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BLIND ALLEY
by Iris Johansen
Bantam, March 2005
400 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 0553586505


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Be prepared, gentle reader, to don your most serviceable suspenders as you venture into the realm of disbelief which could well be the domain in which you find yourself whilst reading this outing in the life of forensic sculptor Eve Duncan. For once Eve and partner Joe are not the chief protagonists. Instead, Jane Maguire, the teenager adopted by them seven years previously, is the individual most necessary to the plot.

Someone is killing women and removing their faces and fingertips. Mark Trevor, purportedly a Detective Inspector from Scotland Yard, offers his services to Joe Quinn, telling him that Scotland Yard has been involved in following the career of the murderer who has now struck in Joe's own territory. Eve Duncan is set to reconstruct the face of one of the victims and is horrified to find such a strong resemblance to someone she loves, it could almost be the woman herself. But that woman is still alive.

In the meantime, Jane is suffering a recurring nightmare. In the nature of a serial, each installment takes her a step further. She is trapped in a maze of tunnels, unable to breathe, and must trust herself to a man she knows is a former lover in order to escape. Somehow, the dream is bound up with events and terrors that are occurring in the real world.

This novel dabbles in rather a different milieu from that of the 'normal' crime thriller. There are many supernatural influences, such as the spirit of a murdered child in communication with her bereaved mother and the possibility of an actress dead thousands of years ago manifesting herself in the mind of a modern day woman.

The idea of forensic sculpture is intriguing, to say the least, and the references to the volcanic eruption which destroyed Herculaneum absorbing. A romp featuring ancient slaves and their lovers, corrupt archaeologists, modern day detectives and, above all, the mysterious art of forensic sculpture, provides an enthralling read for mystery lovers.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, April 2005

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