lørdag den 13. november 2010

Laura Wilson, Dying Voices (2000)

This British thriller is the author´s second stand-alone.

Young Dodie Blackstock´s mother was kidnapped in 1976 when Dodie was eight years old. Her father refused to pay ten million pounds to get her back, and when he agreed to six millions, the operation was botched so even though the kidnappers were apprehended, Susan Carrington was never found. She was later declared dead, and Dodie´s father married again.

In 1996 the police find Susan´s body, and she has clearly been dead for a few days only.
Throughout the rest of the book Dodie struggles to discover what happened twenty years ago and to come to terms with her mother´s disappearance plus her father´s unwillingness to pay the ransom. Her dominating father died a few years earlier, leaving her with a large fortune (though she would prefer to support herself) and a huge, looming shadow.

Of course we also hear about the police work. Futhermore, Dodie realizes that she is being followed. A bored teenager or someone related to the kidnapping affair? The main plot line is Dodie´s development, however.

I have read more convincing endings; still I enjoyed getting to know the character Dodie and for me the book was a genuine page turner.

I bought the e-book myself, and I enjoyed the new reading experience just as much as the actual book.
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9 kommentarer:

Beth F sagde ...

As I fall behind in my series, I'm happy to learn about standalone mysteries. Too bad the ending wasn't the best, still it sounds like a book worth picking up.

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte- I'm glad you enjoyed the E-reading experience. I'm also glad you liked this book :-). I'm intrigued just from your description of it.

Dorte H sagde ...

Beth: the ending was not quite as strong as the rest, but I am impressed by Laura Wilson´s ability to create engaging settings and characters so I´d probably give the book four stars of five. So it worked really well for me; I just felt I ought to mention the only weakness I saw.

Margot: I am slowly working my way through a huge paper thing right now, but after that I am looking forward to playing with my new toy again.

pattinase (abbott) sagde ...

I have her first book on my shelf but have yet to get to it.

Kelly sagde ...

I'm with Beth...it's nice to hear about a good "stand alone". I tend to want to read ALL the books in a series and always fees the need to read them in order. I'm reading so many as it is, I hesitate to start new ones!

Dorte H sagde ...

Patti: this one was good, but in my opinion the ending of Wilson´s debut was better. There was a motive for a crime which made a great impression on me, and usually I don´t remember such details for years.

Kelly: generally, I prefer series because I love meeting characters I have grown to know again. But with a really accomplished writer you can usually count on her ability to catch my attention.

Joanne Ganley sagde ...

Hi Dorte,

I'm glad you enjoyed the e-book experience, something I'm looking forward to as well.

I'm big on character in books so I think this might appeal to me. I don't mind stand-alone books, but sometimes if there's potential for a series I get a little disappointed, especially when I become attached to the main character and the writing is fabulous. I'm thinking of R.J. Ellory's 'Saints Of New York'.

Thanks for the review. :)

Unknown sagde ...

The plot sounds amazing! I want to look into it.
CD

Dorte H sagde ...

Joanne: Laura Wilson is excellent at creating characters so this one should be something for you. I can also recommend her debut which I read years ago but remember unusually well.

Clarissa: the Kindle price was quite reasonable.