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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I expected, but fun, March 25, 2008
I've read many Peter Lovesey mysteries over the years. I think I read all of the Cribb/Thackery books, and I've read a number since then. For whatever reason, the author seems to go through phases: when he began writing, everything he did was Victorian. He moved up through the 20s, did a book or 2 in the 40s, then moved up to the modern era. This current book is apparently part of a more recent series involving a female police detective named Henrietta "Hen" Mallin. The first odd thing that Lovesey has done here is write a book that's part of a series, and a detective story, but isn't totally from the detective's point of view. Instead, we start the story out meeting the woman who finds the body (and who turns out to be central to the plot). The story follows her for a while, then switches and follows the police as they try and discover who has killed the mysterious woman whose anonymous corpse has washed up on the beach. When the plot finally reaches a conclusion, I have to say it wasn't as believable or fun as other of Lovesey's books have been. I didn't hate it...it just wasn't his best. The new character is a bit mundane, also, and Lovesey's as British as he ever was, using slang and jargon with no regard for the American ears his words might fall on. I would only recommend this book to those interested in the author.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 stars--Hen vs. red herrings, May 5, 2009
I've liked CDI Hen Mallin in The Circle & The House Sitter. She seems a bit harder to like in this one in which she's the star--even when her relationship with her chief asst. Stella is strained a bit. Still, she's not the curmudgeonly Peter Diamond either. The story revolves around 4 people--The Headhunters & their interactions. It also shows how off-base the police can be & (not unusual in mystery novels) how assumptions can easily mislead one into very wrong conclusions. I thought the ending interesting though I had figured out the culprit by then. There's also a bit of dark humor scattered throughout. The very end tries to explain how the killer could rationalize the murders--the ultimate narcissism IMHO. To me this is one of Lovesey's better efforts. I do hope to see Hen & Stella again in future Lovesey works. There are a number of fine "literary" quotes in this book too. My favorites are: pp. 67-8: "Put him in the lion enclosure wearing a zebra suit. Dose him with laxative & stand him on guard @Buckingham Palace," p. 72: "People, Jo thought. The ones who are most fun are the least reliable," p. 76: "But when your legs are shaking & your last meal wants to make a comeback, you're not best placed to offer an intelligent remark," & the pub p. 141: "The Slug & Lettuce." Hah!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Double Entendre, June 13, 2008
The latest in the Inspector Hen Mallin series brings forth an unusual story, especially so since it shows how she can leap to wrong conclusions {along with the reader) based on clues both obvious and murky. But the show must go on, and she, along with her police team, plod along from clue to clue in this peculiar but intriguing novel. It begins with a double date during which one of the women brings up the subject of her boss at a printing works. She says he tries to portray himself as the "good guy," leaving her to do the dirty work. She brings up the possibility of murdering him, and the other three join in jokingly with various methods for the "perfect murder." Then the other woman, taking a walk along the beach, discovers the first of three bodies. Later she's in on the find of two others. All three victims have been forcibly drowned. The number of suspects abound, as Hen Mallin leads the investigation, inevitably along several false leads. One of the possible suspects is the boyfriend of the woman who found the initial body (before she tripped over the other two). From the initial case on it becomes clearer that there is a serial killer loose. The plot development is so quirky, the reader is kept off balance throughout, right up to the unanticipated denouement. The writing is spare and the story moves along swiftly. Recommended.
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