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Detective Sergeant Suzie Mountford is not sure of her decisions regarding her life. Her lover and superior Tommy Livermore wants to get married. But Suzie is not convinced that this is something that she is interested in doing. Her doubt regarding their future makes their working relationship strained -- especially since Tommy is her boss. The two of them travel to a small Berkshire town to investigate a double murder. An air force colonel and his married lover were tortured, brutalized and then finally killed. Whether they had any secrets to tell remains unknown. An old friend of Tommy's arrives at the scene. Curry Shepherd was believed to have been killed, but his 'death' allowed him to go underground and get contacts and experiences he had never dreamed of. This experience was incredibly useful as he is now a British spy. Someone wants Britain's invasion plans and will let nothing stand in Germany's path. Curry recruits Suzie for some undercover work that will both help England and might find a killer. Suzie and Curry must find the German spy before the plans make it out of the country. None of the characters in TROUBLED MIDNIGHT are especially appealing. In addition, none of these characters stick with you once the book is finished. Suzie Mountford should in theory be memorable but her character is lacking. She is not an independent or feisty heroine but rather a ghost of a character. While she has the ability to do her job, her indecisiveness makes it difficult for the reader to feel a connection to her. Her lover, Tommy, is egotistical and small-minded. He is a stereotypical self-centered upper class member with little concern for others. The rest of the investigative team are merely filler characters and do not help or hurt the plot. A book does not have to have remarkable characters in order to be successful. If a book has an outstanding plot or tells an original story then average characters can be ignored. Unfortunately, TROUBLED MIDNIGHT moves rather slowly and the language is rather dry. Nor is TROUBLED MIDNIGHT atmospheric. This book does not provide an image of war, or a world caught up in war. While the war is important to the plot, it does not seem important that this theme is developed or explored.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, June 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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