Mission Canyon by
Meg Gardiner
hbk out July 03
Published by Hodder
at £14.99
A very American book, but this time written about America by an American
lady who lives in Surrey, a reverse of those American ladies who live at
home, but write about England - dare I mention Martha Grimes?
This a sequel to a successful first novel called China Lake and again features
Evan Bellamy, a young woman who has more than a little in common with
the author, both having been lawyers and teachers on a university Writing
Course.
This is very well written, racy and witty, even though much of the familiar
formula of American thrillers runs through it - California, corrupt business,
computers, money-laundering and the rest. I kept getting flashes of deja-vu ,
wondering if I was re-reading a previous book by mistake. Yet the difference
was definitely there, in that this was a cut above much of the Californian
competition in the attractiveness of the writing style.
Our heroine has a paraplegic boy-friend, as presumably in the previous
book, Jesse Blackburn gets run down by a BMW whilst out cycling in the
hills, hence the present title Mission Canyon where it happened and where
the dénouement takes place.
The alleged driver absconded for several years, but is now back and sassy
Evan starts hunting him, but the plot thickens considerably and the hunter
becomes the hunted.
The book certainly doesn't let up much in its pace, in fact almost too much
is happening too fast, with no let-up between one crisis and the next. One
begins to wonder when the participants get time for a bite to eat and a wash!
Still, an enjoyable book with a sense of humour and some wry witticisms
that raise it above many of the dour, nasty private-eye/ LAPD cop
chronicles.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Mission Canyon by
Meg Gardiner
