Ali Knight

WINK MURDER is the debut book from ex-journalist and sub-editor Ali Knight. Given that the book is set within the cut-throat and odd world of tabloid television, perhaps her background has informed the way that the world of the media (albeit she worked in print) works.

There was so much about the run down and the early part of this book that didn't appeal, I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to get to the end of it. The high-flying husband returning late at night, drunk, covered in blood, show more muttering. The stay at home mother with the part-time, lesser job in her husband's world, waiting at home for him to return - unsure of her marriage, convinced that her husband is having an affair - but unable to do anything about that. Questioning her mothering ability, worried about the state of the house, guilty for working part-time; a stereotype of the little less-attractive woman married to the gorgeous high-flying husband. Mostly I think it was the whinging, self-absorbed, kind of useless first person voice that was getting to me.

But really... "do not assume" should be displayed on a poster in front of my nose, right below the one that says "stop reading blurbs and media releases....". From the absolute start of this book Kate, who is the main voice of the novel, is tricky. Caught in a spiral of wishing problems under the carpet, trusting and mistrusting her husband, believing he could be capable of everything from infidelity to business corruption to murder, she fights her own paranoia with an increasing sense of desperation and lack of self-belief. I don't think she ever quite loses that slightly whingy, disbelieving tone, but there is a point in the book where she decides, somehow to take matters into her own hands. Not by confronting the husband mind you, she opts for a considerably more complicated path to finding out the truth. Which unexpectedly works. Which, given the personality that has revealed itself in her own voice, actually makes a lot more sense. I think I would have been profoundly disappointed if Kate actually grew balls and stepped up to the mark, but somehow her panicked, suspicious, vaguely lunatic behaviour made a lot of sense - had bucket loads of credibility if you like.

I'm not really sure what it was that made me pluck WINK MURDER from the teetering stacks of unread books around here, as when it first arrived, unsolicited, I will confess to being underwhelmed with the blurb and the media release. Which is exactly why I think I'll stick up those two posters, and maybe spotlight them. This is actually a very good book, involving, car crash fascinating and not at all as simple as it seems. Right down to the last page.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/wink-murder-ali-knight show less

It's difficult to be original. Still, when a quick search throws up a minimum of three books sharing the same title as this one, I feel a more original option must have been available.

Unfortunately, my initial and final response to this book can be summed up with one word: meh.

-- What's it about? --

Kelly's marriage is a prison; her controlling husband, Christos, tracks her every move, including filming her inside her own house. If she tries to leave, she believes he'll never let her see her show more children again.

Adding insult to (frequent) injury, Christos has taken a mistress, Sylvie, who is desperate to step into Kelly's shoes. It seems to be a stalemate, but then one of Christos' ships docks in London containing a secret cargo that will change lives forever...

-- What's it like? --

A little bland with too many gangsters. Within a few pages, the style just wasn't gripping me. This is one example that just somehow bored me:

'the piles of paper on his desk had mated with those on the shelves and produced more piles that now occupied the two chairs this side of the desk'.

I don't know. It's scene setting, I get that, and revealing of character and other stuff, but it's still just...meh.

Meanwhile, it transpires that, although Christos is all-powerful, another character (aka 'The Wolf') is poised to take revenge - and possibly his enemy's empire. Both men are horrid, brutal and empty. I can't root for either of them and was largely disinterested.

-- Final thoughts --

There are some twists along the way but, (and this might not surprise you by now,) I didn't really like those either. I'm not even sure why. Possibly my dislike of gangstery novels (first discovered when enduring Martina Cole's repetitive story 'The Family') simply poisoned my view of everything else but...seriously, outside of channel 5 made-for-TV drama, where in the world do these kind of preposterous shenanigans occur?

That said, as I typed those words I wondered...would some people make that criticism of plots and motives found in Sophie Hannah's novels? Very likely, yes, and I love those.

So I'm not not recommending this book. The plot ticks along briskly with plenty of drama, a hefty dose of villainy and a surprisingly resilient central character. Everything is resolved exactly right, considering the characters involved, and it's mildly interesting to read a crime book featuring a customs officer as the main investigative force.

I think this is a clever and realistically written book that simply doesn't appeal to me - it's the kind of really gritty, gangstery crime story I just don't enjoy, although that makes it sound a lot more rough than it actually is. (Violence is typically hinted at or referred to rather than witnessed - with one shockingly brutal exception early on.) There's a range of potentially interesting characters and the ending is clever, and as I'm writing this I keep flicking through the pages to try to understand what went wrong because I really feel like I should have liked it...but I didn't. show less

Darren's sister has been murdered but her body has yet to be found. He wants to know what happened to her, so gets himself a cleaning job at the secure unit where the killer is being held. He behaves like an idiot but a good hearted idiot in his quest to discover the truth. The book was written well and was engaging, but not all the time plus I wasn't too keen on the twist or how it ended. I will read other books by this author.

The kind of whodunit that makes you not want to put it down. A little far-fetched at times, but well-written and definitely worth a read.