Customer Reviews

Old Scores (Detective Barry Gilbert, 3)

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

 

 

The author does a basically nice job of presenting conflicts
and exploring possible resolutions, but in this book he has strayed too close to the side of unbelieveability.

The hero, Barry Gilbert, a detective with the Metro Toronto Police, is dispatched to the death scene of a former big-time
rock promotor, and he immediately recognizes the victim as the
guy who ran off with the policeman's wife several years ago,
and the wife and rock promotor ended up living for a time in
France. Then in very short order, considerable evidence piles
up possibly linking the cop's wife (yes, the same one who ran off to France with the vile, crooked evil-doing rock guy) to the
actual murder.

But in spite of this significant personal involvement, and in
the face of known physical evidence linking his wife to the murder scene, the detective remains, and is allowed to remain,
on the case. That should stretch every readers' imaginations
just too far. There probably isn't a major police force in the
civilized world that would allow anyone with such a personal
interest, and emotional involvement, to keep on working a murder
case. Well into the story, the author manages to finally have
the authorities replace Barry as leader of the investigating
team, but the delay is indefensible, even in a fictional story.
Plus, even after his removal, the detective continues working the case, behind the scenes, but still very visible to other
police authorities, and no one seems to mind very much that his
actions could terminally contaminate any prosecution.
In that regard, one of believeability, the story is seriously
flawed.
But on the plus side, the characters are largely interesting,
and there is a definite Canadian feel to the story, and there is
a fascinating look into the world of rock and roll through the
investigation of former memebers of the big band that was the
major victim of the promotor's evil ways. All the suspects are
investigated in an entertaining way, but most readers will find
it difficult to forget that the lead investigator shouldn't
be there at all.

I read and enjoyed the first two book in this series because they were low-key reads with somewhat interesting plots. The Toronto locale made it a different kind of read. In this book, elements of the same are there, but as alluded to by a previous neutral reviewer, this book contains such a whopper of an incredible plot device, that frustration with, if not anger at, the author, makes it impossible to overlook.

Without giving too much away, on the night of his 50th birthday, Det. Gilbert, our hero, is called to investigate the murder of his wife's former extramarital lover. Rather than alert anyone of his compromised past, Gilbert takes the case without a backward glance. Pretty soon it is revealed that in a case built on highly circumstancial evidence his wife is a, then the, prime suspect. Nonetheless, Gilbert is allowed to continue to lead the investigation, including trying to capture another prime suspect, who Gilbert hopes will be arrested instead. After this suspect is exonerated, Gilbert begins a solo effort, including semi-legally obtaining evidence, which would kill a prosecution against any other suspect.

In the final 40 or so pages, a plot twist/revelation is made to allow a killer to be indentifed, and then, incredibly, Gilbert is sent off to arrest the newly minted suspect, after which the suspect immediately cops a plea (on a rather shaky case -- wouldn't you want to cross-examine Gilbert and challenge the detective work here), and Gilbert's boss decides that such fine work should lead to the cancellation of a planned reprimand. Throughout, even though Gilbert's wife repeatedly lied to him both over her renewed relationship with her ex-lover, and aspects of her past affair, Gilbert repeatedly states how wonderful and blameless she is.

I know that this is a fiction, and you have to be willing to overlook things (did Jessica Fletcher ever have a friend or relative who was not murdered, a murderer, or at least a suspect?), but this is absurd. Gilbert's conduct, condoned by his superiors, makes it unlikely that a conviction could ever be obtained due to such a compromised investigation. It also becomes hard to respect the hero, becasue his behavior is stupid at best and contemptible at worst.

There are better ways to spend your time. However, because I liked the first two books in the series, and this book had promise, I will probably give the next book a try, but even this I cannot guarantee.

I feel that I am falling into a trap of rating mediocre books because I think that good books speak for themselves, a mistake that I will try to rectify. If you want a great new book read "Hard Revolution".

Toronto Detective Barry Gilbert is called to an apparent homicide while at a play with his wife. The victim, Glen Boyd, was a rock promoter, drug addict, and all-around bad person. He is also someone Barry knew well--the man once had an affair with Barry's wife. Despite the apparent conflict, which Barry minimizes, and evidence that Barry's wife may be involved in the murder, Barry insists on keeping the case until he is finally yanked from it, his career at risk. Besides Barry's wife, there are plenty of suspects--Glen managed to make enemies of his former associates, and his current drug dealers. When the police discover that Boyd had renewed his association with Barry's wife, things look grim indeed.

The crisis is deepened by an at-home crisis. Barry's teenaged daughter learns that her former lover has AIDS. Now the family must gather around and wait to learn if that deadly disease has been transmitted.

Author Scott Mackay's writing is professional and engaging. OLD SCORES is an easy book to pick up and read all the way through. I found, however, that Mackay missed some chances to fully engage the reader's emotion. The threat to Barry's wife never seemed real--the police told Barry that they were certain she was innocent and Barry never really lost faith. Mackay would have strengthened his story by increasing this risk. An ideal opportunity would have been to tie the daughter's possible AIDS infection in with Glen's drug-rape tendencies. Indeed, I kept waiting for Mackay to deliver this final blow to Barry and the reader and found myself let down when he simply ignored all of the setup.

Mackay is an engaging and capable writer and Barry Gilbert makes an interesting character. OLD SCORES is a good book that I can recommend without hesitation, even while feeling that Mackay missed some chances to make it even better.

Author posts reviews:

"Third in a satisfying series." Library Journal ...

"A neatly turned presentation of the classic too-close-to-home scenario, with a particular flair for bringing each of Glen Boyd's sorely used victims to life." Kirkus Reviews ...

"Soon Barry Gilbert will be to Toronto what Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch is to Los Angeles ... This series has a good chance to survive and even thrive. In Old Scores, Mackay has concocted a plot that is bound to hold his readers, and in Gilbert, he has invented a hero certain to elicit sympathy. As a bonus, Mackay has the knack of drawing his readers into moral dilemmas faced by his characters ... Old Scores should prove to be a stepping stone to greater success for Mackay. There is room in Canada, and in crime literature generally, for more writers like Mackay." Halifax Chronicle Herald