Deception On His Mind, by Elizabeth George sends one of her regular characters, Barbara Havers, on a solo job. She rushes off to the fictional sea-side town of Balford-le-Nez, where a recently arrived Pakistani has been found dead, apparently murdered. Havers soon gets the job of interfacing with the local Pakistani community, which is inflamed by racial tensions thanks to actors on both sides of the divide. As would be expected, there is a list of potential suspects ranging from ex-employees to fellow immigrants, all of which have motives and means.
George tells the whole story in the course of nearly five hundred pages. While some of it is repetitive, it’s a pleasure to read a thoroughly written book as opposed to the more slender, sparsely populated ones of late. There is the backdrop of a town on the skids with renewal on the way. There is the coming marriage of the deceased into a wealthy family looking to maintain their religious traditions amidst a more secular society. There is the dynamics between Havers and her temporary boss, a relationship that teeters on the brink now and then. Not to mention the friendship between two young women whose common history is now unraveling. George leaves nothing out, building a narrative of these and many more elements, all of which spin together in a world that is highly believable.
Deception On His Mind can be read without knowing all of Havers’ background through George’s other mysteries featuring her and Inspector Lynley. Therefore, those looking for a taste of this series will find it enjoyable.
The Bent Page 
The Ghosts of Belfast
The Ghosts of Belfast, by Stuart Neville, is a descent into revenge hades. Gerry Fegan, a former IRA killer literally sees ghosts of his victims. It is the appearance of these ghosts that slowly drives him to confront his past and do something about it. Slow by slow, Fegan seeks out those who gave him orders or facilited death. It is this path that forms the spine of the story. Along the way, Fegan meets Marie and her daughter Ellen, who are also trapped in the cycle of revenge exacted by the various factions in Northern Ireland’s troubles. Marie has her own hidden past, but she’s living up to it, going straight in her own way, defying the prejudices of the past by living boldly in the present. Then there is Campbell, the British Government undercover agent pursuing Fegan, another character with more baggage than can fit on the plane. These three and more are on a collision course with misery that unfolds as paybacks become ever more costly.
There is a level of brutality in The Ghosts of Belfast that may be appropriate to the subject matter. At the same time, I hoped for a bit more sophistication such as a protagonist trying to clear his conscience using more than a gun and his heart on a sleeve. The relationship between Fegan and Marie showed great promise at the beginning but never gained traction through the story to a level that would have made it more than a damsel in distress plot point. What Neville does best is to expose the double-triple crosses of the guerilla life and the consequences these shabby alliances create. He portrays the thugs for what they are: less than intelligent men bent on using their fists for no good reason at all. So it is that in this portrayal of a Northern Ireland subculture nobody wins, everyone pays, and corruption rules the day. This book will best be enjoyed by those who like a slow-burn slug fest complete with brawls, trick shots, and death defying duality.
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on April 23, 2011 at 11:34 am Leave a CommentTags: book review, fiction, Ireland, justice, novel, Stuart Neville, Writing