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A review by robinwalter
One by One They Disappeared by Moray Dalton
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.5
"Nice guys finish last" That could be the motto for this debut novel. Inspector Collier is a VERY nice guy, but sadly when he berates his own lack of detective nous he is only being completely honest. There can be no graver insult for a detective than for ME to be able to say "hey, it's them" pretty much as soon as the ultimate culprit is revealed - and be right. Meanwhile, Collier blythely ignores all the clues and is actually responsible for one of the murders by revealing crucuial information to the murderer. Even in the summation, which largely consists of Collier quite rightly lamenting his own stupidity, the fact that his cloth-eared incompetence killed someone is not mentioned at all.
Despite the dystopian nightmare world of this first novel, wherein I outsmart Scotland Yard's finest, I enjoyed reading this. It was light and fun, with the unusual opening gimmick of a supporting character (and his cat) doing all the brain work, and some of the key physical stuff too. Collier really is a nice guy, and the fact that even his given name changes in later books confirms that this book was very much a first draft. I look forward to reading more of them to see how his character develops and if his neuron ever gets company.
Despite the dystopian nightmare world of this first novel, wherein I outsmart Scotland Yard's finest, I enjoyed reading this. It was light and fun, with the unusual opening gimmick of a supporting character (and his cat) doing all the brain work, and some of the key physical stuff too. Collier really is a nice guy, and the fact that even his given name changes in later books confirms that this book was very much a first draft. I look forward to reading more of them to see how his character develops and if his neuron ever gets company.