Lesley Thomson: The Detective's Daughter

Having read rather a steady diet of fantasy and science fiction over the past few weeks, I decided to spend a few weeks with some of my other preferred genres, starting with mystery/crime thrillers. I thought I'd try out an author I haven't read before, but who had received some very positive reviews - Lesley Thomson. Her first novel, The Detective's Daughter, sounded promising - a retired detective dies while trying to close "the case that got away" and his daughter takes over.

It was an interesting first novel, to be sure, but I find myself, at the end, having very mixed feelings about it. The basic plot was good, and I found myself liking the main character, Stella Darnell. I thought Thomson did a good job of portraying the emotional state of a woman dealing with the death of a parent she had long been estranged from.

The various male characters in the book, most of them presented as both real or potential lovers and suspects in the crime, were rather less well done, however, being either somewhat caricatured, over-the-top, or both. I also found it just a little too convenient that as the book progressed, almost everyone that Stella knew was associated with the crime in some important way.

What I had the most trouble with, however, were the frequent and unheralded switches in POV, often between one paragraph and the next, and the regular breaking of the fourth wall, so to speak, as the author drew back from a close third person POV to make an omnipotent observation.

On balance, the novel was just enjoyable enough that I'm going to give one of her other books a try to see if it is improved in any of the areas I found lacking.