I like Peter Robinson’s crime books. I have read most of his series featuring Inspector Banks (see here for a review of one) and a couple of his stand-alone novels (see here and here). I pick up the novels whenever I see one I haven’t read in a Charity Shop and, at some time in the past, I acquired Caedmon’s Song which is another stand-alone novel. Because I am reading the series novels this one has got pushed to the bottom of the pile – I am using this challenge to read it at last.
This book was written in the 1980s, which is important because modern innovations such as Smart Phones, DNA testing and the Internet would make the plot unworkable. The author has also used a lot of contemporary cultural references to music and so on. As someone who remembers the 1980s very well I found the book easy to understand and enjoyed the look back at a different time – I suppose that a younger reader will look on it as a story from the past. Whichever it is for you, I highly recommend this book.
In a Northern University town Kirsten is attacked and left severely injured by an unknown attacker. The book followers her as she tries to come to terms with her new body and with the trauma resulting from the attack. The attacker is still out there and a series of other women are not as fortunate as her – he is now a serial killer. In Whitby (a seaside town in Yorkshire for those who don’t know it) Martha is a new arrival, staying in a shabby Bed and Breakfast. She says that she is writing a book but it soon becomes obvious that she is looking for someone. The narratives of the two women alternate during the story and, near the end, there is also a third voice of Susan.
The author does something clever in the narration of this book which I won’t disclose because I don’t want to spoil it for a new reader. He does this extremely well and reveals the secrets gradually, rather than having a big twist. This made the book gripping as the reader begins to realise things that make the story look very different.
This is not a fast-paced action story and the police play only a small role. This is about how women react to violence and the ways that they then move forward – the killer is always present on the pages but he gets no voice until the very end of the book and we never find out why he does what he does. The author also leaves the future unresolved at the end of the book, which works well for me.
I thought that this book was thoughtful and scary as Kirsten begins to become the thing she hates. The depiction of the 1980s seaside town is brilliantly and accurate done. The book explores things which most crime novels ignore by concentrating on the victim after the crime. There are a few coincidences and implausible elements but they don’t spoil the story. I enjoyed this book a lot.
My copy is a grubby, small paperback which is very well worn, but it’s still readable so I shall pop it on the Sainsbury’s book table for someone else to pick up and enjoy.
Anne Is Reading 