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In London, Detective Inspector Anna Travis and Detective Chief Inspector Jimmy Langton are quietly involved with each other. As they try to figure out if they should move in together Langton is suddenly and dangerously attacked by a suspect wielding a machete. Almost killed, DCI Langton is hospitalized for many months and then he has physical therapy to help him learn to walk again. With the help of some not so legal shortcuts, he gets himself assigned to active duty. Meanwhile DI Anna Travis has taken time off and dedicated herself to pulling Jimmy through and then helping him to survive the physical therapy. But just as soon as she is once again back on active duty, Jimmy decides that he needs to go it on his own and turns his back on Anna. Devastated, Anna uses her job to hang on to the world, but is taken aback when she finds that Jimmy has somehow gotten back on duty himself and has asked that she be assigned to his team. Anna isn't happy, but as Jimmy's cases are always important ones she doesn't want to get transferred. As the investigation of a murdered woman continues, more people are killed and suddenly the strange idea that voodoo is being used against people comes into the light. As all of the information is combined, the truth behind a few crimes begins to come into view - including Jimmy's own attack. Most of this book is solid crime investigation. The writer, Lynda La Plante, is the creator of the internationally popular TV series Prime Suspect, so you know that the investigation and the characterizations of the police are going to be first rate - and they are. At first I enjoyed the relationship between two mature and quirky people. La Plante did a wonderful job in creating their realistic strained relationship. When DCI. Jimmy Langton is almost killed and he has a rough recovery, the book still shines, but when Jimmy suddenly is cleared for active duty and the relationship between the two unravels, the book also begins to show some weaknesses. Because the case and the investigation is very intricate and can be confusing, a lot of time is spent with characters going over what was found, and that was needed. But after a while I began to wish that the case didn't involve a cast of what seemed like hundreds. When voodoo is added as a part of the mix, I began to feel a bit distant from the main characters and their willingness to agree that all the bad guys were almost inhumanly violent because of their place of birth. I also found myself feeling separated from liking the main characters because of their lack of any feelings towards the innocents who were murdered. I know they are cops, but as a reader, I needed to feel a connection to the main characters, but couldn't because their emotions were cut off. I began to not care about them because they didn't care about anyone, even each other anymore. By the end of the book, I felt as if every crime in London was included in this one case. So many people were involved in the crime and the investigation, so many really horrific things were done to people that I felt overwhelmed and a bit nauseated. The main characters ended up as people I no longer wanted to read about or spend time with. Another volume in this series was promised at the end of the book, but because of what went down in CLEAN CUT, I don't really have the urge to read the next in the series and because the writing was so effective, the planning and working out of the crime was so solidly done, and that is so rarely seen in books, that I feel that this is a shame.
Reviewed by A.L. Katz, November 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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