Hallie's Reviews > The Burning

4.5 stars.

Continuing on my run of somewhat grisly reads... (Becca was here the other day, picked this up and started reading, to ask incredulously of Cara, "How did Mom like this?" My feebleness in the face of horror is well known to both. Made me feel kind of tough. Or maybe not...)

For me the book's appeal was mostly Maeve herself, and I loved her character enough that she could probably have carried a much weaker mystery plot. She didn't have to, though, and while one aspect of the mystery wasn't difficult to figure out (as a reader), there were many that weren't as obvious and the procedural aspect was quite solid. Maeve's struggles as the only female detective in her team were sadly believable, and the sexist jerks who made her life harder than it should have been also got a lot of digs in at her for being Irish. Although, as she says, she was born in England, the name is immediately recognisable and that's all it takes for the tired old "jokes" to be leveled at her. Painful as it would be in reality, I loved seeing the way she tries to find a balance between standing up for herself when it's really too much, and not being seen as just "over-sensitive". And then with Rob sometimes it's just fun banter! I really liked Rob a lot as well, although he's no more perfect than Maeve, and the head of the team, Godley, is an intelligent detective and a fair boss. When Maeve suspects that the woman who seems to be the fifth victim of "The Burning Man" might really have been killed by a copy-cat, Godley lets her follow that possibility up, despite some skepticism from others in the team. The way she respects him greatly as a detective and also has a bit of a crush on him is fun, and occasionally leads her to -- awkwardness. Amusing awkwardness, though, rather than the too painfully embarrassing sort.

Although most of the book is Maeve's, there are short sections from the perspective of the latest victim's best friend, Louise, and her flashbacks to their friendship in Oxford, and her desire to live differently now that Rebecca's gone, are interesting enough that I didn't mind too much switching away from Maeve. Especially as the "true" character of Rebecca, that victim, is such a complex one. It may be a truism of crime novels/shows that family and friends often know much less about people than they think they do, but here it's done well, and becomes quite poignant. One section is different again, when Maeve is out of action and the narrative switches to Rob's perspective, with a step-back in time that serves to increase the suspense even more.

There's a romantic element to the book, which never dominates but occupies about as much of Maeve's attention as it should, what with her being a newish detective on a team trying to stop a serial killer and all. It remains unresolved, though not in a teasing or manipulative way but rather one that's in character for the two involved and their situation. Didn't hurt my desire to read the next book at all, either! Finally, there's just the kind of humour I like, even if occasionally it's sharing in the slightly juvenile humour of characters. Stupid designer alphabet mugs and the word "gobshite", for example. (Yes, you will have to read it if you want to find out.)