As always James introduces you to every character, letting you ‘know’ them and ‘feel’ what kind of characters they are inside. She also maintains in this book her love for describing places and houses and furniture.. which I find really boring because it’s all wasted on me, I can’t picture it in my mind however hard she tries.
The story: a politician who recently resigned and a tramp are found dead in an isolated little church, their throats cut. Some people think it might be a murder/suicide, maybe Sir Paul Berowne wanted to kill himself but was surprised by the homeless Harry Mack and killed him before killing himself, but of course our Commander Adam Dalgliesh doesn’t believe that and treats it as a double homicide. Obviously all the investigation centers on Berowne, the famous and rich one, but with good reason easily explained. Not only a rich man and a politician at that has more enemies than a homeless guy, but there was also the fact that they were certain that Harry had not killed himself, he had been killed for sure, so they centered on Berowne, trying to find out everything they could about him, if it was possible that he had killed himself or killed someone else or if they had both been killed by an unknown murderer.
There are a lot of sub-stories because there are a lot of characters: Since Paul had learned of his brother’s death years earlier, he had immediately thought that now he could get not only the title but also his brother’s beautiful girlfriend Barbara, and since she learned that in his face his own daughter Sarah became estranged to him and went away. He was married at that time, but he caused a car accident that killed his wife.. was that really an accident? We’ll never be sure, but very soon after that he married Barbara. She’s very vain and indifferent to anything but herself. Barbara has been having an affair for a long time with doctor Stephen Lampart who loves her in his own arrogant way, while she only loves herself. Paul’s affair was with a woman who truly loved him, the one who was most hurt by his death and the only one who got nothing, and I don’t mean just the money.
Sarah went away from home and joined a political group that opposed her father, guided by a man who became her lover, Ivor, and who was under surveillance by Special Branch. Paul’s old mother Lady Ursula seemed more concerned about scandals or privacy than she was with finding her son’s murderer, and she lied to the police more than once, and I was very annoyed that she didn’t pay for that; all that happened afterwards was all her fault, because the things she lied about because she said were irrelevant might have actually pointed the police in the right direction much much sooner and other people wouldn’t have been hurt.
Dalgliesh’s new special division worked the case: he’s helped my John Massingham and a new one, Kate Miskin. Funny thing is, neither of them really won me over, which is unusual because I usually like more characters than plots, but in James books it’s different. It’s not about the investigators, it’s about the whole package, how she gets you to really know all the characters and feel the story. She’s very good at that, and also she isn’t over-sentimental in her stories, she is rather realistic, some people’s lives go on well others don’t, like real life is. Only stereotype she uses is that her Dalgliesh often has a hunch, a feeling that some things are important without no proof; in this book, he’s not only convinced from the start that both men had been murdered, but he also thought that investigating the deaths of two young women (cases closed as one accidental drowning and one suicide) was important to arrive at the truth. This always happens with fictional detectives, they always have the right hunch..
Kate has a boyfriend, Alan, which is great because I’d have hated for her and Dalgliesh to have any romantic relationship, and one with Massingham is out of the question because he doesn’t like women doing men’s jobs and she doesn’t like his attitude and status and basically him.
Most important thing for Kate though is her job. Her only relative still alive is her grandmother and they haven’t seen each other in a long time because she likes her privacy and wants to focus on her work. Still, towards the end of the book the poor woman is mugged and Kate feels she has no choice but to take her in with her. I was so sad when the poor woman got killed :’(
So, Barbara’s brother Dominic was the murderer, we’re told that, as I said, rather early compared to other books, and maybe it was because a lot of people who like to find the solution to the mystery may find it not too difficult this time, because all the other characters had either a weak motive or a strong alibi. So our investigators clear that point and then it’s all a matter of how to prove it, and also a way to add some thrill in the story, because knowing for sure that it’s him we’re frightened every time he comes close to an innocent witness.
The bodies had been discovered by Miss Wharton and her child friend Darren. They were both lonely because she had nobody and he only had an unsuitable mother, and they had taken to spend to spend a lot of time together, until they entered the church that day. The police discovered his family situation and he was taken away by social services, and she was worried for him and missed his company. Kate told her what school he attended so that she may meet him and talk to him, but while on her way she met Dominic. She didn’t suspect him, she thought him a charming young man that reminded her of her brother, and that’s a very dangerous thing since she’s not Miss Marple. Because of that small resemblance she trusted him enough to have a drink with him and tell him about Darren including her suspicions that he might have noticed something in that little church. I was worried for her at first, and then for the boy. He let her go because she didn’t really know anything, but he had planned to kill the boy, until they were face to face and the boy spoke to him so frankly and innocently, and then he fainted and Dominic realized the poor child was sick and nobody had noticed, and he decided to spare him. Learning from Darren about the only piece of evidence that could link him to the murders, he went looking for his lost button in the church and was surprised by Father Barnes. Dominic shot him. Knowing now that the police already has his button, he went to Kate’s house, thinking that the police will be looking for him and wanting her to take him to Lampart’s boat. He pretended to be Massingham so Kate’s grandma opened the door. Kate was out shopping, and came home to find a drunk Dominic pointing a gun at her grandma’s head. She tried to calm him down but there was no way. She managed to make a phone call to her boyfriend, hoping that he’d understand that something was wrong. It was the only thing she could try but wasn’t sure that he’d do it, but he did. He’s actually in love with her and he called Dalgliesh explaining the situation. Still, Dominic was very dangerous and kept his gun at the poor woman’s head, and Kate thought she’d better act quickly and at soon as she thought she had a chance she thrusted herself at his throat and they fought, but he was stronger, and managed to get at his gun again before her and before the police could burst in, and her grandma got shot.
After Dominic’s words the boy had been checked out and it was discovered that he had leukemia. Miss Wharton went to visit him at the hospital, but he was now starting a new life with a foster family, and she realized that he didn’t need her anymore, he even looked kind of embarrassed that an old woman was visiting him, so she left and went back to her solitary life, trying to find some comfort in her old routine activities at the church.
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