Fallen Gods by
Quintin Jardine
pbk out July 03
(Headline)
at £10.99
The latest in a series, Fallen Gods throws you right into the middle of the
action. Right into the morass that is the personal lives of all the central characters.
The main character should be DCC Bob Skinner, but there are ominous signs at the
beginning that Bob is not 'around any more'. Of course, you can't keep a good man
down. Bob is still alive, and very definitely kicking. But his career hangs by a thread,
due to a heart problem. And Councillor Agnes Maley sees this as the opportunity to
get rid of her old adversary. Skinner must find some dirt on her to save his career.
His future is further complicated by the discovery of the body of his long-lost brother,
and the behaviour of his wife Sarah Grace.
Alongside all these personal entanglements, there is the mystery of an
incendiary attack on a controversial religious painting at the Royal Scottish Academy.
The busy fire brigade has to concentrate on this high-profile blaze to the detriment of
another in a new office block. Gradually the story unfolds of a disturbed girl, Andrea
Strachan, who seems inevitably to be the one to be blamed for the fire at the
Academy. But is there another reason for the fire? Meanwhile Skinner tracks down
his brother's last contacts, because the death is clearly suspicious. Though he hated
his brother, drunkard and ex-army officer, who tormented him as a child, he has to
know what happened to him. The only thing that can divert him from that is the
arrest of his wife in America for the murder of an old friend with whom she appears to
have had a fling. Any bets that Skinner can solve that one too? Of course he can,
despite the incompetence of the local cops.
If you have not read any others in this series, the opening can be quite
confusing. Sarah Grace Skinner is in America after the death of her parents, and is
tempted by Ron Neidholm, an old flame. Paula Viareggio, the ex of DI Stevie Steele,
is revealed in bed with Mario McGuire, another police officer, who himself is married
to DS Maggie Rose. Their marriage is on the rocks. Given that later on, DI Steele
falls for the schizophrenic arson suspect Andrea Strachan, you begin to wonder where
this sexual roundabout is taking you. Then it becomes obvious. This is not a
straightforward whodunit, or a police procedural, the author is deliberately moving in
the same direction as many crime (or hospital) series on the television. The crime plot
has become subsidiary to the main characters. The personal lives of the police
officers are what is central to this book. And like on TV, the sexual antics drive the
story, with an almost incestuous passing around of partners. The story is artfully
arranged, with unexpected twists and turns. And the style is assured, mingling action
scenes and personal dilemmas. If you like soaps on the TV, you will like this book.
DI Steele says at one point that he has 'got a life outside the CID, you know.'
Somehow, looking at who is having it off with whom, all within the ranks of the
police, I doubt it.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
