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Small Vices
David Armstrong
Allison & Busby £17.99
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DOUBLE SHOT: Two views - same
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Detective Inspector Frank Kavanagh and his
lover, Detective Constable Jane Salt have been split up. He is
on secondment to the National Serious Crimes Division, which is
looking into the deaths of prostitutes in the West Midlands.
They have a sameness about them which suggests a serial killer
is at work. DC Salt is investigating a series of violent cash
heists against unusual targets, the first of which is a garden
centre.Their boss, ACC Michael Hyland a clever, but unlikeable
man is trying to cover the tracks to his shady past, which could
not only end his career but lead to imprisonment. A very
well-written book. What impressed me is that the author is not
afraid to leave loose ends. Life is like that. Not everything is
tidy. Well worth reading.
John Orum
Another dagger-contender
from David Armstrong. Frank Kavanagh is separated from Jane Salt
while he gets involved with a serial-killer case in Birmingham.
There he is seduced by his ex-wife and takes time-out to review
his life. Armstrong keeps tabs on both of them and again
demonstrates his ability to wander freely inside Kavanagh's
head. It's not always a comfortable place to be but it is a
place that most of us will recognise. There is a mystery here
and there is another element better known as a why-dun-it. There
is corruption and vice, and brilliant insight and bungling.
Kavanagh is not one of those cops you don't believe in, his
character carries the ring of truth. He's not a super- star but
a real flesh and blood early twenty-first century man. But above
all the vicissitudes of plot and verisimilitude it is the
writing that takes this book out of its genre and into the realm
of the best contemporary fiction. Everything, the characters,
the plot, the sense of place and the compassion and humour are
all constructs of language. Of eloquence. The gold dagger for
fiction has been awarded outside of the UK the last couple of
years. David Armstrong's book is a strong contender to bring it
back home.
John Baker.
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