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SAVAGE TIDEGlenn ChandlerHodder & Stoughton £18.99hbk Rel: July 2003Reviewed by Mick Herron
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The estate agents mantra might as well be the crime writers: location, location, location. Whether its imaginary or real barely matters; Dalziel & Pascoes mid-Yorkshire territory is as solidly realised as Rebuss Edinburgh, but for a writer embarking on a series, that choice of locale must be crucial. I suspect Savage Tide, Chandlers debut novel, heralds the beginning of a series, and Brighton is a useful setting; one of those places that, with work, might become a character in its own right. In this first tale, the plot is efficient, as youd expect from an experienced TV writer. We meet DI Steve Madden backwards, as it were; in the opening scenes, hes brooding jealously outside his ex-wifes homevery much private individual rather than working policemanand move from there to his complicated relationship with his almost-grown son, whos trying to tell Madden that hes gay. Being gay, it turns out, is less than half the story. Soon, young Jason is the victim of a brutal killing, and Madden has to contend with his own feelings of guilt in addition to establishing the actual guilty party, to be chosen from a cast of clubbers, prostitutes, gangsters and celebs. Its all to the good, of course, that weve left behind the era when cops were cops and nothing more: characterisation is as important in the crime genre as it is in any other. And Madden follows a learning curve as he uncovers his sons way of life, coming to accept his failings as a father and his lack of tolerance as a man; trying to make up for both, too, in a relationship with a surrogate-son figure he collects in the course of investigation. All of which adds depth. All the same, surely the choice of copper as protagonist is intended to give credibility to the characters involvement in crime investigation in the first place, and I wonder how many working police officers have close family members murdered? Recent reading suggests well upwards of 50%. Its a dangerous beat out there, wherever you happen to walk it.
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