Tangled Web UK Review February 2008
The Price of Darkness by
Graham Hurley
hbk out January 08
Published by Orion
at £9.99
Police detectives Joe Faraday and Paul Winter are already well-established characters in crime fiction, living and working in Portsmouth, usually as part of the Hampshire Constabulary’s Major Crime Team. One of the many enjoyable features about The Price of Darkness is that one doesn’t need to know this - or anything about the duo - to enjoy the novel to the full. Where many crime writers are content to trade off their previous successes, this is a standalone mystery, which is incidentally - rather than integrally - the ninth in a series.
Mr Hurley writes with authority in a clear, concise - even sparse -style that conveys exactly what he means and nothing more. It makes for effortless, compelling reading as two storylines unfold: Faraday investigates the murder of a visiting businessman, while Winter is in Spain, on the payroll of crime lord Bazza Mackenzie. There is of course more to Winter’s employment than a simple defection to the forces of evil, and the subplot is much more complex than it first appears. The author is particularly deft at sidestepping DNA, which has become a bugbear for all murder mystery writers, especially practitioners of the police procedural. The dramatic forensic advances of the twenty-first century have led to a situation where readers need to be convinced that trace evidence can’t solve the mystery before it’s begun. The death in Portsmouth is a professional hit, however, and Faraday must rely on old-fashioned police work and Britain’s infamous level of CCTV coverage.
Winter returns to Portsmouth, where Bazza has a promotional job lined up for him, continually testing his loyalty in several nerve-wracking scenes. The tension mounts with a second murder, when a government minister is killed in a very public assassination in the city centre. Mr Hurley manages to strike an enviable balance, depicting the dull routines of police work - even in the Major Crime Team - without letting them detract from the excitement of the story. Realism is essential to maintain reader interest, but can be counter-productive by involving too many characters and too much procedural detail. The Price of Darkness manages to convince and engross at the same time.
It is difficult to find fault with this novel. Long-term fans whose loyalties lie with Winter may not enjoy the darker side shown in his work for Mackenzie, for this is - as the title suggests - a tale with a theme of corruption. On the other hand, the characterisation is rich, and presented with understanding and pathos. The only legitimate criticism, therefore, is that the book is really two separate novellas. The Faraday and Winter subplots overlap only slightly, and never link up. Having said that, they don’t need to, as each makes captivating, satisfying reading on its own.
Those who are newcomers to the series can rest assured that The Price of Darkness is as good a place to begin with Faraday and Winter as any. For those already converted, there is the reassuring knowledge that Mr Hurley has not rested on his laurels.
(
Rafe McGregor
)
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