Has the basis for a good book - but lacks polish.
Rating: 2.0/5
When it's your first day in a new job ... having just been promoted to DI ... replacing the same DI that you have just exposed for corruption ... and who was having an affair with the woman who is now your new boss ... the last thing you need to is to suddenly find yourself investigating a twisted serial killer.
That is the situation that Detective Inspector Grace Archer finds herself confronted with in this debut crime thriller (though not debut novel) from David Fennell. A Banksy-style underground artist has left three glass cabinets in Trafalgar Square that contain the corpses of three homeless men - the culprit has also promised that there will be more to follow.
There are clear influences from M.W. Craven evident in this book, even down to featuring an unconventional police data analyst ... M.W. Craven's Washington Poe series has Tilly, with Asperger Syndrome, while David Fennell's "The Art of Death" has the talented Klara, who is transsexual.
The author clearly hopes that this will be that start of a series of books and he invests a good deal of time and effort in divulging the backstories of the key protagonists. The lead characters, most notably DI Grace Archer, are credible enough. However, there is too much emphasis on trying to establish the central characters at the expense of progressing the serial killer plotline. There were times when it felt like the backstories of the key characters were being crowbarred into the narrative rather than unfolding naturally as the plot developed.
The serial killer storyline and the way he set about finding his victims and perpetrating the crimes was generally well executed (!). These sections were captivating and well paced. Unfortunately, there were too many other times when there were serious lulls. The aforementioned focus on backstories, as well as drawn out police procedures, certainly contributed to this, but it wasn't helped by dialogue that was sometimes quite clunky and prone to coming across as woolly padding.
Overall, I was left with the impression that there was the basis for a good book with engaging characters, but it lacked the polish to really make the most of its potential.
When it's your first day in a new job ... having just been promoted to DI ... replacing the same DI that you have just exposed for corruption ... and who was having an affair with the woman who is now your new boss ... the last thing you need to is to suddenly find yourself investigating a twisted serial killer.
That is the situation that Detective Inspector Grace Archer finds herself confronted with in this debut crime thriller (though not debut novel) from David Fennell. A Banksy-style underground artist has left three glass cabinets in Trafalgar Square that contain the corpses of three homeless men - the culprit has also promised that there will be more to follow.
There are clear influences from M.W. Craven evident in this book, even down to featuring an unconventional police data analyst ... M.W. Craven's Washington Poe series has Tilly, with Asperger Syndrome, while David Fennell's "The Art of Death" has the talented Klara, who is transsexual.
The author clearly hopes that this will be that start of a series of books and he invests a good deal of time and effort in divulging the backstories of the key protagonists. The lead characters, most notably DI Grace Archer, are credible enough. However, there is too much emphasis on trying to establish the central characters at the expense of progressing the serial killer plotline. There were times when it felt like the backstories of the key characters were being crowbarred into the narrative rather than unfolding naturally as the plot developed.
The serial killer storyline and the way he set about finding his victims and perpetrating the crimes was generally well executed (!). These sections were captivating and well paced. Unfortunately, there were too many other times when there were serious lulls. The aforementioned focus on backstories, as well as drawn out police procedures, certainly contributed to this, but it wasn't helped by dialogue that was sometimes quite clunky and prone to coming across as woolly padding.
Overall, I was left with the impression that there was the basis for a good book with engaging characters, but it lacked the polish to really make the most of its potential.