The son of a local businessman is knocked down by a taxi when leaving a nightclub. However, what seems a straightforward road traffic accident becomes part of a more complicated scenario. The teenage boy's father wastes no time in wielding his influence, wanting to know who supplied his son with Ecstasy. Michael Thackeray is put on the case, facing domestic as well as political pressure when his girlfriend, journalist Laura Ackroyd, carries out her own investigation into the drug problem on the Wuthering Heights estate. In addition, Laura's grandmother Joyce, a retired Labour Councillor now working with the youth training project, seems ready to take on drug dealers, politicians and police.
There is a strong emphasis on power politics and the plot incorporates racial and cultural issues, as well as individual tragedies. However, there seem a lot of axes to grind and time spent with characters sounding off their opinions contributes a soapbox quality. Joyce Ackroyd, while certainly strong and imposing, seems rather stereotypical in some respects, the feisty pensioner who has been a rebel in her youth.
There are several parallel storylines. While fit together easily enough, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of everything. The same could be said of the number of characters, some making only a brief appearance. Nevertheless, characters are well drawn and events come across as realistic, if grim.
Michael Tudor Barnes does a good job in his rendition of the novel. He injects
a sense of personality into each individual which makes them easily recognisable.
The variety of accents are also well executed. He evokes the darkness and fear
which exist in the Wuthering Heights estate and conveys a sense of tension as
events escalate. This is no cozy.
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Mary Andrea Clarke
Other books in the series are Death by Election, The Coldness of Killers,
Dying Fall, In the Bleak Mid Winter/Dead of Winter (US), Perils of the Night,
The Italian Girl, Dead On Arrival, The Poison Pool, Skeleton at the Feast, Deep
Freeze