Trick of the Dark – Val McDermid
ISBN: 978-1-4087-0200-0
Reviewed by: Kylie Fox
Trick of the Dark is written by the undeniable “queen of crime”, Val McDermid and in this, a stand-alone novel, she proves once again why she’s earned that title.
Set at Oxford College, where McDermid herself once attended, it introduces us to a new character, Dr Charlie Flint – psychiatrist and expert witness in criminal cases – a character that I hope we get to read a whole lot more about.
Charlie’s career is in tatters after her testimony allows a man to be set free – and to go on and brutally murder four women. Her ex-tutor at Oxford, Corrina Newsam, asks for help and Charlie jumps at the offer hoping it will give her the chance to redeem herself.
Corinna’s daughter, Magda, was widowed on her wedding day and all evidence points to the groom’s business partners as his murderers – but Corinna is convinced that millionaire businesswoman and misery-memoir writer (and her daughter’s new lover) Jay Macallan Stewart is responsible for his and a string of other deaths.
Charlie is thrown full-swing into the investigation, acting as amateur sleuth rather than psychiatrist, to uncover the truth – but every step she takes and every discovery she makes, leads her closer to danger.
Typical to McDermid, this story unfolds with twists and turns in abundance; with characters that grow with every page; with messy relationships and with the perfect balance between all the worst attributes that humans can possess with some of the best.
The plot, though intricately woven, is believable and made all the more real by the dynamics of the characters’ relationships.
I pride myself on being able to “solve” most crimes that I read and though I had figured out the “whodunit” of Trick of the Dark, I was still left with several surprises along the way – right until the final pages.
This book is an absolute page-turner, a psychological thriller that holds the reader in its grasp and I can only hope we see a return of the awesome Charlie Flint in the near future.
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