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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Debut, 3 Dec 2003
In his debut novel, Ed O’Connor has managed to deliver a psychological thriller that stands out from similar books of it’s genre. It’s uniqueness comes from the poetry of sixteenth century poet John Donne.Cowan Frayne is a killer with an unhealthy obsession with the works of John Donne. He murders and sets up his murder scenes based on the poet’s works and on the poet’s life. The poetry holds the key as to his motive as well as giving clues to the next target. Also hidden in his complex messages to the police are clues as to his final goal. But figuring out which poem to look at and the meaning behind it is not nearly as easy as it sounds. Heading the investigation is Inspector John Underwood who appears to be very intuitive and a capable leader. However, as seems to be the case with many protagonists, his marriage is crumbling and he is distracted as a result. This distraction soon turns into obsession, leaving his sergeant, Alison Dexter to take charge. Dexter, while a good detective, is mostly concerned with furthering her own career and makes many of her decisions on this basis, also hampering the investigation somewhat. This book appears to be the first of a series and I’m sure we’ll be in for further character development further down the track. With the killer working at breakneck speed (pardon the pun), and the local police department in somewhat of an uproar, there’s rarely a dull moment for the reader. The poetry aspect was a fascinating inclusion that was (fortunately) translated for those less literary readers (me). It’s the first of what I hope will be many books from Ed O’Connor. Highly recommended.
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