Reviewed by Claudine
Read two crime thrillers back to back : Sandra Brown’s ‘Hello, Darkness” and Henning Mankell’s ‘One Step Behind’.
The story of “Hello, Darkness’ revolves around a radio deejay, Paris, who receives a call from an unknown listener who blames her for advising his girlfriend to leave him and threatens to kill the girl, and go after her after that. It is a suspenseful read typical of bestsellers aka Hollywood style with heart pumping action, romance and sex, which comes in the form of Dean Malloy, one of the crime investigators - Paris had left her previous town in order to avoid him. Sandra’s style is to introduce characters within the story, some of whom are suspect and invites the readers to guess which might be the stalker cum murderer. It would make for a good afternoon read by the pool or at the beach.
One of the gems I discovered off the shelves of the library, Henning Mankell’s ‘One Step Behind’ is a few notches up from Sandra Brown’s writing. The story investigates the murder of 3 young people, in 18th century garb, in a secluded Swedish meadow, followed by a brutal killing of a police officer who might be linked to the case. What comes after that is a desperate hunt for the murderer by Kurt Wallander, the police investigator who despite his failing health, with steely determination, follows up on clues and leads in relentless pursuit of the murderer before he strikes again. As I follow Wallander on the trail of the murderer, I feel like a sleuth myself piecing the clues together to form the larger picture in which the murders might have been committed and find myself unable to stop thinking about the case. The book is exhilarating and the writing almost lyrical in some parts. I couldn’t put it down, engrossed by the mysterious circumstances of the murders and elusive identity of the murderer. Unlike Sandra Brown, Mankell does not lay down all the suspects like cards on the table. Instead he takes us on a fast paced chase in a race against time, leaving no stone unturned, down winding trails which spring up surprises you'd never expect.
“Unputdownable” – if there is ever such a word !
My verdict : Henning Mankell’s “One Step Behind’ is excellent and highly recommended for all crime fiction aficionados. He has also written other titles so check them out !
