Some by Fire by
Stuart Pawson
hbk out April 99
Published by Headline
at £17.99
The novel opens with a deliberate act of arson by a young Leeds University student, Duncan Roberts, on what he thinks is an empty house. In fact three adults and five children are living there and all die in the blaze, which perhaps explains the rather cryptic title. The arsonist is never caught and the case remains open for twenty years until Roberts eventually confesses before taking his own life. A young DS, Charlie Priest, who was present at the time of the fire, is given the opportunity to reopen the case. Now a DI he has as his chief assistant DC Dave Sparkington, who had also been present at the time of the fire as a young PC.
The investigation runs parallel with a case involving two villains who are targetting wealthy old couples and the evidence of an ex-MP, Keith Crosby, the owner of the burned house, who is convinced that a rich but sinister magnate, J.J.Fox, a Robert Maxwell figure, is responsible for the fire. Crosby also maintains that he himself is J.J.Fox and that the magnate is an imposter.
It is an intriguing plot and the author handles it with the skill of one who has already written five other Charlie Priest novels. The investigation, like all investigations, involves hard detective work by Charlie's dedicated team and a fair amount of luck and is entirely plausible. Stuart Pawson writes well ("Flurrries of rain rattled against the bedroom window like handfuls of gravel tossed by a lover") and has some interesting observations on today's world, such as: "In any other profession it's called moonlighting, using the boss's tackle, and would result in the sack. In the NHS it's normal practice. Can you imagine Kwik-Fit allowing their mechanics to fit exhausts to the cars of their private customers after five o'clock."
The opening chapter sets the scene well with its frequent changes of point of view, seven in twentyfive pages, including that of Charlie Priest, but this is a prelude set in the past. The rest of the book, from Chapter 2 on, is in the first person, from Charlie's point of view, and is an absorbing read. I wonder if Yorkshire Television is aware yet of this excellent police series on its own doorstep. Some by Fire would transfer very easily to the small screen.
Some by Fire by
Stuart Pawson