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Death And The Running Patterer (2009)

by Robin Adair(Favorite Author)

3.14 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1921518251 (ISBN13: 9781921518256)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Penguin

series

Curious Murder Mystery

review 1: Mr. Adair has obviously done his historical research for this mystery, but unfortunately loves it so much that he had chosen to burden the book with too many historical references. Instead of using his knowledge to create a rich, historically accurate setting for his solid, engaging mystery story, he has chocked the story overly full with historical characters, linguistic factoids, locations, other details that could have been interesting if there were fewer. His story has another problem, that Mr. Adair shares with genre luminary, Agatha Christie. They both tend to hold out on an abundance of relevant clues until the last scene, thus not enabling the reader to actively enjoy the problem solving along with the protagonist. Mysteries need to keep a balance of revelation an... mored secrecy to keep the reader engaged, but also pleasantly surprise them. If not the reader becomes a passive recipient of information withheld until it is too late to enjoy. Paradoxically then, less would be more for the history, and more would be best for the mystery.
review 2: This historical mystery was fascinating on so many levels. First, because the setting was a new one to the genre and the author took full advantage of this to convey the unique community of 1828 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In a penal colony with strict levels of society, a person's freedom is tenuous, no matter his previous position in life. Second, because the hero is so well-drawn as a disgraced Bow Street runner who is now a prisoner, able to make his own living by dispersing news by mouth. His real skill is detection, and he will need every ounce of it when the killing starts. Third, it's a true mystery with many red herrings. Fourth, the characters were varied and distinctive, with only a few straying in stereotypical territory. Summarily, a thinking man and lots of action with quirky characters in a well-described atmosphere equals an excellent historical mystery. less

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