Caging the Tiger by
Margaret Murphy
hbk out October 98
Published by Macmillan
at £16.99
Margaret Murphy received tremendous acclaim for her first book, "Goodnight, My Angel", a novel nominated for the First Blood Award in 1996. Caging the Tiger firmly establishes Murphy as one of the best writers of the psychological mystery to emerge in recent years.
Caging the Tiger opens with the murder of a malicious, self-satisfied academic, who, in the wake of restructuring within his department, holds the livelihoods of colleagues in his hands - a man apparently hated by all, apart from himself.
A common enough opening gambit for a murder mystery, but this is where commonality begins and ends. The victim's wife, so scorned and humiliated by the man, has often fantasised about killing him in exactly the same way… stabbed to the heart. Can she be sure that fantasy and reality have not become one?
Murphy's expert working of the scenario shows just why our appetite for murder mysteries remains undiminished: we are endlessly fascinated by the workings of the human mind, hoping to understand what gives rise to extreme behaviours in seemingly ordinary individuals.
And Murphy shows a masterful understanding of the dark places of the human psyche. Coupled with her unerring ability to wrack up the tension, notch by notch, she certainly gives the likes of Vine and Walters a run for their money. Excellent.
Caging the Tiger by
Margaret Murphy