Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“I love walking into a bookstore. It’s like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.”–
Mary and I recently went shopping at our favorite Barns & Noble store in Lone Tree, Colorado. While there we also took a peek at movies from the Criterion Collection that were on sale for 50% off but didn’t buy any. I had already purchased A Man and a Woman (1966) and Captain Blood (1935) from B&N’s website during this sale.
Instead of movies, we picked up four books: Mary bought me three trade paperback mystery novels including Death at the White Hart, The Medusa Protocol, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts, and I purchased a hardback copy of the non-fiction The Long Death of Adolf Hitler by Caroline Sharples, sure to be light reading. Look for reviews of all or some of these books and movies, here and on my YouTube channel, Joe Farace’s videos real soon now but you can read a review of one of them below.
Death of a Publican
Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall is not an English cozy mystery or even a police procedural, it seems to be more like a family drama centering around a murder and bordering on what I have previously described as a “human misery” story. This is something I don’t like to see in books or movies and you can read my take on this approach at the bottom of this post.
Chibnall is the creator of the highly regarded and popular Broadchurch (2013-2017) TV series which starred David Tennant that has a 92% tomatometer rating. Chibnall was also show runner for the somewhat controversial and mostly unloved fifteenth Dr. Who TV series featuring Jodie Whittaker, who also appeared in Broadchurch. Fortunately for readers of mystery novels, Death at the White Hart is more like Broadchurch than that particular Dr. Who series.
The books revolves around a trope often used in detective fiction where the protagonist gets tired of life and crime in the big city and moves to a small town, often one where they grew up. Robert B Parker’s Jesse Stone series exemplifies this concept and is now on their fourth different writer since Mr,. Parker passed away.
By the bye, The White Hart is the name of a pub and most of the story revolves around that establishment and it’s murdered proprietor. Further, a “hart” is a male red deer or stag and not like my friend Alvin, who is a young male mule deer who visits my home on his way to chomping down on my trees and bushes. Like Broadchurch, the book’s tone features a creepy overlying sense of dread that makes it feel like all of the characters you’ve just been introduced to seem guilty it not the murder of The White Hart’s publican are surely guilty of something. Even the protagonist, DS Nicola Bridge has her own family baggage and, from time to time, gets annoyingly whiny about it. The standout amongst all this angst is DC Harry Ward a handsome, eager-to-please detective who works for Bridge and lights up every page he appears on. Amazon says this is book one of two in a Nicola Bridge series but I would prefer a book with DC Ward as the main character.
While the story mostly plods on and on, the author tries to give it some momentum near its end with a confession told, as a flashback, by a young girl who kinda, sorta witnessed the publican’s demise. Yet, this part of the book tends to drag on too, reading more like movie or TV script directions that, in the hand of the right director, ,mght have fared better than the author’s written treatment. But then on page 292, Chibnall goes into full human misery mode as DS Bridge screams at her husband, not that he doesn’t deserve it. Sure, it’s only three pages but do we really need all this family drama for a protagonist?
When, in the end, the evil doer is brought to justice, I must confess the motive for the murder seems pretty thin and when the accused is brought in for the final interview –NO Spoilers–I found myself in the position of supporting them while they’re being confronted by the evidence and I wasn’t buying it. But I get it, writing fiction is hard; writing whodunits is even harder, I know, I’ve tried.
I must confess to having to force myself to finish the book, mostly because Mary bought it for me so I feel obliged to give it more than a fair chance. If this was a library book I would have given up within 100 pages. Am I going to buying book two in this series, I don’t think so. I don’t agree with Lee Child’s blurb (see below) but after coming off reading Tim Sullivan’s The Teacher, Chibnall’s book was a let down. Death at the White Hart gets a lukewarm recommendation from me and a 3.8 rating on Goodreads but I think die-hard Broadchurch fans may enjoy it. Maybe.
Which brings me to blurbs
You know the one sentence pseudo reviews that’s printed on a book’s dust jacket that reads like “what a great book, the author is a modern day Conan Doyle.” The cover for Death at the White Hart includes this blurb from Lee Child, “Layered, human suspenseful and Surprising.”
Let me tell you a story: I have a friend who is a real-life private detective and who wrote a series of mystery novels. When his first book was being published, he sent an advance copy to a big-time mystery book author, who replied, “Do you want me to read it or blurb it?” I know what I would have done; “Please blurb it!” Having a famous author praise your book helps put money into an author’s pocket. Someday, I will tell you about the time a famous photo magazine editor wrote an unsolicited blurb for one of my digital photography.books. Did it help sales? I didn’t notice.
Coming Up
I haven’t reviewed any automobile books in a while but that’s about to change. Right now, I’m waiting to receive a copy of The Complete Book of Jaguar: Every Model Since 1935 by Nigel Thorely. According to information received from the publisher, the book contains a detailed look at the company’s history, with profiles of every production model, including specifications, along with archival photographs and images of restored classics. The book spans the time from the Jaguar XK120 to the debut of the E‑Type to the brand’s modern EV ambitions. As the previous owner of two different Jaguar cars, I’m looking forward to receiving and reading his book.
As I await my next automotive coffee table book, I am reading The Medusa Protocol , which so far has been a fast paced and fun thriller. That almost sound like a blurb doesn’t it?