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A review by robinwalter
The Laughing Dog by Francis Vivian
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This is the fifth book in the inspector Knollis series, and in my view the best yet. It opens with a brief scene setting prologue, and then gets straight in to the murder mystery. Inspector Knollis is not only his usual no-nonsense self, he is even more than a little tetchy at the start of the main story. I really enjoyed that, it was an effective way to add a touch of human colour without distracting from the puzzle. Indeed, the whole story is all business; working out the who, the why, and the how is the only focus of the story.
Within that single-minded focus on the telling of the murder mystery, the author manages to include contextually relevant information that really fleshes out the character of inspector Knollis. In this story we learn his background - how he came to be a policeman and why detection appeals to him and suits him so well. This story also really solidifies and expands on his previously (briefly) mentioned dislike of capital punishment. There are several key passages in which Knollis explains to various colleagues the dilemma he feels in being an agent of an end to which he is opposed.
A couple of passages that highlight this conflict: Here a character says the following to Knollis during a police interview
“There you are! The happy family man at home, and the cold-blooded head-hunter during your professional hours. It won’t do, you know! You’ll develop into a schizophrenic. You can’t be true to yourself and your alias at the same time. One day your sentimental streak is going to interfere with business, and then you’ll go bust either as father and husband, or as detective.”
Then later, in conversation with a colleague, Knollis admits the truth of those words, and adds:
I hate murder so much that I hunt the murderer down—and then hand him over to death. It’s a paradox, Ellis, and I can’t solve it. My mind is split in halves, and I can’t balance one against the other nor yet find a compromise
Those flashes of insight into Knollis and the thoughtful way he expounds the internal ethical conflict he feels are a big part of the reason why I gave this 5 stars. The murder mystery itself was well constructed and strictly fair play. Very strictly fair play because even I, as the rankest of rank amateurs, worked out far more of the story than I normally would, including the identities of two of the key characters and how that impacted on the reasons for the murder. A great example of how meticulously and scrupulously careful Knollis (and therefore Vivian) is about telling the literal truth is when a character asked of someone else: "he isn't in trouble, is he?" To which Knollis replied
“Well,” said Knollis, “I saw him this morning, and I hope I look as happy if I get into trouble!”
Sublime sophistry - dodging the question by answering it honestly. There were also several of Vivian's trademark drolleries, often very dry and chuckle-worthy from Knollis, and this gem from one of his colleagues:
If his brains were cordite he wouldn’t have enough to blow his hat off.
The little flashes of humour helped make the book an entertaining read, as well as an interesting and thoughtful one. The actual murderer was the most logical suspect, and I have no complaints about the ultimate reason Knollis gave as the clinching identifying factor. A thoroughly satisfying addition to the series, I hope the remaining six are at least nearly as good.
Within that single-minded focus on the telling of the murder mystery, the author manages to include contextually relevant information that really fleshes out the character of inspector Knollis. In this story we learn his background - how he came to be a policeman and why detection appeals to him and suits him so well. This story also really solidifies and expands on his previously (briefly) mentioned dislike of capital punishment. There are several key passages in which Knollis explains to various colleagues the dilemma he feels in being an agent of an end to which he is opposed.
A couple of passages that highlight this conflict: Here a character says the following to Knollis during a police interview
“There you are! The happy family man at home, and the cold-blooded head-hunter during your professional hours. It won’t do, you know! You’ll develop into a schizophrenic. You can’t be true to yourself and your alias at the same time. One day your sentimental streak is going to interfere with business, and then you’ll go bust either as father and husband, or as detective.”
Then later, in conversation with a colleague, Knollis admits the truth of those words, and adds:
I hate murder so much that I hunt the murderer down—and then hand him over to death. It’s a paradox, Ellis, and I can’t solve it. My mind is split in halves, and I can’t balance one against the other nor yet find a compromise
Those flashes of insight into Knollis and the thoughtful way he expounds the internal ethical conflict he feels are a big part of the reason why I gave this 5 stars. The murder mystery itself was well constructed and strictly fair play. Very strictly fair play because even I, as the rankest of rank amateurs, worked out far more of the story than I normally would, including the identities of two of the key characters and how that impacted on the reasons for the murder. A great example of how meticulously and scrupulously careful Knollis (and therefore Vivian) is about telling the literal truth is when a character asked of someone else: "he isn't in trouble, is he?" To which Knollis replied
“Well,” said Knollis, “I saw him this morning, and I hope I look as happy if I get into trouble!”
Sublime sophistry - dodging the question by answering it honestly. There were also several of Vivian's trademark drolleries, often very dry and chuckle-worthy from Knollis, and this gem from one of his colleagues:
If his brains were cordite he wouldn’t have enough to blow his hat off.
The little flashes of humour helped make the book an entertaining read, as well as an interesting and thoughtful one. The actual murderer was the most logical suspect, and I have no complaints about the ultimate reason Knollis gave as the clinching identifying factor. A thoroughly satisfying addition to the series, I hope the remaining six are at least nearly as good.