Customer Reviews

Beneath the Blonde (Five Star Title)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't really recall why I picked this up, other than Duffy's name being vaguely familiar from the first in the "Fresh Blood" anthology series and a general interest in cutting-edge crime fiction from the UK. In any event, I soon found myself in a potboiler about a pop star siren who's been getting creepy messages and flowers from a person or persons unknown. Brought in to solve this problem is lesbian PI Saz, who's apparently still recovering from some kind of burn accident that has left her with terrible scarring from her midriff to her knees (I kept waiting for this to be explained, but it's apparently either the remnant of an adventure related in a previous book). Eager to get a little independence from her supportive girlfriend, she becomes a PA to the singer as a cover for her "investigation" and jet-sets around the world with the band as the plot thickens. I put investigation in quotes because she is there more as a entry point for the reader to watch the drama unfold than actually accomplish anything useful. The stalker tale depends greatly on a massive bit of misdirection which never really works because Duffy's narrative technique gives the game away rather obviously. She intersperses chapters written from within the stalker's head that both give backstory, and remove a lot of mystery. In fact, the real mystery is whether or not Saz will cheat on her girlfriend with the bombshell singer. By the end it's hard to care too much what happens as the murders that do occur have unrealistic consequences, and the band members engage in all the usual drugs -n- debauchery one expects in fiction. And between Saz's stupidity and own weaknesses, it's hard to care much about her either.

Having read all of Duffy's books now, i sat down looking forward to the suspense i'd been used to in the Saz Martin-based books of Fresh Flesh, Calendar Girl and Wavewalker and, to begin with, i wasn't disapointed but about half way through, it dawned on me what the twist was and the second half of the read become tiresome as i just read what i had anticipated would happen. The detail of the characters was still as good as ever but the twists were sloppy compared to her other books, which have kept me guessing til the final pages. If you've got a spare day by the beach, get it, if you want something to entertain you beyond this, buy fresh flesh instead.

With 'Beneath the Blonde' we catch up with Saz several months after the tragic ending in 'Wavewalker'. Saz is on the mend and looking to start working again when she is asked to help out lead singer of the band 'Beneath the Blonde' with a case of nutty stalker. Siobhan is the ever gorgoeous though unpredictable and very famous (at least in England) singer who has been getting some worrying deliveries. Soon Saz is going on tour with them and trying to find out what is going on amidst murder and mayhem within the band. Plus there are her ever growing feelings of lust and desire for Siobhan to deal with, especially as she still has Molly waiting patiently for her back in London.

Ms Duffy continues her style of writing whereby she includes more poetic chapters focussing on the why and who among those of normal narration. The previous two books were incredibly predictable and one almost got the feeling it wasnt supposed to be a mystery to begin with. Though I did sort of figure out what was going on about half-way through I felt this was a much better attempt at intrigue. Especially as I was only taking half-hearted guesses at the time.
The character development is also improved upon and I felt myself getting more involved in what Saz was getting up to even to the point of talking at the book when she was doing something particularly silly!

All that praise aside I did start to waver in interest towards the end and wanted her to get on with it already. The poetic, abstract bits started to get annoying which meant there was a little skim reading but I like the fact that once again we didnt get a picture perfect, everybody is happy ending. A little more realistic even though heart-breaking and aggravating at the same time...

Look forward to the next installment.. wish they would never end!

I loved this book. Very different from its predecessor (though I liked that too) Duffy is much more confident, poetic, with an inventive narrative structure and engaging characters. The sort of book which is an easy read without insulting your intelligence - perfect!

By using small town New Zealand as the background to the plot, Stella evoked all those took me back to the time of my childhood. Excellent imagery. A very contemporary novel that kept me interested from start to finish with a lovely twist that managed to shock and suprise. Enjoy!

Beneath the Blonde is the only book I have read by this particular author so unfortunately I cannot compare it to her other works. The first half of the book was a good read and I was keen to discover what was going to happen next. However, I was disappointed that I managed to guess some of the plot outcomes quite easily and rather early on in the book. My early enthusiasm for the story changed into hopes that my guesses, which had occured to me so quickly, were incorrect as I read on. Parts of the book felt promising, as if the story was building up to something big but these build ups took a bit too long, especially when I had already guessed what was going to happen so easily. Parts of this book don't really fool anyone. Although certain developments in the plot were a bit obvious for my liking, the author seems talented and has a fun style of writing. Overall, this wasn't a bad book to read. It was just a shame that the PI (Saz) did very little detective work at all.