Charlie Hodges - Vanishing Act

Rating: 4/5

Review:
An enjoyable mystery

I enjoyed Vanishing Act. It’s not perfect but it’s an engaging story with some genuine humour, too.

Tom Knight is now 73 and living in Eastbourne. Ex-military and still working as a private detective, he is an engaging protagonist with a wealth of experience and some handy gadgets – and some of the physical problems you’d expect at 73, including a very dodgy knee. It’s rather a winning combination, and Tom’s attempts to woo Fran by proving her innocent of murder form a decent plot, too.

Charlie Hodges writes very well. There is some genuine wit in places and his prose is readable and unaffected. The vain, lazy, bigoted and dim policeman whom Tom is up against is something of an over-the-top caricature, but I didn’t really mind that. Some of the farcical elements of the story got a little wearisome and some tightening up would help as Tom does get into and then narrowly escapes from rather a lot of perilous situations, but it’s a good read overall with a rather poignant ending. I’ll certainly be reading the next in the series and I expect Hodges to develop Tom into an enduring character. Recommended.

(My thanks to Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)