1999 mystery, eighth in the Robert Amiss series. Amiss is brought in
to help an old, money-losing, right-wing weekly newspaper lose
slightly less money. Which puts him in a prime position when one of
the senior staff is murdered.
The thing that strikes me here about Dudley Edwards' political
rants, which in this book are aimed at New Labour's prissiness, is how
complacent they are. It's fine to take whatever opposed positions you
like when fighting the things you dislike, because you're never at
risk of being taken seriously and asked to carry them out. Except that
as it turns out you are at that risk, and your minor exercise in
maintaining party cohesion can cost the country billions, as well as
its entire international reputation, and destroy any hope of positive
social change for at least the next generation.
So that side of the book didn't appeal as much as it might have when
it was written; and on the murder mystery side, there's plenty of
motive but a distinct lack of evidence. One can work some things out
by elimination, but even in narrative terms the thing is solved by a
spontaneous confession rather than by either police-work or the
brilliance of the amateur.
There are well-drawn hateful people here, and even a few well-drawn
non-hateful people (a rarity for Dudley Edwards), though some of them
act pretty randomly. A development in the long-term story of Amiss and
other recurring characters seems inconsistent with
previously-established personalities, and didn't impress me (it seemed
too convenient a way to keep Amiss on the loose and available for the
next book).
It has its moments; perhaps because I haven't known any Fleet Street
journalists, it held together better for me than Murder in a
Cathedral. But I could not be enthused.
Series recommended by Gus.
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