The Justice Factory, by
Paul Charles
pbk out February 04
(Do Not Press)
at £7.99
This is the seventh in Paul Charles' Inspector Kennedy mysteries, set
in North London, with the usual cast of characters in his DS Irvine,
WDC Ann Coles and his now estranged girl friend ann rea -
mysteriously always written in lower case.
Like most series, previous books spill over into the next one and here
we have the aftermath of Dr Bella Forsythe, who was a serial killer who
dispatched the men who raped her and is now doing life for it. Irvine
had fallen for her in this new book, has a chance to renew his
acquaintance, as she is let out of prison for the day to attend her father's
funeral. The event is marred by the presence of a corpse already buried
in the bottom of the grave, who turns out to be a black street trader who
dealt in antique radios - one the interesting facts that the book revealed
was the extraordinarily high prices that some of these old 'wirelesses'
can command!
The victim turns out to have been acquitted of a rape charge some time
before and the investigation now turns on who might have been
sufficiently aggrieved at him getting off to want him dead. There is a
large cast of suspects and the book is really an account of the wheels of
investigation grinding slowly but surely to a just result. One whole
chapter is devoted to the interrogation of the foreman of the jury, who
had a rather unrealistic total recall of every word spoken in the trial and
jury-room.
The writing is fine and for those readers who like a long-drawn out
puzzle, this is a winner. I found it rather too long for the strength of the
plot, offering interminable navel-gazing about the meaning of life and
love, with deep and sometimes repetitive soul-searching on the part of
the rather depressive lead character.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
The Justice Factory, by
Paul Charles
