She looked again with eagerness toward the future, and did not know that the murder of her son awaited her there.
Shortly thereafter she tells the reader who will kill Steven.
Wright, as she did in The Suspect, despite eliminating the issues of who will be the victim and who will be the killer early in the book though not on the first page this time, creates suspense over the “why” of the murder and whether the murderer be caught.
Ten years earlier Steven had been a member of the graduating high school class. He is often irritating, taking photos constantly. Schoolmates include Warren, Annabelle Kettleman, Wanda and Bobby. Bobby is the bad boy. He returned to school after a four year absence to graduate at 22.
By 1990 life has settled down for those living in Sechelt. Warren and Wanda are now married. Annabelle is married to the disagreeable Herman Ferguson.
Steven and Bobby are single and in Vancouver.
Bobby comes home, with intentions of finding a job, before Steven.
Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg of the RCMP detachment is barely enduring the summer heat in his non-air conditioned office. He escapes the office and its paperwork when he can to deal with complaints.
His lover, Cassandra Mitchell, is the town librarian. Their relationship, I described as “halting” in my review of The Suspect, has strengthened though they still have issues..
Wright can create a memorable image in a sentence. When Steven does not respond to a question from Velma:
She saw in his eyes that he had no intention of telling her.
Alberg and Mitchell sail to an island beach at Buccaneer Bay that Alberg loves. As they arrive a body is being carried to the beach. It is Steven who has fallen from a cliff overlooking the beach. Alberg determines where he fell from and starts to investigate.
Wright’s Alberg is compassionate as well as “detached, dispassionate, concentrated” in the carrying out his duties.
Alberg interviews the young man, Joe, who found Steven at the base of the cliff, broken but not dead. Steven asks Joe to help him die:
“So I put my hand on the back of his neck and in a minute he was dead.”
Alberg gave his shoulder a hard squeeze, and let go …..
“You did good,” said Alberg to Joe.
The scene at the hospital where Velma is called to identify Steven has a heartbreaking intensity. She denies it is Steven. Alberg puts his arm around her shoulder, sits her down and rocks her saying Steven “was very handsome” and she “must have been very proud of him” until she accepts the body is Steven.
Wright sees deeply into the hearts of her characters.
Alberg works his way backwards into Steven’s life searching for anyone on the Sunshine Coast who had a grievance with Steven. It is hard going for he was gone for 10 years.
Knowing who Alberg should find keeps the pages turning as I wanted to know if Alberg can find and arrest the killer. Based on The Suspect it is not certain.
Neither knowing a motive nor the name of a suspect Alberg gathers information with significat details that the reader knows are important for the investigation but not to Alberg.
About to turn 50 Alberg meditates on his stage of life. He thinks about retirement.
Bobby decides it is time to leave again, real soon. He asks his Aunt Hetty for $5,000 to get a car. They love each other.
Ferguson casually beats Anabelle. She does not protest. He writes “Whore of Babylon” on their house. With the children she washes off the words.
While Anabelle’s three children - Rose-Iris, Camilla and Arnold - are pre-teens they help with cleaning and cooking and worry about their mother. They see the bruises.
And then the story comes together.
Wright had a remarkable talent to make you care about the victim, the murderer, the police and all the other characters in her books. None are all perfect. None are all evil. They are the people around you. One of them is a killer.
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I really want to read this one, Bill. I like the way the suspense builds in The Suspect, even though, as you say, we do know the killer and the victim. To me it takes skill to be able to do that. And this sounds like an interesting interweaving of personalities and characters, too. I'm glad you enjoyed this, as I was hoping it was a good 'un.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. Wright builds a story with uncertainty though we know the ending. I know few writers who can do the same.
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