J JACKSON BENTLEY (2011) - A CITY OF LONDON THRILLER
What you will notice straight away (assuming you get the same version as me) is that the colours of the fonts are the reverse from the norm. The background colour is black and the text is white However here are more pressing details to deliver. Not sure where the City of London comes into it though.
Review
This story didn't hook me as soon as I hoped it would. It took me a while before that happened.
Characters
The main characters are two American policemen Lieutenant Cy Dekker and sidekick Sergeant Lou Murdock.
Both are overweight, past their sell by date and single through choice who prefer candies and junk food to anything nutritious. The latter is I fear a fate worse than death. Exercise is not in their vocabulary, but beetle is. There is a lot to be said as introducing a person's character at the very beginning but I almost lost the will to live when the detective tells me how he like to eats his Hershey Almond Bar. Sgt Murdock is no less particular when it comes to M&Ms. However, they both go to church on a Sunday, usually together and they sit the back. Nothing odd there.
Story
Two old ladies are found dead and alibis stack up every how, where, when and why. Curtains twitch, things go bump in the night and just who is Don Hampton? It's an inside job. As all the outside doors are double bolted.
The list of suspects is long and God forbid our intrepid duo have to work some Sundays. Odd happens when God gives Lou daily clues on how to proceed with the case.
Conclusion
Hooray, no profanity and the guys are normal. No hangers-on, no luggage except around their waists.
As I've said it took a while to get into this. Some of the style was strange and didn't quite hang together. I suspect little rewrites are to blame. Sometimes, consequential sentences started with the same three words. But the story flowed and you can leave the story and pick it up again easily too.
So is it a good read?
Yes it is. Lots of questions, no swearing or blasphemy, believable characters. 4 out of 5 stars.
YOU ARE READING
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