At first I thought the suspected corruption scandal at both the local Planning Department and the HSE seemed a bit over the top, but considering the horrific examples in "Private Eye" every fortnight, it unfortunately isn't that far-fetched. Thankfully the real Watford (governed by the lovely Dorothy) isn't so afflicted!
I was rather disappointed that so little was made of the Watford setting. If you changed the names of Watford Junction and Watford General Hospital, it could have been anywhere. The only place that stood out was Old Redding, which isn't even Watford. I wanted to know where the ladies went to bingo, where the take-aways were bought, and where the detective went roller-blading.
I hope that the author will give her next novel more of 'a local habitation and a name'. She needs to walk down all the backstreets made grimy by traffic fumes and find out what happens when the notorious ring road grinds to a halt and what times of day it isn't safe to walk in Cassiobury Park.
I look forward to hearing more about Greta and the lovely Ari. What will happen to Jim? Isn't his wife getting suspicious by now? When is the next instalment coming out?
