Darkness & Light: A Frank Elder Mystery (Frank Elder Mysteries) (Paperback)

by John Harvey (Author) "BEHIND HIS SPECTACLES, THE BOY'S EYES WERE LIKE bevelled glass..." (more)
Key Phrases: Irene Fowler, Claire Meecham, Anna Ingram (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Harvey's engaging third British procedural to feature retired policeman Frank Elder (after 2005's Ash & Bone), Elder grudgingly agrees to try to find Claire Meecham, the older, widowed sister of a friend of his ex-wife's. While poking through the missing woman's Nottingham bungalow, Elder finds nothing untoward other than evidence that Claire was not quite so uninterested in sex, and possible new relationships, as her younger sister believed. Soon after, Elder is surprised when Claire turns up in her home dead, looking at peace, carefully dressed and laid out in the manner of a woman who met a similar fate years earlier"and whose killer was never caught. Elder's probe of this murder leads him down several blind alleys even as it forces him to re-examine uncomfortable aspects of his own past. Fans of PBS's Mystery will find Harvey's novel, with its scattering of contemporary English slang, a genial read. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The third Frank Elder finds the retired Nottingham copper once again called back from his solitary life in remote Cornwall to help investigate a murder. This time it's his ex-wife doing the calling. Concerned about one of her friends, whose sister has gone missing, she wants Frank to look into the matter with more attention than the police are giving it. Reluctantly, Frank agrees and soon enough lands in the middle of a murder case, working with many of his old colleagues, including, tangentially, Charlie Resnick, hero of Harvey's award-winning previous series. The Resnick cameos give the Elder novels a nice jolt of frisson, but Harvey has successfully moved on to a new and quite different hero. Elder is a troubled man--still suffering from his divorce and struggling with guilt over his daughter's abduction and rape at the hands of a man he was tracking (Flesh & Blood, 2004)--but his determined attempts to retreat from life are consistently trumped by his need to get back to work and to connect with other human beings. Harvey writes superbly about the startings and stoppings that define human relationships, whether within the bounds of acceptable behavior or criminally outside them. He makes us feel the connections between people on both sides of the law--or both sides of sanity--in a way that is both profoundly moving and deeply unsettling. Harvey belongs on the short list of every reader interested in the demilitarized zone where crime fiction and literature meet. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harvest Books (July 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156031418
• ISBN-13: 978-0156031417
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #213,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A stylish read, July 6, 2006

By	Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Darkness & Light: A Frank Elder Mystery (Frank Elder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A John Harvey book is a joy to read with his flowing, easy to read sentences and in the way that he sets up scenes, so clearly, with the minimum of fuss. Retired policeman, Frank Elder is lured from his retirement in Cornwall by a plea from his ex wife Joanna, whose friend is worried by the disappearance of her sister Claire, a normally quiet, reliable widow. Frank agrees to help and, while looking through Claire's house, discovers hints that Claire isn't the complete mouse that everyone thinks her. When Claire's body reappears in her house, dead by strangulation for several days and laid out as though by an undertaker, Frank enlists the help of his old workmate, DI Maureen Prior and is taken on as a consultant to the police for this case. A search of Claire's e-mails reveals some names of men she had met through a dating service and, while interviewing all of them, Frank is struck by the similarities between this case and a previously unsolved crime which was committed while he was still in the force. There's a varied list of characters and possible suspects which makes for an interesting yet smooth read. I always enjoy a John Harvey book and unhesitatingly recommend this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Death, Elder thought, still a bit too close to her for comfort.", June 26, 2006

By	Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Darkness & Light: A Frank Elder Mystery (Frank Elder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Frank Elder is a tormented man. Ever since his daughter was kidnapped and brutalized, he has carried the guilt of his ineffectiveness and what he believes was his part in the crime. Years later, the father-daughter relationship remains tentative, Katherine still healing and Frank trying to reconnect. Since moving to Cornwall, Frank is more isolated than ever, but his remote environment has allowed its own healing, the years of police work and Katherine's ordeal taking a toll on his considerable inner resources. When Frank's ex-wife asks for his help in locating the missing sister of a friend, Elder welcomes the opportunity to see his daughter and sharpen his detecting skills once more.

The missing woman, Claire Meecham, is an enigma to her neighbors, ostensibly reserved, no social life outside her job, someone Claire's sister realizes she doesn't really know at all. Beneath the quiet exterior, Claire is a lonely woman searching for a relationship, visiting online dating sites and managing a few discreet assignations; but when Claire's body is discovered, fully clothed, at home in her own bed, Frank is reminded of another unsolved case that bears the earmarks of this particular killer. Delving into the former disappearance as well as Claire's, Elder cannot shake the feeling that the key to one unlocks the other. Elder is old school, conscientious and burdened by his recent past, unable to separate work from home in a single-minded passion to bring some relief to the suffering families of the victims.

Working with a former associate, Maureen Prior, Elder resources old files, establishing the vaguest of potential connections. Nose-to-the-grindstone police work pays off for Elder, with a few diversions along the way; meanwhile he is vigilant about not settling on only one theory to the exclusion of other possibilities. Combining the sensitivity of a solitary divorced man whose daughter is recovering from a life-threatening trauma with the unparalleled skills of a veteran cop, Darkness & Light has the necessary ingredients; taut, controlled, yet emotionally fragile, this man on a mission discovers unexpected rewards and an opportunity to heal the sins of the past. Luan Gaines/2006.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HARVEY IS A MASTER WORDSMITH, August 1, 2006

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Darkness & Light: A Frank Elder Mystery (Frank Elder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Many of us have admired 16th century Flemish tapestries now on display in museums throughout the world. They're so beautiful - from a distance they almost appear to be a painting but upon stepping closer we can see the millions of stitches. While it may seem unusual, John Harvey's latest book, Darkness & Light, reminds me of a tapestry, neatly stitched or plotted with each thread or word a vital part. To carry the analogy further, Harvey's colors are telling - the dark hue of an expression, the revealing shade of a glance. With nary an extraneous word he creates a story so compelling that rather than finding out who the killer is one wishes this tale would never end. Harvey is, indeed, a master wordsmith.

Without prelude our story opens in the office of child psychiatrist Alice Silverman. She is interviewing a boy of eleven or so who refuses to speak, yet she notes that there is "something confrontational beating just beneath the skin....."

Quickly the scene changes to Cornwall where Frank Elder has retired. He receives a telephone call from his former wife, Joanne, who asks him to look into the disappearance of the older sister of her good friend, Jennie. Initially reluctant, Elder decides to go to the city in hopes of seeing his daughter, Katharine. The missing woman is Claire Meecham, a widowed woman of middle age. According to Jennie her sister is a bit of a recluse, a shy retiring lady who wouldn't just go off without leaving word. However, as Elder begins to delve into Claire's life he finds a woman quite different from the one her sister has described.

Eventually Claire is found - she is at home, quite dead. She's discovered in her bed, fully clothed, hair neat, and not a mark on her. The sight of her reminds Elder of another case, an old unsolved death. He teams with a former colleague, Maureen Prior in an effort to solve both puzzles.

His investigation is related in chapters alternating with the story of the young boy being treated by Alice Silverman. When the child is moved to another city, she is dismayed and readers are left to wonder.

But, leave it to the brilliant John Harvey to weave the threads of his story together in a surprising yet satisfactory manner. This author startles with suspense, and his characters are limned with such sensitivity that one feels empathy for both villain and victim. He is simply the best- don't miss it!

- Gail Cooke