Tangled Web UK Review July 2002
Mary's Prayer by
Martyn Waites
pbk out December 01
(Allison Busby)
at £6.99
This is the first of Martin Waite’s highly acclaimed series introducing
Geordie journalist Stephen Larkin.
Larkin has been living in London, exiled from his native Newcastle and
working for a downmarket tabloid rag and enjoying carnal knowledge of the
(lady) editor. But he is tempted back to cover the funeral of a local
gangster and suddenly his past catches up with him.
Ex-girlfriend Charlotte (who once tried to throw him off the Swing Bridge)
turns up and asks him to investigate the supposed suicide of her friend
Mary. And, surprise, Mary is mixed up with the same gang and a vicious war
is going on between the Newcastle drugs dealers and a mob from London trying
to take over the patch.
Larkin lands up in the hands of sadists who torture him in enough graphic
detail to more than justify the noir tag but, stoic to the end, he doesn’t
give up and the page-turning plot moves along speedily to a satisfying
climax.
The sense of place is terrific. I feel after one read, that I could find my
way round Newcastle and its pubs without a guide, though I’d probably borrow
a couple of Madonna’s shaven headed bouncers to escort me as Newcastle comes
across as slightly more dangerous than Harlem or the Bronx.
‘Mary’s Prayer’ has a similar atmosphere to Ian Rankin’s books, even though
Larkin is a journalist, not a policeman like Rebus, (although I’m sure
well-meaning reviewers will herald him as the ‘new Morse’!). Perhaps there
is a new genre in the making here – Northern City Grit.
The plot unravels well, there is plenty of action and Larkin is a well
rounded, sympathetic character. His relationship with his photographer
companion, Andy, comes over especially well.
My only quibble is a lack of humour in the book, something I found missing,
incidentally, in the TV adaptations of Rebus. A little levity would have
served to highlight the darker passages. As it was, the overall tone was
bleak but maybe that was what the author intended and this is certainly an
author who knows what he is doing.
Ron Ellis
New Books by Martyn Waites at Amazon.co.uk
Secondhand and Out of Print Books by Martyn Waites at Alibris.com
