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A review by kandicez
Sins of the Flesh by Colleen McCullough
3.0
This was an “everything but the kitchen sink” book. McCullough’s Carmine Demonico series installments always seem to have a few plot lines that eventually intersect, and I’ve enjoyed them until now. This one had too many.
There were three sets of murders, meaning three serial killers, which is unlikely enough, but add to this, the killers themselves were also connected, but not working together in any way, unaware of each others’ proclivities in fact. That’s just too convenient for me. Throw in the fact that all of them were caught within days of each other and suspension of disbelief goes out the window!
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed most about McCullough’s writing is how her stories begin as loose strings (sometimes many, many loose strings) but end part of the same knot by the final page. In a believable way. Not so here. There were just too many story lines, too conveniently meshed together. There was enough plot in this novel for 3 separate novels, which worries me. I know she’s been ill. Does she think this may be her last hurrah?
Any novel that begins with the removal of a pair of testicles seems a surefire bet for excitement, right? Not since Anne Rice’s “Cry to Heaven” has the process been described so nonchalantly. In Rice’s story though, there was a reason. In McCullough’s it’s never really explained. When that particular murderer (remember, there are THREE) is caught there is a very brief, unsatisfying justification given for that particular method of torture. The explanation just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted/needed more. There were still two murderers on the loose so I had hope. Eventually unrewarded hope.
The other two murderers are caught within pages and again no good explanation is provided. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the fact that one of the murders felt they needed no justification didn’t mean that I as the reader didn’t want at least a flimsy excuse. Why were these women murdered? To what purpose? One set was explained by insanity, but you can’t chalk up three sets of murders to insanity. Not all happening over a course of years, in one small town, by connected characters. That just doesn’t fly.
Carmine Delmonico doesn’t show up until about halfway through the novel. This is a testament to how well written his supporting cast of characters are, but it feels a bit of a cheat as well. These are the “Carmine Delmonico Series”! I missed him. I like Delia Carstairs as much as the next reader, but this is not her series.
I will always read everything McCullough writes but I will be hoping for much, much more in the future.
There were three sets of murders, meaning three serial killers, which is unlikely enough, but add to this, the killers themselves were also connected, but not working together in any way, unaware of each others’ proclivities in fact. That’s just too convenient for me. Throw in the fact that all of them were caught within days of each other and suspension of disbelief goes out the window!
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed most about McCullough’s writing is how her stories begin as loose strings (sometimes many, many loose strings) but end part of the same knot by the final page. In a believable way. Not so here. There were just too many story lines, too conveniently meshed together. There was enough plot in this novel for 3 separate novels, which worries me. I know she’s been ill. Does she think this may be her last hurrah?
Any novel that begins with the removal of a pair of testicles seems a surefire bet for excitement, right? Not since Anne Rice’s “Cry to Heaven” has the process been described so nonchalantly. In Rice’s story though, there was a reason. In McCullough’s it’s never really explained. When that particular murderer (remember, there are THREE) is caught there is a very brief, unsatisfying justification given for that particular method of torture. The explanation just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted/needed more. There were still two murderers on the loose so I had hope. Eventually unrewarded hope.
The other two murderers are caught within pages and again no good explanation is provided. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the fact that one of the murders felt they needed no justification didn’t mean that I as the reader didn’t want at least a flimsy excuse. Why were these women murdered? To what purpose? One set was explained by insanity, but you can’t chalk up three sets of murders to insanity. Not all happening over a course of years, in one small town, by connected characters. That just doesn’t fly.
Carmine Delmonico doesn’t show up until about halfway through the novel. This is a testament to how well written his supporting cast of characters are, but it feels a bit of a cheat as well. These are the “Carmine Delmonico Series”! I missed him. I like Delia Carstairs as much as the next reader, but this is not her series.
I will always read everything McCullough writes but I will be hoping for much, much more in the future.