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.)
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