This is the third in the D.I. Nick Dixon series of novels
and it is the second best out of the three I have read. I have to say that if
they were not so easy to read when travelling I probably would not read another
as I find them a bit wet behind the ears.
Basic Plot (taken from Prologue and chapter 1):
A groom is killed at the stables where he works, a tragic
accident, kicked to death by the horse is what has been assumed…..
Nick Dixon isn’t convinced and starts an investigation but
just who would want the groom dead…?
What I thought:
The novel is an easy read but that is not to say that it is
badly written but it is a different style to most other authors in this genre
which I have read. I would perhaps call the style Agatha Christie light. Just
as easy to read but without her ability to pull the reader into the story.
Whilst there is perhaps little characterisation within the
novel some of this for the major recurring characters in the series have been
dealt with in the first two novels. The one off characters in this book,
however, could have been better developed as they are left somewhat two
dimensional. This lack of characterisation leaves mainly plot rather which
could be off putting for some reader as this lack of characterisation, for me,
leaves you slightly disconnected from the characters and so a lack of empathy
for them does set in.
As an overall plot it does work but there are a few times
where I feel it has hit a bit of a stumbling block and some more detailed research
would have helped to avoid them. Also some parts of the books do appear to have
been slightly rushed and also others add nothing to the main plot but appear to
have been used as filler to get to the minimum number of pages. The main sub
plot also work to a reasonable extent and are woven in to the main plot to a
good standard.
The slight twits in the plot do work to some extent but are
a bit like a slight bend in the road rather than a hairpin. The forensic
details are well used within the plot in order to aid Dixon in his
investigation but I feel more could be made of this. The end of the novel works well but is
perhaps a bit too formulaic for my liking.
The setting of the novel within the Avon and Somerset area
and in particular in and around the market town of Bridgwater,
Burnham-on-sea and where Nick Dixon
lives in Brent Knoll is perhaps one of the positives about the series. This
gives a different view on police work outside of the usual setting of the Met
or other major cities and how the more rural setting gives its own hurdles to
the case.
The fact that the novel so clearly picks up from where the
previous novel in the series ended is one of the plus points in this series as
it gives a clear progression in the life of the main characters rather than
just a set of random events and cases that they are involved in.
I would not re-read this novel but this is mainly because I rarely reread novels as I tend to remember plots etc to
this type of novel which does spoil a re-read.
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