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Marianne Macdonald is one of those criminally under-rated writers who seems to be known to only a handful of people with impeccable taste! And if you're one of those privileged few, you'll enjoy FAKING IT, the latest addition to this intelligent and gently wry series. If you haven't come across Macdonald before, now's the time to remedy that oversight. Her series hero is Dido Hoare, a single mother who runs an antiquarian bookshop in London. For those of you who are ambivalent about family muscling in on the action, Dido's father Barnabas, a beacon of sane good sense, plays a pivotal role as always, but the child is mercifully kept in the background! In FAKING IT, Dido ends up looking over her shoulder an awful lot when she comes by an illustrated medieval manuscript. She pays cash for it, much against her better judgement, when book scout Gabriel Steen pays her a visit. Dido has known Gabriel for years, but hadn't seen him since he disappeared to Holland some time ago. While he's in the shop he takes a call on his mobile phone -- and suddenly offers her a share in the mysterious manuscript. When Gabriel fetches up dead soon after, and police from several different forces and countries show an interest in what's going on, Dido and Barnabas end up carrying out their own detective work to find out the origins of this bizarre manuscript. If you're hung up on categories, I suppose FAKING IT counts as a cosy. Don't expect blood and guts all over the floor. But by the same token it's never twee, nor does it overload the action with more than you ever wanted to know about the book trade. Instead, there's an air of suspense, coupled with a very tenacious amateur sleuth who, once she has the bit between her teeth, doesn't give up easily. Macdonald's main strengths are her dry humour and deadpan delivery, coupled with a handful of series characters who are people you could imagine meeting -- and actually liking -- in everyday life. I've always had a soft spot for the pragmatic and long-suffering Barnabas, a man of few words but who gets things done. FAKING IT is a welcome addition to an always readable series, and a book that you'll almost certainly devour at one sitting.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, October 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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