Love police procedurals? To the list of top writers - Henning Mankel, Martin Cruz Smith, T. Jefferson Parker - add Thomas Rendell Curran, Canadian author of the just-released Death of a Lesser Man. Like Curran's two previous books (the acclaimed Undertow, and The Rossiter File), Lesser Man features Inspector Eric Stride and is set in St. John's, Newfoundland, during the late 1940s. With Lesser Man, Curran seals his reputation as one of Canada's top mystery writers.
Late one night, Stride hears two gunshots and quickly finds the victim, who - astonishingly - has three bullet wounds from two different guns. As in any top-notch police procedural, Stride sets standards for the police force to investigate the crime scene, then the victim's home. And again, as in any top-notch PP, this is only the beginning as Stride investigates people of all classes in St. John's, and quickly discovers he's got to move through time as well - delving into gruesome aspects of World War I. And finally, during these travels through space and time, new suspects arise and are proven not to be guilty. Curran wonderfully negotiates the mystery maze and the crime is finally solved on the final pages. Extraordinary! Really well paced and - as a mystery - a first-rate story with a great variety of interesting characters.
Curran has clearly done his homework on military procedures, battles, and personnel. Writing of Gallipoli and other major WW1 battles involving Newfoundland soldiers, readers aren't spared details of the hideous slaughter of the war.
My only caveat of this book is minor, involving St. John's. Newfoundland, the Rock, is clearly and lovingly described. However, I'm never quite sure about the size (population, area, key features) of St. John's itself. In some aspects, the city seems as clearly defined as one of the traditional Peter Robinson village mysteries. This in no way means that Curran doesn't write well about the city; he does in amazing detail.I await more in Curran's next book.
No comments:
Post a Comment