I loved Lucinda Rileys books ever since “The seven sisters” series. But I’m not a passionate crime fan, I must admit. So I hesitated a bit to get started with this volume. I just couldn’t imagine lovely Lucinda diving into the hidden depths of the darker side of men.
I read the notes of her son in the foreword and acknowledgments and felt of course a little sting in my heart knowing that she has passed away a year ago. He revealed that she wrote this book in 2006 when he was a 13yr old boy. She had several books published by then and was about to start the 7 Sisters.
I do think that this book could have been edited more carefully - Harry Whitaker admits that he wanted to leave it as it was honouring the heritage of his mother. Reading it and comparing it to her master piece though made me a bit melancholic. It’s still Lucinda, but it lacks the beautifully composed voices of her characters later on.
Well, her main character in this book is a not-so-retired inspector of London Yard headquarters. She’s divorced and returns from Italy where she attempted in drawing. While settling into her new little cottage which has failing plumbing and so on she gets a visit by her former boss, convincing her to take up the investigations on a recent death among the students of the local boarding school.
The school Lucinda describes is very much like the school her children went to. (Altough without the murders, of course.) An old brickstone building, a campus with all the necessary housing for the staff and kids. Matrons and sports teachers who function as replacement for parents. A very incompetent headmaster. DI Jazmine (Jazz) Hunter smells instantly that something doesn’t quite add up in the stories she’s being told. She puts her team together and starts digging. Very soon she’s in the middle of a constellation where every person involved has their secrets and is trying to protect them at every cost. In the center is another pupil called Rory Millar. Jazz needs the help of a forensic psychiatrist to win the trust and cooperation of this lonely boy. But finally she can put all the pieces together.
Jazz Hunter could have been the new hero of the crimes series Lucinda intended to write. I can imagine how she would have been evolving that character and make her recognisable and well-loved like other inspectors (namely DI Linley and Barbara Havers from E. George’s series). With a good team and a good editing job it would have been surely worthwhile to continue.
