Life Sentence by
Judith Cutler
pbk out January 07
(Allison Busby)
at £6.99
Most crime novels are an interesting and satisfying read, but usually they
have faded from one's memory within a week. Occasionally, one sticks in
the mind for a long time and Judith Cutler's latest is an example. As well
as being a good detection story, it has a separate poignant theme, which
really is the most important part of the book. Her lead character is
Detective Chief Superintendent Frances Harman, a highly successful
career woman who is a senior officer in the Kent Constabulary. Up to her
eyes in policy development and administration, she has left routine
detection behind, but a long-standing crisis in her family life has stressed
her to the point of breakdown. Her aged parents are becoming a constant
burden and every weekend sees her making an exhausting round trip to
Devon and back, her only sister being safely out of range in the Hebrides.
She is eventually driven to putting in her resignation, which would end a
brilliant career, to move to Teignmouth to care for the senile and
ungrateful pair.
To ease her stress, she is pulled off the treadmill of high-flying duties by
ACC Mark Turner, her immediate superior – and new lover – to
concentrate on a 'cold case'. This is a woman found battered and raped in
a hedge two years earlier, who has been unconscious in hospital ever
since, the only clue to her identity being the solitary word she uttered -
'Elise'. The strange man who discovered her is her only visitor and
becomes the object of suspicion. A child abduction further complicates
the issue and only the support of Mark keeps her going, until the case
reaches a complex and unexpected solution.
The substantial part of the story about Frances' personal dilemma is
written with the expertise and insight into the human condition that we
have come to expect from Judith Cutler's many previous books. In an
increasingly geriatric society, this compassionate novel will touch a
sensitive spot with many readers.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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Life Sentence by
Judith Cutler
