Review: ASSIGNED TO MURDER by Trish McCormack

Former Hokitika journalist and Abel Tasman NP worker Trish McCormack combines her two great passions in her debut novel; crime fiction and the uniqueness and stunning scenery of the West Coast.

Young glacier guide Philippa Barnes is still recovering from her parents’ sudden death when her old flatmate Kirsten, a journalist, is murdered near a picturesque lake. When Kirsten’s brother Jack asks Philippa to help dig deeper into what Kirsten was investigating, Philippa finds herself on a treacherous journey involving family secrets, human frailties, and long-buried crimes. At the same time a diarist tries to come to terms with a past horror.

Good murder mysteries have strong characters as well as puzzling plots. Overall, McCormack does well on that front. Although I was a little slow to warm to Philippa (who seemed a touch annoying at first), her depth and complexity comes out as the story progresses, and there is an interesting and well-drawn wider cast. McCormack has a nice touch for the emotional intricacies of human relationships, although her characters’ dialogue is at times a little unrealistic, filled with more exposition than subtext. More absorbing slow burn than cracking page-turner, Assigned to Murder trundles along for a while before hitting its stride, then finishing strongly.

Overall, there are plenty of good things (some very good) about this debut effort, and I look forward to seeing what McCormack comes up with next.

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This review was first published in the December 2010 issue of WildTomato, the magazine of Nelson and Marlborough. You can read more about this terrific magazine here.