Oh Jane!

After four books – three of them in the Maeve Kerrigan series – I’m seeing a pattern. You do so many things exceedingly well, but so often the final effect is rather spoilt by one or two things rather clumsily.

I will explain, but in doing that there may be a spoiler or two. Nothing too big, and I won’t name any names or reveal too mant plot details. I’ll just say that if you have read and liked the earlier books you’ll like this one too, so do read it and then come back to see if we agree. And if you haven’t and you like contemporary crime read on. If you like the sound of the series, you will miss a lot if you read out-of-order. So go back to the beginning (The Burning) and by the time you catch up with me you’ll have forgotten the things I’m going to let slip.

The opening was dramatic: a 14-year-old girl comes  home to and finds the bodies of her mother and twin sister in the living room, and her father gravely injured in a room upstairs.

Her father, Philip Kennford, was a criminal barrister at the very top of his profession, and so the pool of suspects was huge.

An interesting case for DC Maeve Kerrigan, a capable and engaging young DC. I’ve grown to like her over three books, her relationships with her colleagues, particularly the forthright, old-school DCI Derwent, are credible, and her relationship with colleague-turned-boyfriend Rob is evolving nicely.

There’s plenty to hold the interest there, and lots of potential for future books.

There was little physical evidence, and so the investigation focused on people from Phillip Kennford’s past who may have borne a grudge, and on the family itself.

The interviews with those people from the past were fascinating: a man wrongly convicted, who felt that his barrister had served him badly; a man whose daughter had been killed by her abusive boyfriend who then had to see a brilliant barrister convince the jury to find him not guilty; a woman whose barrister had failed to maintain a professional distance. The characterisation was perfect, and the stories said much about justice and the legal system.

And the Kennford family was fascinating to watch. A husband who did as he pleased; a wife who accepted that and played the perfect wife and mother to the hilt, knowing that her position was secure because her money underpinned their lifestyle; they were a couple with an understanding. And two different daughters: one dead and one terribly traumatised, and not speaking.

That Phillip Kennford didn’t like the police, and that they didn’t care for him, made things difficult.

There were so many possibilities, and so it was such a pity that it was obvious who the killer would be. There was a sudden shift in direction mid-book. And then one character came to the fore when there was no real reason for them to be there … unless they did it.

The finale was somewhat overwrought.

The logic and the psychology of the murder made sense, but it did rely on one huge coincidence, and I didn’t like the hint of “of course they were mad” and “of course they had a terrible childhood” at the end.

But I did like the book.  Jane Casey writes well, and though the story moved slowly I found there was always a development or an incident that held my attention.

So much good, so much potential in the series, but that makes the weaker elements so much harder to accept.

Oh Jane! I just want you to get everything right, because when you do you could have an outstanding piece of crime fiction on your hands, you really could …

Sarah’s childhood was destroyed when Charlie, her older brother went missing. One minute he was there and the next minute he was gone. Sarah was the last person known to have seen Charlie, and her mother has always believed that there was something that Sarah knew and would not tell, and blamed Sarah for the loss of her son.

Her mother turned to drink and her father left, and then died. Sarah stays to support her mother. A woman who shows no care, indeed shows disdain and even contempt, while she maintains her missing son’s bedroom as a shrine.

Now Sarah is a teacher. And a twelve-year-old girl from one of her classes, has gone missing. Again Sarah is again one of the last people to have seen the missing child. And then Sarah finds a body.

Old memories are stirred up. Sarah tries to help, and help she does, but that draws her further and further into the case. Are the two disappearances linked? And is it Sarah that links them?

Both stories are compelling and, though they are disturbing, it is quite impossible to stop turning the pages.

It works well because the characters, their motivations, their behaviour, are so well realised. There’s a good sized cast – teachers, pupils, neighbours, police, media – and it’s well used, but this is Sarah’s story. And although there were moments when I wanted to give her a good shake and point her in a different direction, I understood why she did what she did. And I felt for her when she wanted to help, when she wanted to reach out to the parents of the missing girl, but had to hold back. She couldn’t keep away from the case though, and that led her into trouble.

The story rings true. The details are right, and the twists, when they come, are in no way contrived. They flow naturally out of that story. And just as you think you have things figures out something else comes to light that makes you think again. It really is very well judged. Yes, there are one or two things that you know should not happen, particularly when Sarah finds out too much, but Jane Casey just about gets away with it, because the characters, the psychology and the emotions are always right.

Well she gets away with it until the ending. Overblown and melodramatic. Such a shame, because a striking, low-key ending that would have fitted the book perfectly was there for the taking. And after the way she handled the rest of the book I am quite sure that Jane Casey could have pulled it off.

That ending downgraded this from a great psychological mystery to a good one. But it’s still a fine debut, and I don’t doubt that Jane Casey has the potential to produce something top class before too long.