Disordered Minds (Paperback)

Nobody does the "less than perfect" hero (both mentally and physically) better than Minette Walters and this book contains two of the best, but above and beyond that, some of the support characters are simply a joy to read, especially authors agent Andrew Spicer who is a brilliant creation. I also enjoyed the romance element in the book which I felt was very subtle and well crafted and a welcome addition to the storyline.

Any fan of Minette Walters will love this book and any uninitiated Walters readers could do a lot lot worse than start with this one.

The book begins in 1970 with a gang-rape of Cill (Priscilla). Present were a friend and the friend's little brother. Chapter two presents chapters from the book of a Dr. Hughes, who explores the miscarriage of justice in UK; in particular the murder of Grace Jeffries by her grandson Howard Stamp. After that the book moves into the story of Dr. Hughes and Ms. Gardener's search for the truth regarding the above mentioned murder, and this exploration ties somehow into the story of Cill.

This is a book I would highly recommend.

In 1970, Harold Stamp was arrested for the vicious murder of his grandmother and convicted, albeit on very shaky evidence. By 1973, he had committed suicide - driven to death by self-loathing and bullying, by fellow prisoners, for his retardation. Now, over 30 years later, two people are trying to clear his name. George Gardener, a local councillor, approaches Dr Jonathan Hughes, an anthropologist who has just published a book on miscarriages of justice, which features a review of Stamp's case. However, the two must first put aside their prejudices and George must convince Hughes that Harold's name is word vindicating before they can even begin investigation the crime, and another horrific act which seems to have occurred around the time of the killing.

At first, this Babel Tower of a novel that Walters seems intent on building wobbles dangerously. A couple of things contribute to this, mainly the fact that at times the beginning is a little grating, a very tiny bit annoying. Walters tries to play with the reader's prejudices, and I felt rather manipulated, as well as confused about what I was supposed to be thinking of this seemingly prickly lead character Dr Hughes. It's not that I've a problem with prickly, difficult characters (hey, I'm pretty prickly and difficult myself) and, indeed, normally they are my favourite type, but it gives the impression that the initial set-up is messy, that Walter's doesn't know where she's going, that she's just getting bogged down with the characters while she waits for some plot ideas to come to her. Another result of this is that Hughes, while he does eventually develop into a fascinating character, seems at times to be focused upon too much. He threatens to become more important than the plot itself, which he is definitely not. However, gradually, as the two protagonists warm to each other and we to them, the book both settles down and takes off (paradoxical as that idea may be) into something [almost] worthy of her talent.

Sometimes, Walter's tries too hard at social commentary. Her earlier books, where society occasionally was highlighted by its influences upon criminal motives and acts, were vastly more powerful than her past two efforts. Here, apart again from some initial wobblings, that power is reclaimed and turns Disordered Minds into a shocking urban tour-de-force. Walters comes out swinging all the way through, with hard-hitting shots fired in all directions. However, it must be noted that simply giving the reader her opinions on the war and other social issues does not class as proper "Social commentary/insight".

At last Walters is heading back on track, displaying all of her virtues: an ability to write in such a way as the story has the flow of water, a skill at plotting brilliantly and underpinning her clever, dark mystery with tense psychological unease. It's no "The Shape of Snakes" (for one thing, it seems to take a pointless brief (though thankfully very) detour into a romance), but in the end I was immensely gratified by Disordered Minds, which hopefully portends a return to her earlier grand form.