The Clearing by Simon ToyneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ahh, now this is more like it. The second Laughton Rees mystery by Mr. Toyne dips slightly back into his fantasy roots, while also specifically going for the sort of folkloric West Country vibe that influenced Tolkien. (No seriously, there’s a lot of hobbit and orc jokes throughout this book, even in the internal monologue lament of an Earl whose historic house would require repair work from a very old fashioned blacksmith.) Far away from the humdrum city life of the first book (though thankfully DCI Tannahill Khan is only a phone call away), Rees now goes forth to investigate a disappearance around Midsummer’s Eve, leading her to a string of similarly vanished women, a cult based on the evil Cinderman spirits of the local legends, and a twist ending that reminds me of at least one Jack the Ripper theory (which I believe Will Thomas used as the basis for one of his Barker & Llewelyn mysteries.) Shorter and punchier than its predecessor, this book will hopefully be only the next in a long line for Mr. Toyne and his newest protagonist.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment