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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another tour de force from H.R.F.Keating, 5 April 2002
A Detective in Love is the sixth in the series featuring a detective afflicted by a particular human weakness which threatens their work and even their whole future. This time as the title suggests, an unexpected bolt-from-the-blue, tossed down nonchalantly by Eros, the god of love, is the root of the problem.Disquieting and sometimes disturbing influences permeate the story, since to a greater or lesser degree, the thoughts, words and actions of just about everyone in it are influenced by the sex-drive. Even the murder weapon is a parody of Cupid's dart. Initially, it was distracting to have Eros & Aphrodite interfering with the development of the mystery, then as the story unfolded, the mystery started getting in the way of Eros & Aphrodite, but eventually, everything slotted into its rightful place and made sense. All the right ingredients are present - the intense love/hate emotions aroused by world-famous personalities, the highly charged attraction of opposites, the essentially down-to-earth police procedures required when dealing with a murder enquiry. As always, HRFK's characters are depicted with unerring accuracy, especially when the Hard Detective struggles to remain true to her name. But as in all traditional detective stories, the murderer is eventually tracked down. There was even a moment near the end when the awful suspicion dawned that maybe someone very close to the Hard Detective might, just might be the killer.....but read it and find out for yourself. If you expect a straightforward detective tale you will be disappointed. If you want something in which the layers of the story are gradually stripped away to reveal the final inescapable truths concealed at its heart, then this is for you. Another tour de force for this accomplished author and most definitely a MUST READ.
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