Friday 6 November 2015

No Name Lane (great title, great book)


A sprawling time-slipping serial killer mystery where, in a remote Durham village, young girls are being abducted and killed by a fanatical Christian, and moonstruck lovers of the 1930s have turned into bitter old ladies of the 1990s. Very enjoyable, though my only criticism is that the killer's 'religious' motivation has been offered by other writers, eg in James Oswald's Prayer for the Dead, which I also read recently (and on the whole enjoyed less.)
This book is clever and enjoyable. Both its timescales are in fact historical. The present day is actually 1993, which allows the author to indulge his enjoyment of sexist male group scenes, and also enables the power of the tabloid press to be a major plot motivator. Compared to Linskey's David Blake trilogy, which I admired enormously, this is much more ambitious, with two main characters, each with their own world of supporting characters around them. These are the ambitious, driven journalist, Tom, and the diffident, guilt-wracked detective Ian. By the end of the book their character arcs have developed so that, with extra knowledge, the readers' sympathies are reversed. <br>There are numerous points of view, sometimes changing within the same scene, but the author's very straightforward, people-centred style ensures things always stay clear, and the momentum keeps moving along. It was slightly disappointing, for a Penguin book, that the editors had not paid  more attention to detail in the punctuation. At several points quote marks are missing. But that doesn't matter. On the whole this is exciting, suspenseful and great fun - you'll read it quickly.

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