Disordered Minds by
Minette Walters
hbk out November 03
Published by Macmillan
at £16.99
Minette Walters is one of the UK’s most prominent crime writers. As well as winning awards, many of her best-selling titles, like The Sculptress and The Ice House, have been adapted for television. Her strengths lie in creating vibrant and memorable characters as well as constructing intricate plots. Shunning the fashion for series novels she prefers to start afresh each time and her work is never predictable though the writing is always assured and intelligent. Disordered Minds examines the doubts surrounding the conviction of a man for the murder of his grandmother some thirty years before. Anthropologist Dr Jonathan Hughes is researching the case for a book he is writing. He discovers that local councillor, George Gardener, has found fresh evidence and has been trying to get the conviction re-examined. The pair get off to a bad start but when they do eventually pool their knowledge they uncover a web of conspiracy that conceals an appalling miscarriage of justice. Walters combines traditional narrative with ‘excerpts’ from Dr Hughes book, e-mail correspondence, newspaper articles, letters and police reports. The plotting is labyrinthine indeed and concentration needed to keep up to speed with the conflicting versions of events. The inclusion of up-to-the-minute current affairs gives the novel an immediate, contemporary feel which contrasts well with the evocation of the world some thirty years before. Walters also takes a frank look at racism, snobbery and class and the damaging effects that exclusion has on people.
Manchester Evening News 22.11.03
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
Disordered Minds by
Minette Walters
