Before I embark on the novels, let it be known that these are not being published by Poisoned Pen Press in the UK this year. As I understand it, PPP will be publishing the backlist for this series and the "Mary Russell" series, at the rate of one or two books a year, over the coming years. Thus, you'll have a bit of a wait on your hands. But if too impatient, there's always second hand or buying from the US via Amazon...
With Child
In a nutshell: Martinelli is on her own, her lover has departed for some time and space, and to get to know the aunt she didn't know she had. Martinelli's partner Al Hawkin has his wedding coming up and Jules, his soon to be step-daughter calls on Martinelli for assistance with finding a missing homeless person she befriended in the park. This adds to Martinelli's case load and then she is asked if Jules can spend time with her, while the couple enjoy their honeymoon. Jules and Martinelli set out on a journey, making a stop over at a hotel en route. But in the morning, Jules is not in her room and there's a serial killer out there, with Jules fitting the victim profile...
This novel is very different to many I have read. It does not start with a fast pace response to a crime, but with an exploration into the life of Martinelli and her relationships with those around her, focusing on that with her lover, and secondly, her developing friendship with and mentoring of her partner's step-child, Jules.
Jules is the precocious child introduced so lovingly (and so well drawn) in A Grave Talent. She is a very bright child and now she has reached the age of teenage angst. But is it just the angst that lies behind her behaviour, or something else?
Whilst it is possible to predict the plot outcome at a later stage in the novel, the story is not spoiled. It's an engaging insight into teenage years, changing relationships, and the lives of children who find or put themselves on the street, as a result of trauma.
This is a novel with class and it stands the test of time when it comes to plot.
Night Work
In a nutshell: men are dying, first stunned, then strangled, and they all have a past - one of a proven track record of abuse to women. The LOPD, Ladies of Perpetual Disgruntlement, may be responsible. It is this case that Martinelli and Hawkin have to crack. Then comes the case of a "burnt bride" which Martinelli is encouraged to review by a friend. Martinelli finds that with both cases, the suspects may be rather close to home and the motivations of friends may not be all they seem at face value...
It is within the last few years in the UK that the cases of "honour killings" have been brought to the public's attention in the media. First published in 2000, Night Work was clearly ahead of its time in highlighting this issue within fiction. It's a sensitive subject, handled well here, and it's perhaps due to its sensitivity and the current state of the world that we have not seen more of it in other novels. If there is one marker for this novel, it's the fact that King handles a sensitive subject extremely well and with due respect to all interested parties.
Also, this novel looks at "feminism" and what it can twist into, in extreme forms. Women may be feminists together, but all have their own back story and motivations.
More than anything, as a UK reader, I found this novel educational. Mystery and suspense linger and build until the end. I had no idea who was responsible for one crime and I was wrong footed on the other. A really great read.
I'll be back in a week or so with The Art of Detection, the fifth in the series and one of the two novels that PPP publishes in the UK at the end of August. (The other being the first in the series, A Grave Talent.)
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