Customer Reviews

The Circle: A Hen Mallin Investigation (Soho Crime)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been reading Peter Lovesey for some time now, and I thoroughly enjoy his writing. This book picks up with a character that was first brought in with his last Peter Diamond book - "The House Sitter". I'm talking about Hen Mallen who is the DCI placed in charge of a series of arsons in the tiny village of Chichester where this book is set. I must admit that I loved Hen when Lovesey first introduced her and this book is a delight with her in it. She is a great creation! A tough talking, cigar smoking lady DCI that has no problem cutting through all the red herrings, plot twists and devious suspects. Lovesey's humour is as wicked and direct as in any of his previous books, and this book will keep the reader guessing right up until the end. I can hardly wait for another Hen Mallin book!

Series: Detective Chief Inspector Henrietta `Hen' Mallin (first book, there is something of a prequel as she appeared in the 2003 "The House Sitter" Peter Diamond book).

Characters:
The Chichester Writer's Circle: Chairman: Maurice McDade (first suspect, had a book titled "Unsolved" about unsolved crimes about to be published by the publisher Edgar Blacker); Founding Ladies: Dagmar Bumstead (the unpublished romantic novelist under the name Desiree Eliot, most recent work: "Passion Fruit") and Thomasine O'Loughlin (erotic poetry); The Married Couple: Naomi (witchcraft book, her stare frightens others, very nosy, writes up the activities on an internet website, calling it an e-book) and Basil Green (gardener, somewhat laid back); Secretary and Treasurer: Amelia Snow (proper older woman writing book about the famous Snows: "The Snows of Yesteryear"; Others: Zach Beale (long-haired fantasy writer, "Madrigor: The Coming of the Warrior"), Sharon ("dumb blonde" who doodles and doesn't talk much at the meetings; a hairdresser), Tudor Thomas (autobiography, name-dropper), Anton (retired civil servant, constantly on the look-out for cliches and the like), Jessie Warmington-Smith (widow of an Archdeacon, technophobe, working on a book about tips from the past for living in 21th century); Newcomer: Bob Naylor (quick witted poems, and the one of three that is investigating the matter).
The Police: Inspector Henrietta Mallin sent in when the local Detective wasn't getting the job done (DI Johnny Cherry).
Minor Characters: Marcus Chalybeate (Lord Chalybeate of Boxgrove, ex-Mark Kiddlewick) - publisher of magazines in previous life, now big in health clubs and a politician. Naylor's 14 year old daughter Sue. Fran, Maurice's above seventy-year-old wife (Maurice is somewhere in his 50s). Fran had been previously married to a notorious criminal.
Special Appearance by: Peter Diamond (very brief).

Plot: A man (Maurice) that runs a writer's circle is happy to finally get his book published, and invites the publisher (Blacker) to come give a talk to the circle (and make comments on some of the member's work). Blacker says some nice things but is mostly dismissive of their work. Later Blacker tries to get Maurice to pay for the publication of Maurice's book. Blacker, it turns out, is an undisclosed vanity publisher (vanity publisher = publishing house that publishes an author's work with the author paying for the publication; undisclosed = Blacker hides the fact that he will require the author to pay for the publication until the last moment, right before publication). The book opens with Blacker's death. Maurice is picked up by the police and various members of the circle attempt to investigate the matter. Dagmar, Bob Nalyor and Thomasine work together to try to prove Maurice's innocence (with Bob the one mostly at the forefront, and Dagmar mostly in the shadows). Naomi and Zach attempt to investigate the matter themselves, while using the crisis as an opportunity to come up with an e-book (Naomi is gung-ho, Zach doesn't particularly like the idea). Eventually the police step to the forefront in the guise of DCI Hen Mallin.

Review: This book is similar to two previous Lovesey books, "Bloodhounds" and "The Last Detective" (both in the Peter Diamond series). Like "Bloodhounds," this book deals with a local social club. In the "Bloodhounds," it was a club for readers, in "The Circle" it is a club of writers. The structure of "The Circle" is similar to the structure in "The Last Detective." Both books follow the structure of having amateurs moving through some crisis in the first half of the book, while the second half of the book is taken over by the police. In "The Circle," the main character in the first half of the book is Bob Naylor, a newcomer to the Chichester Writer's Circle, who is somewhat pressured to try to prove the innocence of Maurice for the murder of Blacker. The second half of the book follows DCI Hen Mallin's investigation of the murders (more than one murder). Neither Naylor nor Mallin are the sole points of view in their sections, and Naylor's point of view continues, somewhat at a lesser level, in the second half of the book.

The first half of the book is very good and riveting. When the book adds in DCI Hen Mallin, the book begins to become a little disappointing. When I read "The Last Detective," I had a similar feeling, though there I liked the Peter Diamond character better than the Hen Mallin character. The characterization of the main characters is outstanding, and even something of the personality of the first murder victim is revealed along the way. All of the writer's circle members are given a satisfactory characterization, though the main characters have a deeper personality. The setting is well-laid out. The mystery is well-thought-out and interesting. Overall, I would give the book 4.35 stars.

I like a nice traditional British mystery as much as the next person, but this effort from the prolific Lovesey just doesn't measure up. Set in the "city" of Chichester (population roughly 25,000) just inland from the English Channel, the story is a classic whodunit. A small-time vanity publisher is killed by an arsonist, and suspicion falls upon the amateur writer's group he recently spoke before. A series of further arson attacks ensue, and Lovesey tries to play a shell game to keep the reader from figure out who had motive, means, and opportunity to be the culprit (or culprits). Most readers will suspect that the solution lies in the background of the initial victim, and they'd be right -- which is why the amount of time it takes for the police to ferret his background out feels rather artificially prolonged.

Of course, this allows more scope in the first half of the book for the amateur (and rather inexplicable) sleuthing of the newest member of the group, a quick-witted delivery driver named Bob Naylor. Then, about halfway into the book, a new lead investigator is appointed. Cue the entrance of tough talking, no BS-taking Hen Mallin -- it's her perspective dominates the second half of the story. It's a rather awkward shift in point-of-view to introduce a co-protagonist so deep into the story, and it doesn't work very well. Worse than this is the cast of supporting characters, who have barely a hint of any life beyond the confines of the book. The group of amateur writers doesn't have any family or friends beyond those needed to serve various plot points or act as red herrings, and the same goes for their life histories. There's also a very weak subplot about a leak from within the police department, the motive for which makes no sense whatsoever, and seems only to exist to give D.I. Mallin something else to do besides solve the relatively straightforward mystery.

The whole thing feels quite creaky, from the love interest subplot for Bob, to the strange co-protagonist construction, to the somewhat lame solution to the murder. Despite being published only five years ago, it feels much older, especially some of the language and parts of the story relating to computers. Lovesey would have been about 70 when this came out, and I have to wonder to what extent his powers have faded.

The police investigate the fiery murder of unpopular publisher Edgar Blacker, who died following a talk he gave to the Chichester Writers' Circle, an unpublished writers' group. The motive seems obvious as Blacker conned the wannabes into investing in a doomed vanity press con making one of the group most likely the arsonist-killer. The prime suspect is the group's chair Maurice McDade as Blacker shammed the true crime author of the unpublished Unsolved into a hefty investment and gave nothing back.

Meanwhile two more fatal fires occur and the newest member Bob Naylor barely survives an attempt to fry him. As the group investigates one another; Inspector Henrietta "Hen" Mallin takes over the official investigation that has been fumbled while a serial arsonists-murderer has escaped identification.

Cigar smoking Hen is a diamond of a cop who turns Peter Lovesey's latest police procedural into a fabulous reading experience. The story line is typical of the grandmaster as the cast seems real especially the wannabe writers turned amateur sleuths and the who-done-it complex yet interesting. As usual the plot contains plenty of red herrings and twists as well as humor as Hen, who played a secondary role in THE HOUSE SITTER, takes the starring role carrying a terrific investigative tale on her pint sized back.

Harriet Klausner

I seem to like Lovesey more the more I read of him. This one's about a Writers' Circle--a support group for aspiring writers--of all types: fantasy, erotic poetry, even comic strips--so it reminds one of Lovesey's Bloodhounds (Soho Crime) about a mystery readers' circle. Foiled again! However, in this one, the protagonist isn't Peter Diamond (as in Bloodhounds) but Hen Mallin. I like her better than Diamond--she's less narcissistic & unnecessarily caustic. The mystery is intricate & engaging. True, the 1st part of the book centers on the Circle (establishing background or context) & the 2nd part on Hen & the solution. There are also some good lines such as on P. 30: "This announcement went down like garlic bread in Transylvania."
This is a fun read--but tough to figure out. Enjoy!

Enjoyed this book a great deal have been pleased with all Peter Lovesey books I have read.....

SAM