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The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge [Kindle Edition]

Patricia Duncker (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews) |
Digital List Price: £6.86 What's this?
Print List Price: £7.99
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Product Description

Review

'One of the best novels of its year ... It is a thriller, a romance and a critique of dryness ... Ever since I read it, I have been encouraging everyone else to do so' A.S. Byatt (on Hallucinating Foucault) 'Every bit as good as her debut, Hallucinating Foucault, which is saying a good deal ... Penetrating and sparkling' Philip Hensher (on Monsieur Shoushana's Lemon Trees) 'Patricia Duncker should be made a DBE, elected to the Academie Francaise and have a statue erected in the main square of her home town' Louis de Bernieres (on James Miranda Barry)

Review

'One of the best novels of its year ... It is a thriller, a romance and a critique of dryness ... Ever since I read it, I have been encouraging everyone else to do so' A.S. Byatt (on Hallucinating Foucault) 'Every bit as good as her debut, Hallucinating Foucault, which is saying a good deal ... Penetrating and sparkling' Philip Hensher (on Monsieur Shoushana's Lemon Trees) 'Patricia Duncker should be made a DBE, elected to the Academie Francaise and have a statue erected in the main square of her home town' Louis de Bernieres (on James Miranda Barry)
See all Product Description

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 551 KB
  • Print Length: 273 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1608192032
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury (6 Sep 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B0049U412A
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #101,414 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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More About the Author

Patricia Duncker
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Gabrielle O TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm a great fan of Patricia Duncker's writing, but hadn't really enjoyed her last two novels - Miss Webster and Cherif was fun but didn't have as much depth as her earlier work. The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge is definitely a return to form - and to the eerie, gripping exploration of personality, power and relationships that characterises Duncker's earlier novels.

The novel starts with an atmospheric crime scene - in the snowy forest near a chalet, a group of bodies is found, arranged in a mysterious pattern. The investigating judge, Dominique, is nicknamed 'la chasseuse des sectes' - she's an expert investigator of cults. But the judge's certainty in the rightness of her quest to prosecute the mysterious organisation known only as 'The Faith' is shaken when she meets the Composer. His charisma more than matches her own, and the two opponents are thrown into a curious match of wits where they discover a strong mutual attraction. The battle plays out among the surroundings of the Judge's childhood, where she discovers that all is not as it seems. Added to the mix is the faithful (but not to his wife!) Andre, Dominique's strong-willed and passionate German counterpart, with whom she's been having an affair for several years. But which man will she choose? And will the Judge come down on the side of the law or 'the Faith'?

I liked the occasional bit of French or German language that was thrown in - it gave the book a sense of atmosphere as the characters moved between Switzerland and France. But I did wonder whether readers who aren't able to make sense of it might find it irritating - not sure, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Like many of Duncker's earlier novels, describing the plot doesn't really do it justice - the writing style and careful attention to the nuance of relationships and charisma is what makes it really unsettling and compelling. I couldn't put this book down. Although I found the ending slightly anti-climactic, I still give this book five stars for being extraordinarily compellingly written and thought-provoking. The plot is quirky and nuanced enough that I think any possible ending would have been, in some way, a disappointment. The pleasure was in the journey!
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By jtnorth
Format:Paperback
This novel starts with an amazing description of a group of bodies in the snow, a mass suicide by a cult, and opens up to explore all kinds of idea about belief, without ever losing the pace of the story. The judge has specialised in investigating cults, with very little sympathy for the people who get caught up in them, but this faith is shaped by and for very influencial people, and when she meets the passionate figure of the compuser it starts to affect her as well - and I really didn't know how the book would end. It's about the power of faith but also of attraction between people and how both can absorb you and change your behaviour and choices.

It's quite different from Duncker's previous novel, very unsettling and I don't feel I'm doing justice to all the layers in it, but I'd heartily recommend it. I found the judge herself particularly involving and I was willing her on to stay true to herself.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J. Shaw
Format:Paperback
I came to this novel full of hope and expectation - a book about cults and suspicious deaths should be gripping. However, I found it to be a strangely uncompelling book, which got bogged down in the Judge's implausible relationships, and neglected to develop the plot. I'm still mystified by the ending (which was disappointingly dull) and what was the sound Dominique heard in the garden? All in all I'd have preferred a bit more action!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A very strange case indeed
On New Year's Day of the new millennium, a group of bodies is found in the snow, echoing an earlier group suicide by members of the Faith. Read more
Published 13 days ago by neverendings
Pretentious-moi?.
This was recommended to me by a gay friend whose opinion I usually respect but not in this instance. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ms. Margaret M. Mcdermott
"...a leopard skin of light and shade..."
There are some books I feel compelled to indulge, even though they have obvious flaws. One of which can be that they are too knowingly clever or have too large an ambition. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Another fascinating tale from Patricia Duncker
A very enjoyable read with the signature twists and turns that you come to expect if you read a lot of her novels. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Monique Aj Smith
Too many loose ends
This book is ultimately quite disappointing. Much of the plot relies on the premise that The Judge is somehow almost supernaturally attractive to men, something not borne out by... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Yoness inc.
Strange is apt....
I'm sorry to disagree with the rave reviews but I did find this particularly strange reading. The flowery prose and romanticism in a detective novel was bizarre - not that such an... Read more
Published 21 months ago by pigsmayfly
Absolutely brilliant
I was hooked from the first page until the last. Patricia Duncker writes with insight and sensitivity and a great sense of both emotion and place. Read more
Published 23 months ago by C. H. Middleburgh
Extremely Atmospheric
This books starts with the shocking event of the New Year's Eve suicide. The investigation then builds up slowly and the book is extremely atmospheric. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Dot
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