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EYE TO EYE
by Caroline Shaw
Random House Australia, September 2000
314 pages
$Au19.70
ISBN: 1863252576


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Helena 'Lenny' Aaron, the Cat Catcher of Shaw's first book, returns in a murder mystery that is also a biting satire on Melbourne society, politics, and the arts and cinema scene. Lenny is still suffering from depression, her over-the-counter drugs habit has progressed to forging prescriptions, her father has died, and her outlook is even bleaker than in the first book of the series. Despite this it's the character development, which takes several twists along the way, together with the humour, which combine to lift Eye to Eye above a sometimes less than perfect plot.

The plot of Eye to Eye involves theft and murder at a film school. Each of the school's students represents a different style of film maker, and if you're a movie buff you might have some fun matching real life equivalents to the various parodies. Lenny is brought in undercover, as a student, to investigate the theft of some equipment, and it's no surprise when she also becomes involved in the murder investigation. Despite Lenny's PI status this plot had a bit more of an amateur detective feel, and I had trouble believing in some of the motivations. It seemed at times that some plot credibility was sacrificed for the sake of the satire, but it was good satire, and on the whole the balance between the two was quite good. The grand finale adds yet another film parody as it sends up some classic action movie devices, and then twists them into an unexpected moment, a very appropriate ending.

Much of Shaw's very black humour still derives from Lenny and her family, but the additional satire demonstrates Shaw's growth as a writer in her ability to tackle multiple themes, and the writing is also tighter than the first book. Secondary characters are developed more, Lenny's mother and her enigmatic Japanese therapist in particular are both seen in greater depth as their involvement in Lenny's life changes quite dramatically. Lenny's Russian immigrant hairdresser neighbour has a larger role, she accidentally becomes a cat-napper, and this sub-plot presents Lenny with a fascinating and amusing dilemma, one which helps to sustain interest through the middle part of the book. In addition to the main investigation Lenny still manages to fit in some cat catching, but the cats are sub-plots, and much less prominent than in the first book.

Eye to Eye is a very good follow up by an excellent Australian talent, it more than fulfils the promise shown in Cat Catcher. Caroline Shaw is perhaps the most promising Australian mystery writer to emerge in recent years, and I hope there is more of Lenny Aaron to come.

Reviewed by Paul Richmond, August 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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