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What a treat it is to read a book with real characters, with all their flaws and insecurities, where you believe they live and breath. Janet Neel's TICKET TO RIDE features newly-qualified London solicitor Jules Carlisle. Jules has the obligatory dysfunctional childhood and tangled love life, but don't let that put you off -- Neel is a skilful enough writer to gain the reader's sympathy without hitting them over the head with a large mallet. Jules finds herself roped in to a strange case involving dead asylum seekers in the Fens. She usually steers clear of immigration cases, but she's the only one around when Mirko Dragunovic, a Serbian refugee who's over-stayed, comes into the office to say he's convinced his brother is one of those who were found dead in a shallow grave. From this point, Jules finds herself with MI5 in the shape of Richard Allenton breathing down her neck as she attempts to find out what happened to her client's brother. And there are also the not totally unwelcome attentions of farmer Andrew Flowerdew on whose farm Mirko had worked. The book is incredibly topical and Neel, a Labour peer in the House of Lords, no doubt brings knowledge from that part of her life to TICKET TO RIDE. One of the characters in the book is Anne, Baroness Barlow of Camden, who is Jules's aunt. Even though she's an engaging character, the book does lose focus when the point of view shifts to her. I did have the slightly uncharitable thought that Anne and the formidable Baroness Williams are only there so Neel can retell some House of Lords anecdotes, entertaining though those scenes are. The style can be a little off-putting -- a touch too understated and throwaway, and you certainly don't read Neel for the quality of the dialogue, which is often less than snappy. There are a couple of lousy information dumps to bring the reader up to speed on Eastern Europe, including one bizarre scene where a leading character has their house broken into, and people stand around discussing Bosnia. Oh, and a heck of a lot of English people seem to speak Serbo-Croat in Neel's world! One of the things I did like was Neel's matter-of-fact, without comment portrayal of gay characters, which is how it should be. Shame they all turned out to be victims in different ways . . . That said, Neel's strength is creating well-rounded characters and in presenting sharp little cameos and scenes. My personal favourite was where Louise, the scary receptionist, delves into Jules' shopping bags, and before long a foyer of Jamaican women are discussing what shoes she should have bought. And whereas the city scenes could have been virtually anywhere (a couple of times I did flick back to confirm that it was indeed London), the evocation of the Fens is outstanding. Neel gives herself a lot to do in the space of a few pages for the ending, but I didn't guess the twist. I sincerely hope this is going to be the start of a series for Jules. I enjoyed Neel's Francesca Wilson series from a while back, but TICKET TO RIDE suggests she could surpass those.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, July 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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