| Product: |
Disordered Minds - Minette Walters |
| Date: |
22/10/05 (133 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Taut thiller, superb characters.
Disadvantages: A little slow to start.
Minette Walters needs no introduction to many of her fans both on dooyoo and worldwide. For the benefit of those who have yet to come under her spell she is an award-winning writer of crime novels with all her novels being a “stand-alone” read. I’ve already reviewed one book by this author, “The Sculptress” which was adapted for television and starred the brilliant performance of Pauline Quirk. “Disordered Minds “ is her tenth novel to date and fans of Kathy Riechs, Patricia Cornwall, Melanie Tam amongst others will find a breathe of fresh air with the works of this author.
The year is 2003 and set against the threat of war in Iraq Dr Jonathon Hughes has just published his book “Disordered Minds” a study of wrongly convicted people stretching from the early 1950’s to the years of the 1970’s. In each case he explores the flimsy evidence of the times that lead to many cases of supposed criminals spending half their lifetime incarcerated in high-security prisons. One case in particular draws his attention that of a young retarded twenty-year-old man called Howard Stamp, convicted of murdering his grandmother and hanging himself a few years later in his prison cell.
Dr Hughes is a well-known anthropologist but his own personal background of a mixed race marriage sets him apart from the real world and makes him every bit a victim of the times. Each occasion when he interrogated by the police or mistakenly cast as a “terrorist” offends his own slightly arrogant nature. When his agent and friend suggests that another book could be made of the Stamp case he unwillingly agrees to meet George Gardener, a feisty sixty-year old woman who is already researching the Stamp case for her own reasons.
In an atmosphere of suspicion and false leads both are drawn into a web of deceit that leads back to the disappearance of a precocious thirteen-year-old girl around the same time of the murder of Stamp’s grandmother.
Initially there is little evidence to connect the two cases but as Hughes is battling his own demons George leads him into situations where he has never dared to go before.
In the course of the investigations the reader is drawn into the world of the 1970’s where teenagers rebelled against their parents and family secrets were swept under the carpet. To understand this world both Jon and George have to suspend preconceptions and return to the times which shapes the course of the story.
At this point I would normally let the reader decide if they wanted to read the book but the plot is so intricate and so well written that a few pointers will not spoil the outcome of the story. The whole book is centred around the promiscuous days of the late “swinging sixties” and includes rape, incest and young people growing up without any direction or hope for the future. Apart from the story line it’s a comment on the social inadequacy of those days and also a sign of the times in which we now live in, that of terrorist threats and the innocent people caught up in aftermath of 9/11.
Walters is an expert at creating tension so the slow build-up may take some getting used to but for the reader who is willing to really get into the story I can say that this is a roller-coaster ride with so many red herrings that I defy anyone to reach a conclusion before the book ends.
The characterisation is superb spanning thirty years it takes a master of human nature to bring so many characters to life without a pause in belief. I was a teenager in the late sixties and every character rang true to the times. The main characters of Jon and George are very believable with the inclusion of Jon’s character a product of racial tension following 9/11.
George could easily have become a “Mrs Marples” without Walter’s deft touch of creating a believable character.
The story is full of characters each penned with realism and could easily be taken as a study of the times in which they live. This adds a power to the book that could have sunk without the vibrant life in the story. Switching from the year 1970 to the year of 2003 with many of the protagonists still alive adds that touch of mystique so necessary to the story-line which makes it such a compelling read.
I have read most of Minette Walter’s books and enjoyed every one but this is one I would read again to savour the nuances, which I may have missed in attempting to read it in two sittings. At 422 pages even I could not read it in one go but finished it this morning after starting to read it at 8 o’clock last night. I hesitated on the approach to my review knowing full well that I would be told I had given too much away, but how else can I say why this particular book caught my interest and held it through the first few chapters when it is a slow starter?
I’ve actually only touched on the story and left many of the main characters out completely as I was focussing on the interplay between two different eras and came to the conclusion that they were really not so different as it would seem. I do tend to analyse books and this was one such book that works so well on many different levels. It has my highest recommendation whether you read it as a gripping thriller or look for the inside story of behavioural patterns. Either way you will love this book and the way it grips both the mind and the imagination. Beware the trap of pre-judging the ending though, it will come as a big surprise to you.
There are some very good quotes in the book but the one, which captured my interest, is by another favourite author of mine, Michael Crichton, “No man is so good to be free from evil, nor so bad as to be worth nothing”.
The retail price on the hardback edition is £16.99 but can be found on Amazon for £11.89. The paperback edition is available at £5.59 from the same source. E-Bay has copies ranging from £0.20 to £2.50. Personally I am waiting to acquire as many of these books as I can to extend my library of personal favourites.
As always, thanks for reading
Lisa
Summary: A gripping thriller spanning thirty years.
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