This is the second Nick Dixon novel in the series and it is
a vast improvement on the first. I bought it on my kindle as I was going away
for a few days and decided I needed a few quick reads whilst I was away.
Basic plot:
A severed head has been found in the sand bunker of a local
golf course and this sets off a chain of events which means that it is a range
against time to find out who committed the crime before the body count rises….
With unsolved cases with the same MO are uncovered can these
possibly be linked? Is it the same person who has committed this most recent
crime or are they now after a copy-cat killer? Can they really all be linked to
the same tragic event dating back the 1970s?
Time is against him can Dixon find out who is behind the
crimes and keep those who could be next safe….?
What I thought of it:
I would classify this novel as, at best, an ‘Agatha Christie
– light’ type novel. In that it is easy to read, not overly contrived or
complicated but not up to Christie’s standard of plot lines and twists.
However, this is only his second novel and so there are still improvements to
be made in Damien Boyd’s writing. If you are one of those who find Agatha
Christie too simplistic then Boyd’s books are not for you.
There are not many chapters in this book but going by my
kindle version there are a number of chapter breaks where, if you need to, you
can put the book down for a while. I did read this novel, in a couple of
evenings which is all I wanted for a holiday read.
Whilst the character of DI Dixon is fairly believable I do
feel the novel centres on him rather too much and at times too little is made
of the more minor characters, some to the point of making them superfluous.
Also there is Dixon’s dog, Monty, although him having a dog is all very nice
and good I do feel that the ‘taking Monty for a walk’ bits in the novel have
been used in order to pad it out a bit just in the same way as Dixon’s diabetes
has been used. Also the number of meetings and what happens in them was a bit
of a drag at times. However, I do know that this does happen a lot in the
police with briefings on a daily basis. The novel is perhaps a little dialogue
heavy but then again I don’t think having Trappist monks as police officers and
the CID would work at all but a bit more scene setting would improve things.
Some of the characterisation is also lacking which does make
some of the characters a bit one dimensional. Whilst some of this for the main
characters was dealt with in the first novel of the series I feel more could be
made of it in this one for the new characters for the reader to get a better
understanding of them. Also I feel there are perhaps too many extras especially
when it comes to the other members of the police. I feel that these could have
been reduced in number to give them a bigger role. We again have some of the
lesser PCs who seem unable to think for themselves and appear to have all the
personality of a wet cardboard cut-out.
The settings of the local area work well and there is good
use of some of the more gory details of the scenes the police sometimes come
across without going over the top. However, there is only so much you can read
about taking the dog for a walk on the beach or going to the local pub and
curry house.
There are also a few too many coincidences within the novel
and these appear to have been clumsily used to tie up some loose ends rather
than to really plan them out. The climax of the novel is also a major
coincidence in that Dixon just happens to be in the right place at the right
time and spots someone and something that didn’t quite fit. This for me was a
bit of a lazy ‘get out of jail free’ card type ending and far more could have
been made of it.
Conclusion:
In all this wasn’t a bad novel and it did serve the purpose
of a holiday read. It is certainly not a classic crime novel and there is still
room to improve but it is only the second novel and there is signs of
improvement from the first in the series. I will probably give the third one a
go and see if further improvements have been made in Boyd’s writing style.
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