Corpses Dance is the second book that I am reading this month that prefers to ignore the heart, slightly focus on the head, but heads straight for the funny bone. However, this and Lakshmi and The River of Truth take different approaches in their pursuit of laughter.

Lakshmi and The River of Truth was a savage biting political satire disguised as a fantasy. The satire is obvious as various characters and situations in this dream world are intentional parodies of people and events surrounding the real world.

Rite Judgement's humor is less abrupt and more fanciful and whimsical. While there are some satirical moments and hidden important themes, the characters and situations are absurd and farcical. There isn't as much of a recognizable plot as there are excuses to throw a bunch of odd silly things together to create a whole book that focuses on the silliness and bury important messages inside of it.. Let's put it this way, if Lakshmi and The River of Truth is Saturday Night Live, then Rite Judgement Heads Roll-Corpses Dance is Monty Python's Flying Circus. No one is better than the other. Both are hilarious, they just have different ways of making people laugh.

The main characters in Rite Judgement are former Police Detective Jack "Jane" Austen and his wife former Detective Superintendent Amanda "Mandy" Austen. Even though they are retired, they still thirst for adventure. That's why they formed the DaDa Detective Agency named for their other nicknames "Dick" for Jack (which Mandy jokes is perfect for him) and "Duck" for Mandy (which she objects to because she is not a bird and even if she were "why a f$#@_&g duck?").

The duo's latest case involves the appearance of St. Winifred, a martyred saint who has reappeared in modern day sans head. (Her head is on a conductor's stand.) As if it wasn't weird enough, the saint plays the violin and dances even though she's headless.

Then there's a religious group called Umble Pie who is less than umble because they seem to be overly involved with the British government. There is also an actor posing as the Pope when the real deal ends up missing, a parrot that speaks Italian, and a goofy politician with the name of Pimple (yes you read that right) and his wife Crumpet. If you squint, you might be able to put these weird situations together and find a coherent plot.

The focus of the book is less on plot and more on tone.Situations happen that are too broad to be believable and the stabs at mystery solving are more resolved through contrived coincidence than any form of detection.

In fact the main couple, Jack and Mandy Austen's disagreements and personal digs towards each other make them seem more like a sitcom couple than a pair of detectives. Jack is a pompous twit and Mandy's sarcasm brings him down to Earth. Think less Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth from Bones and more Ray and Debra Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond uh with deductive reasoning and a license to investigate criminal activity of course.

Besides the humor of the bickering pair of crime solvers, the whole point of the book is not to have a straightforward mystery. Things don't have a linear structure. Conversations and incidents take place that have no real bearing in the overall narrative.

The clue of the overall tone of the book is in the name, The DaDa Detective Agency. The name is a reference to the Dada Art Movement that began after WWI. Those involved with the movement rejected logic, aesthetics, and reason and embraced nonsense, irrationality, and anti-bourgeois views in their works. Even the name itself was coined by using a baby's words evoking childishness and absurdity.

The works included collages, sound poetry, cut up writing, and sculpture.

Artists in the movement included Hugo Ball, Max Ernst, Hannah Hoch, and Beatrice Wood among others.

Dadaism was an influence on later movements like Surrealism, Abstract Art, Avant Garde, Pop Art, Nouveau Realism, and others. Chances are if it's a weird way of looking at the world, the Dadaists made it.

Rite Judgement is right in the Dadaist style. A headless dancing corpse is treated not as a miracle but more like a money making opportunity and a booking on reality television. It's a ridiculous moment made even more ridiculous because of the behavior of the people around it.

There are groups of Holy Hairdressers and another group called Fishers of Men (which the narrative tells us "does exactly what it says on the can.") Of course it's hard to take seriously an organization that controls everything called Umble Pie.

If there is a point, Rite Judgement is mocking religious institutions and society's dependence on them. It also mocks how those institutions exploit their symbols with the intentions of gaining money, followers, and governmental power. The book just does it in a way that plays the laughs before the message.

There is another theme that is more subtle than religious exploitation: that of class conflict. There is a constant allusion to spring throughout the book, which heralds new beginnings, rebirth, and awakening from what is considered cold and dead.

The Arab Spring anti-government uprisings in the Arab World, a grassroots campaign that was spread throughout social media, in the early 2010's is referred to.

Igor Stravinsky's composition Rite of Spring keeps coming in and out of the book like a motif. The composition was a ballet depicting primitive people engaging a ritual sacrifice on a young maiden. (Fans of Disney's Fantasia may remember the composition in the animated segment depicting the evolution of Earth from the formation of the land to the death of the dinosaurs.)

Reportedly, the Rite of Spring ballet was so controversial that riots broke out in protest and defense of it. Stravinsky's music was favored by many revolutionaries and considered the music of the Russian Revolution.

The motif of Rite of Spring adds to the subtle theme of earlier conventions passing away and dying out to make way for newer ideals. That older constraints like class distinction, religious schisms, and oligarchy politics are not working. If they aren't working, then the book suggests that the way must be made for something new. A return to spring if you will.

All of this is hidden inside a book with a headless dancing saint.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

ElizabethC
5.0 out of 5 stars Totally absorbing! Mayhem and crime, mixed with great writing.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2022
Verified Purchase
I am always on the lookout for another book by this author, as Pete Adams never fails to deliver a great read. I absolutely love the way he writes his characters and the story packs a punch every time. Jack Austin is such a brilliant character, but my favourite is his wife, Mandy. These books are full of fun, surprises and serious storylines that you don't always expect because the writing is so beguiling and it often makes you laugh when the topics are quite serious. The story keeps you turning page after page and if you love crime capers and absolute mayhem, all wrapped up beautifully in a well written story, you will be in for a real treat!

I have already read most of this author's books, but am always waiting to see what he brings out next. Grab a copy. you won't be disappointed.
One person found this helpful
 Report