Review of The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts – A Him Qwilleran Feline Whodunit by Lilian Jackson Braun

This author has an interesting history. She died in 2011 at the age of 97, but back in the 1960’s, she published the first three of her The Cat Who… series to universal acclaim. In 1966 the New York Times called her latest offering ‘the new detective of the year’. And then nothing for eighteen years. But in 1986 her first book, The Cat Who Saw Red was republished and once more featured in the best-seller charts and this time, Lilian Jackson Braun followed it up with more in the series.

By her death, she had produced 29 books and three short story collections – The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts is the 10th in the series. So, after picking up the book convinced it was a fantasy whodunit – did I still enjoy this unusual crime novel?

Relaxing to the sound of Verdi’s ‘Ortello’ late one Sunday night, Jim Qwilleran is disturbed by the shrill demands of the telephone. His erstwhile landlady, Iris Cobb, now resident manager of the Goodwinter Farm Museum, is distraught. Knowing her frail state of health Qwilleran is concerned and becomes even more so when a piercing scream severs their connection. Arriving at the museum he finds Iris slumped on the kitchen floor, a glass of milk abandoned on the counter. But what at first looks like a natural, if sadly premature, demise from heart disease proves to be much more sinister. Once again the detective talents of Koko and Yum Yum, Qwilleran’s sleuthing Siamese companions, are in demand in sleepy Pickaxe.

And there you have it. A constantly curious man who is convinced his Siamese cats’ antics can help him uncover this nasty crime. I was immediately drawn in, despite very quickly realising that what I’d picked up wasn’t what I thought it was. The writing is slick and Jim Qwilleran’s character instantly appealed. He is slightly curmudgeonly and very comfortable with his own company – and those of his cats. He has a girlfriend, but I got the feeling that though they are fond of each other, passion doesn’t keep him awake at nights… A refreshing change after all the angst-ridden YA I tend to read. And the interlude where she acquires a Siamese kitten of her own had me laughing aloud. It isn’t often that a novelist is brave enough to poke fun at her hero and sleuth – but Jackson Braun does exactly that as Qwilleran fumes to himself over the ridiculous fuss Polly makes over her kitten. Because while he also calls his cats ‘sweetie’, he isn’t so  irritatinglycloying or simpering – so he tells himself.

Meantime we also get a slice of daily life in amongst the darker goings-on in Pickaxe, with a generous array of characters who both entertain and provide plenty of suspects. While I was aware that there was a fairly substantial back story that I’d missed – Iris Cobb features in several of the earlier books, for instance, so that I think if I’d read those I would have been more upset at her death – at no time was I left floundering because I had come in at number 10 in this long-running series. And as for the plot that had poor Iris done to death – did it work? Absolutely. The denouement was highly satisfying and surprising. I won’t claim that I am particularly good at guessing who did what in this genre, but there were some genuine surprises at the conclusion that had me flipping back through the pages to see when the clues were first seeded throughout the book.

I can see exactly why this series first became popular – and was republished nearly twenty years later. Jackson Braun’s writing is both accomplished and different. If you come across The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts, don’t pass up the opportunity to read it. Even if – like me – you prefer dogs…
9/10

Review of The Shadow of the Soul – Book 2 of the Dog-Faced Gods by Sarah Pinborough

Sarah Pinborough is one of the stars of Fantasycon – a bubbly character with sufficient personal charisma to stop the traffic, something that most authors don’t possess. I’d known that she wrote Horror/Dark Fantasy, so when I came across this offering I plucked it off the shelves.

As the world sinks deeper into recession, London is rocked by a major terrorist attack that cripples the city. Detective Inspector Cass Jones is busy investigating a series of apparently linked student suicides when Special Branch calls on him to help in their search for a very unusual suspect. As if that isn’t enough, Cass is given a message from beyond the grave. With three words – ‘They took Luke’ – written by his brother before he was brutally murdered, Cass Jones once again feels the world tilt beneath him. He knows who ‘They’ are – Mr Bright and the shadowy Network – and he knows that his dead brother has given him the task of finding the baby, his nephew, stolen at birth.  As Cass tries to divide his time between his two legitimate investigations and his private one, it’s not long before he discovers links where none should be…

This book plunged right into the action and didn’t let up until the final page, and though at no time was I floundering – Pinborough is far too accomplished a writer for that – I did get the sense that I would have better appreciated exactly what was going on if I’d tracked down the first book, A Matter of Blood, before launching into The Shadow of the Soul. However, it didn’t take long to get drawn into this gritty police procedural tale that felt far more like a Rankin whodunit than your average Dark Fantasy crime story. Cass Jones is a typically overburdened inner-city detective with a dysfunctional family life, rather than the supernatural, angst-driven beings that often inhabit urban fantasy crime novels.

Pinborough has successfully managed to come up with a flavour all of her own in this increasingly popular sub-genre. Second books in a trilogy often lack pace as they simultaneously have to produce a complete story arc, yet leave/produce a series of vital plot points dangling for the final book to solve. But this story whisks along as we get increasing insights into the Network and the strains within the apparently invulnerable organisation, as Cass Jones is still desperately trying to come to terms with what has happened to him and his family during the previous book. All these concerns are woven through the current investigations with deftness and skill that ensure this is a solid page-turner.

So, does the denouement pack sufficient punch? It needs to – Crime/Dark Fantasy genres require a strong ending to be regarded as successful and as Pinborough has braided these ingredients together, she has to pull off a really gripping conclusion that provides genuine shock value. Which she achieves with style. As Cass struggles to cope with the new set of facts he uncovers after investigating the events that have befallen his troubled family – the crimes he has also been following also get tied up in a way that I didn’t see coming.

This second book has been sufficiently gripping that I’m going to hunt down the first and third offerings in this disturbing, compulsive series – and I recommend that you give it a go. But start with A Matter of Blood – writing this good deserves to be read in the correct order.
9/10

Review of The Immorality Engine – A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation by George Mann

This book is the third full length novel in this steampunk adventure series set squarely in Victorian times.  Sir Maurice Newbury and his feisty sidekick Veronica Hobbes are called on to investigate a wave of crimes identical to committed by a murderer who the police have just found dead. Their enquiries lead them to the Bastion Society, and personal physician to Queen Victoria, Dr Lucius Fabian. Why is he so interested in Veronica’s sister, Amelia, and can Newbury and Veronica help free her from a terrible fate as a slave to the Empire?

I’ve enjoyed this series so far – but for my money, this is the book where all the ingredients mix together to provide a really gripping story with some horrific overtones. And the steampunk adventure stops being some slightly daft version of Sherlock Holmes and hits its stride.

Maurice Newbury is fighting his own demons – and the consequences of his experimentation bite deep into his personal life and create major strains in his partnership with Veronica Hobbes. Who has major problems of her own, given her concern and guilt about her sister’s fate… These internal conflicts add extra depth to these two characters, whose rather breezy attitude to date gave this series a certain amount of charm – but also allowed us to dismiss the shenanigans going on in Mann’s version of Victorian England as an amusing pastiche of the darker reality. It was also enjoyable to see that one of the characters who has regularly turned up as a regular bit player in the earlier books, Inspector Bainbridge, has been given a far larger slice of the action this time around – to the extent that we actually see the action through his viewpoint on several occasions.

There is a sombre feel to this novel that gives it extra edge, right from the beginning, with the bleak funeral scene that wouldn’t look out of place in a Dickens novel. Queen Victoria is something of a shock – the terrifying monster lurking in the shadows and kept alive by her steam-driven chair is a world away from the white haired matron we are used to seeing adorning various history books and stamps.

What hasn’t changed, is the speed at which the narrative whisks along. Mann is adept at interleaving the necessary scene setting with the various actions scenes that regularly punctuate this engrossing book. While the previous steampunk adventures have always been entertaining – which was why I made a point of picking up this book – this time the narrative braids all the various sub-plots into a really satisfying climax that contributed to the explosive denouement – literally. The fall-out from all the action is equally intriguing and the final hook has left me determined to track down the sequel, The Affinity Bridge. Where I enjoyed the previous books, this one is my favourite steampunk novel to date – and I’m very much hoping that the next book will deliver yet more steam-driven goings on with a same calibre.
10/10

Review of Death on the Downs – A Fethering Mystery by Simon Brett

In the depths of winter, still recovering from the over-indulgence of the Christmas holidays, this entertaining whodunit certainly hits all the right spots.

Caught out in a sudden downpour during a walk on the South Downs, Carole Sedden shelters in a dilapidated barn – only to discover two fertiliser bags packed with human bones. The gossips in the Hare and Hounds, the local pub in the hamlet of Weldisham, immediately identify the corpse as Tamsin Lutteridge, a young woman who disappeared several months earlier. But when Carole and her new neighbour, Jude, investigate further, they are not so sure…

Firstly, what this novel isn’t. You don’t get a graphic anatomy lesson in decomposition as in a Patricia Cornwall or Kathy Reiches – neither is this a Rankinesk study in world-weary cynicism. Which is a refreshing change as the current whodunit trend seems to be striving to make each book more bloodily horrifying than the last. Though neither are we in a Disneyland version of the genre. Brett treats the murder with suitable seriousness and his well written heroine is far more likely to be standing next to you in Tescos than some protagonists found in more lurid novels.

However, for me the outstanding feature of the book are the descriptions of the local landscape and characters. The acerbic humour running through these word sketches are a joy to read. The narrative pace is apparently unhurried, so I wasn’t flipping back to check up on clues or characters I might have missed during a half-page of inattention. Which didn’t prevent me staying up till 2 am in order to reach the denouement, where again, Brett’s capable storytelling pedigree is apparent. The ending was suitably satisfying with all the major plotlines thoroughly tied up.

My only niggle – and I am conscious that this a matter of personal preference – is that a certain amount of mystery regarding one of the protagonists wasn’t resolved. As this was a theme running through the story I did feel a little cheated that by the end I still didn’t know all the details. However, when writing a multi-volume series, it is always a fine judgement call as to how many hooks to leave trailing in order to tempt readers to continue with the other books.

I don’t need any such inducement. Brett’s witty, well-crafted slices of West Sussex murder and mayhem are right up there, jostling with the latest steampunk and urban fantasy offerings.
8/10

Review of Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

I loved The Gone-Away World, as anyone who has read my review will realise. So when I managed to get my hands on Harkaway’s second book, I was delighted. Question is – can Harkaway manage to harness his exuberant prose and sprawling genre mash-up to provide the same breathtaking result?

All Joe Spork wants is a quiet life. He repairs clockwork and lives above his shop in a wet, unknown bit of London. The bills don’t always get paid and he’s single and has no prospects of improving his lot, but at least he’s not trying to compete with the reputation of Mathew ‘Tommy Gun’ Spork, his infamous criminal dad.

Edie Banister lives quietly and wishes she didn’t. She’s nearly ninety and remembers when she wasn’t. She’s a former superspy and now she’s… well… old. Worse yet, the things she fought to save don’t seem to exist anymore, and she’s beginning to wonder if they ever did.

These two main characters pick up this tale of an apocalyptic thriller, fantasy clockpunk, crime caper and spy noire with a Dickensian twist – and plunge into this tale. All the things that Edie is, Joe isn’t. And alongside the story of the infernal machine with its golden bees (love the cover, by the way… fabulous!) it really is all about the progression of a struggling clockmaker, beset by guilt and anger over his father’s criminal past, into someone else. Do I feel completely comfortable at the transformation of a quiet, law-abiding man into a reckless lawbreaker? Well, yes, actually. Because it’s Fantasy… Had the prose, structure or characterisation set this book up to remotely reflect reality in any way – then I’d have felt a lot more ambivalent.

Harkaway’s prose is exactly NOT what modern readers are supposed to enjoy. There is more than a nod to a more florid 19th century style with plenty of descriptors scattered throughout; enjoyable and arresting imagery; long passages of descriptions, ranging from the physical appearance of all the main characters to every setting; slightly mannered and unrealistic dialogue – even the humour owes more to Dickens than, say, the likes of Pratchett. But this rich flavour, with the viewpoint veering towards the omniscient – another major no-no, in these days when the authorial voice is supposed to be completely subsumed by the thoughts and words of the protagonists – certainly works most of the time. And although there are sections in the first half where I feel that Harkaway’s writing does slightly silt up the pace, this may also reflect my personal preference for first person protagonists – I certainly don’t recall feeling the same sense of drift in The Gone-Away World, which was narrated in first person point of view.

However, the slightly old fashioned feel to the prose doesn’t mean that this is a cosy book – for all the rollicking adventuring feel, there are some gritty edges to this tale. There are lost loves, lives laid down in vain causes, cynically corrupt Governments – chiefly ours – where Justice is arbitrary and often unfair. There is also a prolonged episode of torture and plenty of graphic violence – and the larger-than-life feel to this book also extends to the darker aspects. Harkaway writes with passion about the lost souls in this tale, so we care because he demands that we do.

Any niggles? There are times during this monster read of over 550 pages, that Harkaway’s control does slip, and the prose stops singing off the page and instead slows everything down; where the dialogue stops being amusingly unexpected and becomes annoying; and where the authorial voice becomes a tad insistent. Overall, though, Harkaway successfully negotiates his way through this ambitious novel and ties everything up completely satisfactorily – which when working on such a large scale is a major achievement. If you haven’t yet treated yourself to this book, go and find a copy – it’ll certainly help you recover from the post-Olympic blues…
8/10

Review of Whispers Underground – Book 3 in Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch

D.C. Peter Grant – U.K.’s answer to Harry Dresden – serves in a little known branch of the Metropolitan Police. So in this, the third book in the series does Aaronovitch manage to sustain the energy, quirky humour and detailed knowledge that has made this series so popular so quickly?

In Tuffnell Park, North London, a pair of railway tracks dive under a school, taking trains to and from Kings Cross. Wet, filthy, dangerous. Lovely place. And one Sunday before Christmas a sweet (sort of) kid called Abigail took me and my long-suffering Lesley May down there to look for a ghost.

We found one.

And that was that, I thought, because come Monday, I get to do some proper policing. Persons Unknown has been stabbed to death on the tracks at Baker Street tube. Magic may have been involved. And sure enough, in the blood; vestigia, the tell-tale trail magic leaves. Person Unknown turns out to be the son of a US senator and before you can say ‘International Incident’, FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds and her firmly held religious beliefs are on my case. And down in the dark, in the tunnels of London’s Underground, the buried rivers, the Victorian sewers, I’m hearing whispers of ancient arts and tortured, vengeful spirits…

That’s the premise – and with that we are whisked off in Peter Grant’s engaging, chirpy first person viewpoint to a ringside seat as he embarks on another investigation. Once more, we are treated to his cinematic descriptions of the city he clearly loves and knows as well as a London cabbie, while he plunges into another plot more twisty than Mama Thames herself.

Lesley May is accompanying him for most of the ride – and the sparky, yet poignant interaction between the two of them lit up sections of the book for me. In any successful long-running series, it becomes as much about the supporting characters as the protagonist. Aaronovitch doesn’t rely solely on having one of the most cheekily engaging main characters to keep our interest – he also surrounds Peter with a quirky cast. This ranges from Molly, the housekeeper at The Folly (think Mrs Hudson with sharp teeth and chronic insomnia); Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, Peter’s boss and that last official English wizard, to the pantheon of headstrong river goddesses who all seem to have a bit of a thing for Peter…

Aaronovitch is a highly experienced writer and knows that one of his writing strengths is creating powerfully effective backdrops, providing mood music to the action. This book has underground tunnels as a creepy setting to the action – not just the Underground, but also slices of the complex warren that burrows under London for a variety of purposes. I’d strongly advise you to avoid reading the passages set in the sewer while eating your dinner – it’ll put you right off your food…

Whispers Underground is every bit as good as the first two books – if anything, better. Peter’s character sings off the page and as Aaronovitch refines and fleshes out the world and supporting cast, his voice gains in emotional depth and confidence. This is certainly one of 2012’s outstanding reads.
10/10

Review of Cibola by James H. Cobb

I’m a sucker for a really cool spacescape on a book cover – and this offering shouted READ ME, so had to be plucked off the shelf. And I’m very glad I did…

Being the cop on the beat is never easy, especially in the 22nd century, where mankind has the capacity to reshuffle the heavens and humanity and even reality itself is a matter of opinion. Just ask Free Marshal Gain Chandry of the United Nations Law Enforcement Authority, who is about to take the wildest ride of his career – and maybe even his life.

Fresh from his latest assignment chasing smugglers, Chandry is handed the Cibola Project, The Johannesburg United Metals Combine is using the largest space vehicle ever built, the robotic mass driver tug MD-24, to move a gold ore-laced asteroid into near-Earth orbit. If the project succeeds, it could revolutionize cis-lunar industrial civilisation. If it fails, the resulting ecological catastrophe could be the greatest since the extinction of the dinosaur.

And someone wants Cibola to fail.

Is it a deep, multi-layered and meaningful treatise into the possible dangers that lie ahead of humanity? Nope. It’s a great, escapist romp written by an experienced author with an engaging protagonist, Gain Chandry. That said, there are some really nice touches. I think Cobb has managed to depict deep space mining more effectively than many other sci fi writers. I enjoyed his world and the characters – and as for the whodunit, I really didn’t see it coming. However, I wasn’t wasting too much time and energy trying to unravel the plot – Cobb’s fluid style whisks the story along at a good clip and I read it in one greedy gulp.

Like all enjoyable whodunits, as well as a good spread of suspects, Gain is part of a team – however, this being the 22nd century, his side-kick isn’t your average human companion… This cyber-buddy is a great wish-fulfilment. I want one, too! Someone who can subsume him/herself into any system with a plug and switch; someone who doesn’t need to breathe, or eat; someone who can keep you company and kiss it better when it all goes wrong…

Overall, this is great fun and my only sadness is that I cannot find any kind of sequel or follow-up to this entertaining offering. Hopefully, Cobb will see the error of his ways and provide Cibola with a follow-up book. Please??
8/10

Review of The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin

This is the second outing of Malcolm Fox of The Complaints – the very unpopular Police Force internal affairs department. So – having ousted his famous and far more charismatic policeman, Inspector Rebus – does Rankin manage to establish Malcolm Fox in our affections as a suitable replacement?

Malcolm Fox is back… Fox and his team are investigating whether follow cops covered up for Detective Paul Carter. Carter has been found guilty of misconduct with his own uncle – also in the Force – proving to be his nemesis. But what should be a simple job is soon complicated by a brutal murder and a weapon that should not even exist.

A trail of revelations leads Fox back to 1985, a year of desperate unrest when letter-bombs and poisonous spores were sent to government offices, and kidnappings and murders were plotted. But while the body count rises the clock starts ticking, and a dramatic turn of events sees Fox in mortal danger.

Fox’s superiors are keen to see the investigation into Carter’s misdemeanours wrapped up, but Fox is a thorough, scrupulous character who is driven to dot the i’s and cross the t’s… And it is trait that leads him away from the initial investigation into the thicket of Rankin’s plotting that plunges us into a torrid time in Scottish history – the mid 1980’s. On the face of it, Malcolm Fox should be too boring to be an effective protagonist. He doesn’t appear to have any huge character flaws, doesn’t drink and isn’t particularly moody or unreasonable as a boss… His Achilles heel is his sense of inadequacy as a police officer and a desire to – maybe – prove to the officers in charge of the increasingly long trail of murders that he is every bit as good as they are. Maybe, even, a bit ahead of them… He doesn’t even have the grace to have any kind of love life – and although he has a stroppy sister and an increasingly frail father, his relationship with both of them is a completely normal mixture of love and resentment. And that is his strength – Malcolm Fox is recognisable as the chap next door and as such, a protagonist we want to see prevail.  As in all the best long-running series, we also follow the fortunes of the cast of supporting characters – in this case, Tony Kaye and Joe Naysmith. The moments of light relief come from the relationship between them and once more, Rankin gives us subtle, nuanced characters who are believably complex and three-dimensional.

What Rankin also offers in this book is a real cracker of a plot. From an apparently straightforward investigation into a dodgy copper, the tale spirals off into a labyrinthine tangle that had me second-guessing who would be the next victim and/or perpetrator – until I just ran with Rankin’s master storytelling and enjoyed the ride. Which leads to an unexpected denouement and exciting climax. By the time I was two-thirds through the book, there was no way I was going anywhere until I’d discovered who had done what to whom…

Exactly what you want from police procedural thriller, really. So – in answer to the original question – yes. Malcolm Fox is a fitting replacement to the fiery Rebus – in fact I think I vastly prefer him. But, don’t take my word for it – if you haven’t already had the pleasure, give yourself a treat and a break from the appalling summer weather and curl up on the sofa with The Impossible Dead – you’ll thank me if you do.
10/10

Review of The Fourth Wall – Book 3 of the Dagmar Shaw series by Walter Jon Williams

This book is told in first person present tense and this time, we are not in Dagmar’s viewpoint. The protagonist in this story is Sean Makin, ex-child star who at the height of his acting career was a household name and earned millions – which his parents have all taken. So as a failed adult actor, he is reduced to humiliating himself in shows like Celebrity Pitfight – think of Gladiators crossed with I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here…

When he meets Dagmar Shaw and is considered for the lead part in her latest film project, he thinks his dreams have come true. However, what Sean doesn’t know is that people often have a shortened life expectancy around Dagmar. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to the SUV that nearly knocked him down…

I’ve read all three books in this series. One of its strengths is that you don’t have to read any of the others to fully enjoy this particular book, where we have moved on. However, having read the first two, one of the pleasures was to see Dagmar through the lens of someone else – someone so essentially self-absorbed that she wasn’t particularly important to him. Until the end, that is…

So, change of protagonist; change of viewpoint and tense; complete change of scenario – gone are the politics and world-awareness of the first two books. Sean is only vaguely conscious there is a vicious war going on, as all his attention and energy is focused on Hollywood and events unfolding around him. Does it work?

Oh yes – this is an absolute joy. This is the book where Williams really hits his stride – and confirms for me just how uncomfortable he was with Dagmar as the main protagonist. Because Sean is inspired – there are layers in his characterisation that are wonderful, both tragic and hilarious. There were always occasional shafts of dark humour lancing through Williams’ other two books in the series – but in the character of Sean, Williams has given his readers an intimate and unforgiving insight into the life of a Hollywood actor. It is pathetic, funny and shocking by turns – all delivered in Sean’s pinpoint-sharp voice. The whodunit running through the filming is entertainingly twisty – I enjoyed the unexpectedness of the deaths and trying to work out who was the perpetrator.  And the fourth wall of the title?  This is the invisible barrier that the actors have to reach through in order to reach their audience.

There has been some criticism that the final denouement was something of an anti-climax. Which had me scratching my head, wondering whether we’d been reading the same book. I thought the ultimate twist provided by Dagmar was an amazing conclusion to the story – although I’ll concede that the whodunit discovery was slightly workaday. But surely, isn’t that the point? Isn’t that Williams playing a game with his readers – giving them a relatively bland payoff, as a caricature of a Hollywood-type ending? If he’d left it at that, then I think they have some cause for grumbling – but he doesn’t. He goes on to produce the real ending, which delivers an almighty punch.

All in all, this is one of the best books I’ve read in 2012. Sean is a wonderful creation and I’m hoping that Williams hasn’t done with him – I’d love another slice of Sean’s life. Please?
10/10

Review of V is for Vengeance – Book 21 in the Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton

This is the latest offering in the long-running series about P.I. Kinsey Millhone, For those of you who haven’t picked up a Grafton alphabet thriller, starting with A is for Alibi which was published way back in 1982, you may not be aware that Grafton’s spiky female detective was a trailblazer. Back in the day, women detectives weren’t exactly thick on the ground and the fact that so many of them now exist is in no small part a tribute to Grafton’s successful series.

However, thirty years after the first book was published, the question has to be asked – is V for Vengeance a worthy addition to this world famous franchise? Does the latest novel still have the sparky freshness that made it fly off the shelves all those years ago?

In Las Vegas, a young college graduate decides to borrow a large amount of money to stake his new career as a professional poker player. However, things don’t end well when the money is funded by the notorious criminal Lorenzo Dante. Two years later, Kinsey Millhone finds herself watching a woman, Audrey Vance, shoplifting a number of items and helps in her capture. Events take a much darker turn when Audrey’s body is discovered beneath the Cold Spring Bridge, a local suicide spot.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Dante is becoming weary of his criminal activities and very much aware that the police are steadily closing in. He has other concerns – his faltering love affair; his increasingly mentally impaired father who founded the current organisation; and above all, his younger brother Cappi, whose impulsive and dangerous behaviour has posed all sorts of problems. As Kinsey’s enquiries reach a dramatic head, it becomes clear that she and Dante have one thing in common – they must be careful who they trust…

As is apparent from the blurb, there are a number of plotlines weaving their way through this book and Kinsey’s ongoing investigation and everyday life is only one strand in this book. Do the other characters manage to provide sufficient balance against Kinsey’s powerful, established narrative voice? Absolutely. The book starts with a bang, and while Grafton has always been about steadily winding up the tension throughout her books, this one really had me reading into the wee small hours. I particularly enjoyed Dante’s character – Grafton managed to make a criminal boss seem charming and vulnerable, which is a testament to her writing ability. Indeed, Dante even beguiles Kinsey into cutting him some slack – the only grizzle I had with the whole plot, as I think she is far too hard-edged and unforgiving with lawbreakers to suddenly acquire a soft spot for Dante. However, it is a minor niggle when set against the sheer excellence of the characters; the superb handling of the small details that breathe life into Kinsey’s daily activities; the steady increase in the narrative tension as we uncover the layers of secrecy surrounding all the major protagonists, with the exception of Kinsey. Until the wonderful reveal at the end, which gives the book its title and provides a brilliant extra dimension to one of the major conflict points throughout the novel.

And this is where I think that Grafton has been so very clever. I enjoy reading a number of successful long-running series featuring a single main protagonist and what most of them feel forced to do, is to continue providing extra surprises from their main character’s past. Grafton doesn’t see the need to go down this avenue – Kinsey Millhone is a character that we now know very well, as throughout the books we have learnt all about her difficult upbringing, her suspicious nature, her methodical approach to her work and her complete inability to cook, along with a dozen other traits. So while the main narrative voice is in Kinsey’s viewpoint, we are treated to a new cast of characters involved in her investigation, who have their own agendas. This also prevents the books becoming formulaic and predictable.

All in all, I think V is for Vengeance is a triumph. For my money, it is the best of the series so far – and for Grafton to be writing at this level thirty years after her first book is a testament to her talent and inventiveness. And leaves me with a nagging worry that increases with the passing years – once Grafton has published Z is for Zero, where do I go for my new slice of Kinsey Millhone magic?
10/10