Title: The Liar
Author: Jane A Adams
Publisher: Joffe Books
Pages: 259
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐
Against the fear
and hysteria whipped up by the sighting of an enormous and vicious animal,
former DI John Tynan becomes aware of the death of Martha Toolin, a woman that
he had recently begun to see.
As DI Mike Croft
and DS Jude Burnett attempt to solve the mystery, they seek to learn more about
Martha, in an attempt to find out who might have wanted her dead. It turns out
that Martha Toolin wasn’t being entirely honest about herself. She was leading
a whole other life as Julia.
Martha had first
made herself acquainted with John, claiming to be a relative of his from his
mother’s side. She said that she wanted to research the family tree. Tynan assists
in her search wholeheartedly.
Croft and Tynan
try to piece together what they know of Tynan’s family history to find the answer
to who killed Martha. But then another victim falls dead. Tom Pollard, an 18-year-old
kid just out of the foster home system, who felt abandoned by Martha.
They also find
that Martha made a living out of deceiving people, and that there were many
people who might have wanted her dead.
Are the two
murders related? And what about the fearsome animal that is striking fear in
the hearts of all those who see it?
The book is
written mostly in the third person limited viewpoint of Mike Croft, DI in
charge of the case, and Tynan.
The setting comes
alive with descriptions of the weather, the atmosphere, and the geological
degradation making their presence felt.
The mystery was
rather weak, and there were too many issues with this book. What's more, the cover image was completely irrelevant.
At first Martha is
described as being 18 years Tynan’s junior. But later on in the book, he is
described as being 70-odd, while she is 60-odd.
The book was a tad
too long. I got more than a little impatient when Mike’s backstory, and
descriptions of the interior décor of his house began to show up on the page. The
information about Maria’s family was unnecessary. Why does a DI who has a
murder case on his hands feel the need to give us a long description of the décor
of his house?
The naming convention
employed by the author, not coincidentally a J, is another issue. There are
altogether too many Js in this story. There’s Jason Matthews, Julie, John, John’s
uncle Jerry, DS Jude. There are two Phils. Sure, they are both minor and
unrelated, but why use the same name? Then there is the DI Mike Croft, who has a
brief conversation with someone called Mark. A news reporter is called Geoff
and then some chapters later the same guy turns into Graham Firth.
At the 40 percent
mark, the promised twists and turns hadn’t shown up. The investigation seemed
to take on forever. This book was painfully slow. I felt bored and lost
interest. There were frequent flashbacks, very few of them valuable. Plus,
there is a persistent myth about Old Shuck, a large and vicious dog that persists
over centuries and is an unmistakable part of folklore. The only reason I didn’t
give up is because I can’t bring myself to give up on a book. Things began to
speed up only after the 70 percent mark.
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