THE DUMMY RUN
Just the idea of it sent shivers down my spine: a disaster exercise with several supposedly dead bodies strewn around but when a halt is called all the ‘corpses’ revive – except one. What better place to hide anything than in plain view?
Whilst reading this book I had the peculiar sensation of reading two books at once, the one where the action is taking place and another ‘sotto voce’ commentary, frequently wryly amusing, on what is going on beneath the surface. Mary’s characters are all people we’ve met: a well qualified & efficient ‘assistant’ who covers up for her inept boss who ‘works twice as hard as anybody else, thereby causing twice as much muddle than he would have done if he had been able to relax’; the egotistical self-made man who believes every woman must just be drooling for an opportunity of dating him and if she works for him, of course, she cannot refuse; the dizzy beauty with a very clear eye on her career prospects; a local reporter with teeth of a terrier and nose of a bloodhound. Finding themselves at the centre of a murder investigation shakes their everydayness in a way we can readily appreciate.
As backgrounds, beliefs & prejudices are all challenged in the name of justice for the dead person, carefully constructed persona unravel and people are revealed in their true colours, which, as in all the best mysteries, are not necessarily what you were expecting…
Find yourself a comfortable place where you can settle undisturbed to enjoy this excellent novel .
LIGHT AIRS
As the title suggests this exciting novel has a nautical flavour, the setting primarily being a sleepy seaside town out of season. But don’t be mislead by the somnolence, beneath the thin patina of unpleasantness it is a hotbed of tangled relationships, jealousies, hatreds and scores to settle - undercurrents that kept me turning page after page to try and tease them out. I spent the first two-thirds of the book hoping against hope that the heroine was right and the final third terrified that she might be wrong!
In a departure from Mary’s previous scenarios, there is money available (or is it?) in Light Airs which considerably increases the tensions amongst the protagonists; indeed in the opening pages we learn that Adele is a paper millionaire, but as many others have found, having money and keeping money are two entirely different propositions. The eventual redemptive destination of the funds is ingeniously karmic and you are absolutely free to ‘dream on’ what happens next after the conclusion of the story.
I won’t tell any more of the plot as it is so much more satisfactory to find out for yourself.....
A PURPOSED OVERTHROW & THE PURPOSE OF PLAYING
A Purposed Overthrow, like Mary's first novel The Purpose of Playing, starts innocently enough then almost imperceptibly steps over the line into threat and intrigue, leaving one with the feeling that with a gentle, or not-so-gentle, nudge anyone’s life can escalate from the mundane to murder.
In a Purposed Overthrow a penurious student leaps at the opportunity of a paid-for visit to Covent Garden and out of normality into a series of events that will lead deep into the secrets of her own and her friends’ lives in a tangled web that keeps you guessing until the very last page (no peeking). It’s easy to identify with Mary’s central character who just wants to get on with her studies and her life, tolerating her irritating grandmother, looking forward to her father’s rare appearances and not thinking too much about her long-dead mother. Suddenly pinioned between murders, police investigations and family dysfunctions which no amount of denial will disperse she is forced to reflect on her received wisdom and to develop her own.
For those of you who have not yet read The Purpose of Playing it is another fascinating insight into apparently normal lives which mask mysteries: a group of drama students meet for a reunion at which one of them realises that she has been in ignorance of the death/murder of a group member for the intervening years, an event at which the others were present. Another death follows within the group which could be natural or otherwise and old dynamics are brought into play as the investigation continues. Even after the denouement you may be left wondering if the truth has in fact been revealed…
Mary has for many years written drama for radio and her books move smoothly and intriguingly with realistic dialogue and a sly, subtle humour. Unlike many novels which rely upon esoteric scenarios and unbelievable heros and heroines, Mary’s characters can be met anywhere, anytime, in fact you may well start to look at your friends in a very different light!
