Kissing the Gunner's Daughter

Inspector Wexford

ISBN: 0446403342 Order from: Amazon.com

A good mystery with a solid plot, suffering from seom slow places and a superficial ending.

Reviewed by David on December 27, 2003

Synopsis: Chief Inspector Weford of Kingsmarkham CID is called in to investigate a multiple homocide. In a luxiourious mansion, the entire family of an elderly and famous writer and anthropologist Davina Flory has been shot. The only survivor, the shocked and injured teenage granddaughter Daisy, describes the masked robber with a gun.

Inspector and his team embark on a complex and frustrating investigation of the deadly robbery.

Full Review: The novel excels at portrayal of three-dimensional characters that the police encounter in their investigation, who serve as both icons of their various social classes and red herrings. The novel is complicated—and enlivened—by Wexford's strained relations with his daughter Sheila, and his pity and affection for the wounded and orphaned Daisy.

The narration, with its meticulous description of the environment and interaction, is skilled, but at times seems slow as one suspicion after another is researched, and ruled out. The biggest lacuna is the ending: after a complex path to the resolution, the Chief Inspector finds the answer in a brilliant flash of luck, deduction and speculation. Unfortunately, the evidence seems rather weak. In keeping with a detailed plot, one would certainly expect a description of police's careful gathering of evidence necessary to prove the Inspector's conclusion.

Overall: 5.5; Plot: 6; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 5.5; Originality: 5.5;

ISBN: 0446403342 Order from: Amazon.com