First published in Crime Scene #2.
A STUDY IN MURDER
by ROBERT RYAN
(Simon & Schuster) Out now
Glance at any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes collections and you’ll see how the consulting detective didn’t take on cases, he had Adventures. So it’s rather fitting that Robert Ryan, pushing Doyle’s iconic characters into the second decade of the 20th century, places solid old Doctor John Watson in what was by then an increasingly popular new genre – the thriller.
A Study in Murder follows on from Doyle’s final Holmes tale, His Last Bow, in which the consulting detective foiled the departure of German spy, Von Bork on the eve of the First World War. Three years later, the German seizes the opportunity for revenge, by offering the ailing Watson – now a prisoner of war – in exchange for Holmes.
Yet it’s not just the physical deprivations in the prisoner of war camps that a weary Watson has to face; several suspicious deaths in the camp lead him to uncovering a genuinely horrific crime.
Written in taut no-nonsense prose, A Study in Murder assuredly jumps between its numerous plot strands – including two unconnected schemes to ensure Holmes never falls into German hands alive – and clearly-defined characters. Assuredly, it’s a tale of which Doyle himself should be pleased.
Did you know?
In The Case of the Six Watsons, Robert Ryan adds Holmes and (primarily) Watson to five non-Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
DEPRAVED HEART
by PATRICIA CORNWELL
(HarperCollins) Out now
“I’m unbothered by what most people find upsetting and disgusting,” explains Patricia Cornwell’s literary avatar, medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta – also a very good qualification for any crime writer. Cornwell is obviously doing well from it – Depraved Heart is her 23rd novel featuring the character. That’s the novel’s obvious strength – but it’s also its main weakness.
On the plus side, 23 novels in, Cornwell clearly feels brave enough to launch this novel presenting Kay as someone who genuinely appears to have difficulty caring about the world outside of her head or what she feels is important. Also, there’s a contained aspect to her first-person narrative that hardly encourages our sympathies, which in turn ensures that the time we spend as readers trapped inside Kay’s head feels like a bit of a hard slog.
On the downside, given that this is Cornwell’s 23rd Scarpetta novel, set just two months after the events of previous book Flesh and Blood, it’s obvious that “new readers start here” doesn’t apply. While Cornwell arguably provides just enough back story when required, the way certain characters are revealed suggests that she’s also looking to make the kind of impact that only works if her readers already know – and care about – who those characters are.
On the plus side, there’s no hanging about or throat-clearing here. Kay is working on a possible accidental death of a Hollywood movie producer’s daughter when she receives a video on her mobile allegedly sent from her niece Lucy’s “In Case of Emergencies” number; it’s a video, apparently recorded the best part of 20 years previously (and without her neice’s knowledge) by Lucy’s former friend during FBI training, Carrie Gretham. Carrie is now, according to Kay, a terrorist, intent on causing chaos and mayhem as much as possible.
Certainly, Kay and Lucy’s situations begin to unravel quickly enough, with the heightened logic and speed of the slickest thriller. Whatever else you might say about Cornwell’s writing style, plenty of things happen – her plots come complete with twists, turns and a constant questioning of characters and motives made all the more striking given that everything takes place within a 24 hour period. Nevertheless, there’s still a sense that the conclusion, when it comes, is just too quick, providing a sense of closure that’s flimsy at best. Not least because that 24th novel is presumably already well on the road to publication.
Did you know?
Patricia Cornwell spent six years working in a chief medical examiner’s office in Virginia, dealing with murder cases, and watched many an autopsy being performed.
Did you know?
Patricia Cornwell met her current partner, Dr Staci Gruber, an associate director of Harvard’s McLean psychiatric hospital, while researching sociopaths for one of her novels.
CHANDLER & CO
(Simply Media) Out now
Not all private detectives are hard-boiled. Chandler & Co, created by Paula Milne (who wrote The Politician’s Wife) stars Catherine Russell as Elly Chandler, a recent divorcee who starts working as a private investigator, accompanied by former sister-in-law Dee Tate (Barbara Flynn).
Given that the pair specialise in “marital and personal cases”, the first six episodes (originally broadcast in 1994) focus as much on the emotional consequences of their work as the tracking of a succession of wayward husbands and lost daughters. Unfortunately this includes a frankly unconvincing “will-they-won’t-they” sub-plot between Elly and the pair’s technical adviser and exasperated mentor, Larry Blakeston – an otherwise excellent Peter Capaldi.
Not that you’d guess from the DVD cover, but the second series (1995) is the show’s effective relaunch, with Larry AWOL and Dee inexplicably replaced by one-time client Kate Phillips (Susan Fleetwood).
While the mobile phones date Chandler & Co almost as much as its doom-laden AIDS storyline, this remains a slow-burner that’s as emotionally intelligent as it is clever.
Did you know?
Paula Milne’s next series for the BBC was Second Sight (2000-01), about a police detective (played by Clive Owen) who was losing his sight.
Reviews published in Crime Scene, #2.
