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BREAKER, THE by Minette Walters Allen & Unwin, January 2003 445 pages $Au17.95 ISBN: 1741140463.

Minette Walters (The Ice House, The Sculptress, The Scold's Bridle, The Dark Room, The Echo, The Shape of Snakes, Acid Row, Fox Evil ) must be resigned to being compared with another British writer, Ruth Rendell. Both are enormously popular authors and both have attracted wide reading audiences in their particular genre, Walters having done so in far smaller a time frame than Rendell. Both have, of course, seen their work made into television entertainment but Rendell's fame is based on her series characters while Walters' books, so far at least, are stand alone narratives. One excellent result of both authors having had their work adapted for television means that they have been responsible for a portion of the viewing audience turning to books to expand their knowledge of the work they have seen on the small screen.

The Breaker was first published in 1998. Now it has been reissued in small paperback format including the short work The Tinder Box . There are those of us who have perhaps found trade paperback novels fall outside our budget or others of us who somehow simply missed the first release of the novel. Whatever - this new edition is a boon.

Unlike the first person voice which told the story in The Shape of Snakes , this narrative is in the third person. Walters again uses tools employed in others of her books - maps, photographs, reports from various authorities- all of which lend an air of authenticity to the tales. The Breaker opens unpleasantly enough with a soon-to-be corpse floating and tossing on the waves reflecting in amazement on the brutality of the man who not only raped her but also broke her fingers. Later, the body washes up on the shore and is found by two small boys who in turn are helped by the too handsome sometime actor, sometime male pornography model, Steven Harding.

The body is eventually identified as that of Kate Sumner, her three year-old daughter having been found walking along a road purposefully but entirely unaccompanied, . Police investigation discovers numerous irregularities in the life of Kate and Hannah including the fact that a small child who is apparently unable to talk still has a familiar knowledge of aspects of sex. Steven is aggrieved that as a result of his good turn he is investigated by the police and his friends are inconvenienced and discomfited by the too close investigation.

The author is expert at portraying human characters, both 'normal' and psychologically damaged masquerading as normal, in her books. Who of us, after reading a Walters novel, can look at our fellow man and not wonder what horrors may lie beneath a pleasant exterior? Walters doles out drops of information in small squirts as she reveals the whole of her involving plots. Personalities that the reader thinks they know reveal unexpected facets as the owners are suddenly changed beyond recognition by use of a few words. I don't think a single character in this book is seen to be entirely pleasant as the investigation proceeds.

The Tinder Box , the story found as a bonus after the conclusion of The Breaker , is another tale based on perceptions. Perhaps a better title for it may have been Pride and Prejudice or perhaps not - that name somehow has a familiar ring to it. The story involves a poor Irish family the son of which has been arrested for the brutal murder of two elderly local English women. The English community looks down on the family while the Irish wife of a businessman recently moved to the village finds herself in sympathy with the family of the accused almost because of their commonality of race. The feeling in the local populace has reached tinderbox explosiveness - as has the house of the Irish family, then one night both ignite.

This story, again garnished with reports, is told logically but not chronologically, leaping around in time as it discloses the hirtory of the murders. Walters again excels in portraying convincing characters as she does in producing intricate yet believable plots. The solution to the mystery is unpleasant and surprising.

Minette Walters has not yet, to my knowledge, written a bad book. Perhaps The Breaker is not as good as others numbered in her bibliography but I would be hard put to it to say just where, unless in plotting or in the failure to provide a strong female character with a najor role, it falls short of her usual standards. Regardless, were it by a lesser author I would give it full marks. As it is, I would have no hesitation in recommending this modestly priced book to all mystery aficionados.

Reviewed by Denise Wels, January 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)

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