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CLEAN CUT
by Lynda La Plante
Simon & Schuster, September 2007
512 pages
17.99 GBP
ISBN: 0743295722


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

CLEAN CUT opens on a sour note, with Anna Travis fulminating because her one time boss and current lover, James Langton, is late home for another ruined dinner. Her feelings set the tone for the remainder of the book, in which La Plante gives rein to her own reactions to the state of Great Britain today. Travis quickly overcomes her resentments when she learns that James has been gravely injured, with machete slashes to the chest and thigh.

Despite ominous predictions, Langton survives and, almost miraculously, even recovers to the extent of being able to stand and then walk again. Anna takes him home with her to recuperate but, inevitably, the two strong characters clash and eventually Langton walks out, determined to work on his own case and make sure that justice is visited on the man who did his best to kill him.

There are some nasty murders going down. Library worker Irene Phelps is murdered and her body found by her own young daughter. Anna is assigned to the case. A young, very beautiful prostitute, Carly Ann North, has also been murdered and her murderer, an illegal immigrant named Idris Krasinque, is in custody, apparently terrified of retribution through voodoo.

This is a very disturbing novel, on more than one level. The author uses the work to rail against the disintegration of the British system. Because of overcrowded prisons, dangerous offenders are allowed out into the community on parole. Illegal immigrants are controlling a hefty slice of criminal activity and the police are virtually hamstrung in their attempts to overcome crime. There are even faint resonances with one of Ian Rankin's earlier works in matters of corpse disposal – but hey, everyone knows pigs are virtually omnivorous.

The introduction of voodoo into this work reflects the real-life case of the young boy whose dismembered body was found in the Thames. The two people called into the case as consultants about voodoo, Dr Salaam and his wife Esme, are interesting constructs and are very useful to Langton and his team.

The relationship Anna Travis has with James Langton in this outing reflects the state of British society in that it develops deep cracks. Langton is not the man to whom readers have become accustomed but displays tendencies that I, for one, hope are quashed before La Plante resurrects him for the next adventure.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, October 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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