DP54Cover - Deadly Pleasures

Reviews
is a friendly sort, generally liked by most people. And his
natural kindness and constant curiosity are great assets in
his work.
Stanley uses the landscape and culture of Botswana
very effectively. Both Silisi and Kubu accept the powers of
Bushman shamans, though they may have alternate explanations
for them. Stanley also includes wealthy boardrooms,
fancy country clubs, desolate back-country roads,
and the mean back alleys of Botswana as part of his exotic
locale. Furthermore, he explains diamond fingerprints,
kimberlite, and other aspects of diamond mining that were
quite fascinating. The barren “outback” is indeed a major
part of the mystery. In fact, Stanley’s Africa seems like that
of Deon Meyer or Richard Kunzmann, but with a slightly
lighter tone.
Though this is a debut novel by a writing team (
Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip), it is quite well done.
The series character is extremely appealing, the unfamiliar
setting holds our attention, the plot entertains, and it
was lots of fun to read. Recommended.
SCARED TO LIVE by Stephen Booth. (Bantam,
$25.00, May 2008). Rating B+ In the English
Peaks District, ambitious, dissatisfied DS Diane Fry and
easy going, local boy DC Ben Cooper find themselves with
a couple of challenging cases. Rose Shepherd, a recluse in
her 60’s who may be agoraphobic and who often can’t
sleep, is found dead, shot through her bedroom window.
Not too far away, a man tries unsuccessfully to rescue his
wife and two sons from a burning house. Fortunately, his
beautiful baby girl is staying with his parents.
Both cases have some puzzling aspects. It seems
no one in this small village really knew Rose Shepherd, a
recent resident. After all, she rarely went out or spoke to
anyone. But the coppers do wonder why her house has an
awesome security system. On the other hand, the
destruction of Lindsay and Brian Mullen’s house seems like
a tragic accident, but a neighbor finally admits the couple
fought a lot and someone even reports seeing an unknown
car leaving the area that night. To add to the mystery,
DC Cooper thinks the fire ignition points in Mullen’s house
are odd. The dual investigations of these crimes are
thorough, complex, and connected. Eventually they both
extend far outside this picturesque English village.
Throughout this series, DS Fry and DC Cooper
have developed into complex, fully fleshed characters.
Cooper makes good use of his intimate knowledge of the
locals to figure out the best course of investigation, and he’s
usually successful. At the same time, though, Ben has to
cope with his brother’s fears that their mother’s schizophrenia
may be hereditary and might affect his children.
However, DS Fry’s investigations have led to Bulgaria and
a handsome Bulgarian cop. In fact, Fry thinks she may
have found her next goal in life, both personally and
professionally. Finally, victim Rosa Shepherd is a particularly
intriguing character, definitely a cipher, and much of
the tension of the book arises from the search for her real
identity.
Deadly Pleasures
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This lively plot is
competently handled,
though the eventual
connection between
the two cases stretches
credulity a bit. As a
plus, the book is filled
with some perceptive
observations on the
bonds between child
and parent, and on the
lengths to which a parent
will go to keep a
child safe. At times,
the villains become
very sympathetic.
As usual, the
Peak District setting is Stephen Booth
beautifully described. For example, Booth’s description of
the annual parade of boats, which are outfitted with lights
portraying various famous buildings etc, is a nice piece of
local color.
I would strongly recommend this for the clever
plot, solid characterizations, and the lovely English setting.
THE SILVER SWAN by Benjamin Black. (Henry
Holt, $25.00, March 2008). Rating A-. Gloomy Dublin
pathologist Garret Quirke is rather bemused when a
barely remembered acquaintance, Billy Hunt, begs him
not to perform an autopsy on his wife. She had apparently
jumped into the sea, a suicide. Well, it’s 1950’s Dublin
and lots of rules are bent to keep secrets, so Quirke agrees.
However, Quirke is so obsessive about his work he can’t
resist doing his job, and he quickly discovers she has been
murdered. He doesn’t tell anyone , but he visits another old
acquaintance, D.I. Hackett, and simply insinuates he may
have discovered a murder, and the two of them initiate a
rather covert investigation. Along the way, they uncover
a number of other loathsome crimes, in addition to
murder.
Though technically this is a police procedural, the
reader rarely sees Quirke or Hackett at work. Instead, for
much of the time, the victim and the suspects tell their
stories. For example, the beautiful victim, Deirdre Hunt,
is a sexy, ambitious businesswoman whose abusive childhood
has taught her to please men, no matter what she
wants. Leslie White, who’s equally “hot,” is an educated,
witty con man who’s gone into business with Deirdre and
has taught her all sorts of wonderful sexual shenanigans.
Unfortunately, Leslie is married to another woman and a
dangerous drug addict. There is also a colorful portrait of
a fake Indian healer who almost makes you believe him.
Finally, Kate, Leslie’s wife, is definitely not a hurt, cowering
spouse. She’s smart, calculating, and often cold, and she
adds a lot of interest to the plot. Overall, this somewhat
unique storytelling approach works just fine.
Series character Quirke is both aggravating and
sympathetic. A former alcoholic, he lives for his work.
Recently, death had taken both his wife and his sister-in-