Reviewed by TJ Ramsay
A young woman has been murdered on Ripton Beach. DSS 'Archie' Baldrick and DC Ben Travers eventually identify the body as that of Lucy Martin, who has been renting a holiday house in the area. Her husband, Oliver, seems to know very little about his wife or her background.
What was Lucy hiding? Why has she no family or friends? As the number of suspects mounts up, Archie begins to conclude that the real answer lies in Lucy's dark and mysterious past, and that her killer may be just a little too close for comfort ...
I reviewed the first book of DSS Archie Baldrick - Into the Void - and when I closed the final page, I hoped Christina would have another novel for him in mind. Apparently she did for Retribution is a great follow up.
We are thrown straight into another case. A murder and Archie and the reliable DC Ben Travers are at the scene. Archie has an aching back and a desperate fear about the daughter who has cut ties with him. The young woman found dead on Ripton Beach has a strangely empty life, a life her husband knows curiously little about.
Christina writes a very linear story, straight down the line, no deviations, no sub-plots and yet manages to hold interest and she is excellent at picking up the pace in the latter stages of her novels. I find myself racing along with the story. Great little twists and again nice domestic touches of Archie’s life, although this time, they felt slightly more forced somehow. In Retribution, Archie’s family, though obviously important, didn’t reach out to me so vividly and seemed a bit crow-barred into the narrative rather than belonging there naturally. I would have liked maybe more character development for DC Travers too, but these are minor quibbles I almost feel guilty writing about for I enjoyed this book.
As with Into the Void I demolished it in one sitting.
Like Into the Void, Retribution is expertly handled with natural dialogue and a nice way of moving the plot forward without unnecessary re-telling of evidence. I feel Christina trusts the reader to remember the important bits. So, Christina, thanks again for a thoroughly enjoyable read. Got another one coming?
This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore.
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