Semantics of Murder [Paperback]

Aifric Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2009

Jay Hamilton lives a comfortable life in fashionable west London, listening to the minor and major dysfunctions of the over-privileged clients who frequent his psychoanalytic practice. But the darker recesses of his own psyche would not stand up to close examination: his brother Richard, a genius professor of mathematical linguistics, was apparently killed by rent boys in Los Angeles and Jay was the first on the scene. Author Dana Flynn is determined to scratch beneath the surface while researching a biography she intends to write about Richard, and finds that Jay's professional life is as precarious as his personal relationships - he uses his clients' case studies as material for his fiction writing. Such is Jay's hunger for recognition as a creative force that he exploits the vulnerable people he counsels, and a decision not to intervene when a troubled patient steals a baby, causes his past to unravel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The unsolved 1971 murder of UCLA philosophy professor Richard Montague is the inspiration for Campbell's uneven debut, set in 2001. American psychoanalyst Jay Hamilton has worked in England for two decades, pretty uneventfully, despite a professional secret; Hamilton uses his patients as inspiration for the bestselling fiction he authors under a pseudonym. His comfortable existence is put at risk by an inquiry from Dana Flynn, a woman researching his late brother, Robert, a controversial UCLA professor; Dana is naturally curious about the circumstances of Robert's murder 30 years earlier. Robert, a closet homosexual, was strangled in his home. Based on Jay's account of seeing two men drive away in his brother's car, the official theory was that they were responsible for the crime. Campbell writes well, and does a good job of portraying the complex relationship of the Hamilton brothers, but the surprise she springs on the reader about the murder will astonish few.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"'Campbell shows a light and conciliatory touch... She is excellent on the symptomatic one-upmanship of academia... she clearly has a talent for direct and uncompromising character portrayal' Irish Times 'Written in glistening prose... a major talent' Irish Independent"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Serpents Tail (April 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184668658X
• ISBN-13: 978-1846686580
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,319,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking down semantics, November 29, 2009

By 

Cai Palmer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Semantics of Murder (Paperback)

Picked this book up over Thanksgiving and read it cover to cover. It was either the book or sports on TV. The book easily won. Couldn't wait to put the turkey down and get back to it. It's not a fast read, but it is one of the few intelligent fiction novels out there today - and its not totally fiction - which makes it even more intriguing and difficult to put down.

Don't wait for next year's Thanksgiving Day to buy the book - get it now and reaad a book you'll actually enjoy.

3.0 out of 5 stars disturbing and a little entertaining, February 15, 2011

By 

Nan Chen "cineaste" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Semantics of Murder (Paperback)

This novel started off a little slow but picks up in the end and there is a psychologically disturbing ending. It is a fun read for a weekend. I got interested in this book from my interests in the person who's murder its plot is based on, the UCLA philosopher Richard Montague who was murdered in his home during the early seventies. To this day, his murder is still unsolved. This novel takes off on the psychological themes of familial disconnect and fraternal rivalry and weaves a somewhat interesting account of a murder and those lives intimately associated with it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intriguing look at ethics, November 25, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Semantics of Murder (Paperback)

Cocky American Dr. Jay Hamilton moves from Los Angeles to London where he practices psychoanalysis in Kensington. His affluent clientele worship by him and his practice is thriving. However, they are ignorant that Dr. Hamilton has an alter ego.

As J Merritt, he writes stories about psychological analysis that is major sellers. His subjects are the clients he treats as Dr, Hamilton. He also has his own psychotic secret, the murder of his beloved older brother Robert, who raised him. Biographer Dana Flynn visits Jay to interview him about a book she is writing about Robert that leads to an abashed Jay questioning his ethics for using his clients especially Cora as the subjects of his books.

The Semantics of Murder is an intriguing look at ethics as Dana's inquiries into Jay's late hero Robert coaxes him to take a discerning gaze into what he is doing. Robert, who was much older, was more a caring father than a sibling; thus Jay has the epiphany that Robert disappointingly stares down at him. Although the action is minimal, fans who relish a cerebral character driven tale will enjoy Jays' morale reawakening.

Harriet Klausner