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In 1970 Howard Stamp, a retarded twenty-year-old, was convicted o disputed evidence of brutally murdering his grandmother in her Dorset home. Less than three years later he was dead, driven to suicide by self-hatred and relentless bullying by other prisoners. A fate befitting a murderer, perhaps, but what if he was innocent? When thirty-four-year-old anthropologist Dr. Jonathan Hughes re-examines Stamp's case for a book on injustice, his research into the written evidence leads him to believe that Stamp was wrongly convicted. But is the forgotten story of one friendless young man compelling enough to persuade Jonathan to confront the real murderer? One person believes it is. George Gardener, sixty, has been trying to bring Stamp's case to public attention for years and has unearthed new evidence that might exonerate him. But Gardener needs the young academic on board if it is to be used to maximum effect. On the face of it, there is no similarity between the illiterate Stamp and the highly educated Hughes, yet their lives resonate through their damaged childhoods and their mutual sense of exclusion. With the threat of war in Iraq dominating British hearts and minds, there begins a battle closer to home: an attempt to prove a grotesque miscarriage of justice. But if a dangerous killer is still at large... ...the Gardener must first help Jonathan defeat his
own demons... |
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This book started bizarrely, with a chapter of a rather dodgy true crime book 'written' by her lead character, Johnathan Hughes. After a brief scene setter, which wasn't really enough to draw you fully into the narrative, it seemed a risky choice to impose 35 pages of apparent non-fiction on the reader. I'm still not entirely sure why Minette Walters deemed it necessary as it added little to the book that a few well chosen documents wouldn't have more easily provided. Maybe the author is planning to branch out into pop psychology and criminology and this was a dry run. This was a really interesting whodunit, in the best traditions of the genre with twists and turns a plenty. My only real criticism was the author's need to discuss issues that are, even months on, somewhat outdated. Making reference to the Twin Towers attack and the anti Muslim feeling that followed, not to mention the fear of terrorism, felt very out of place in an otherwise gripping yarn. It seemed the issues were introduced purely to give her lead character prejudices and hang-ups, which would have been fine if he hadn't lost every bit of his paranoia and insecurity beyond the opening part of the book. People do change after they hit rock bottom, but do they really do such fundamental about turns at the drop of a hat? The story was excellent, regarding the rape and subsequent disappearance of a teenaged girl which is linked, in some mysterious way, to the murder of Grace Stamp. Her grandson, Howard, was convicted of the murder on flimsy and unsubstantiated evidence which Jonathan Hughes thinks he can prove flawed. Despite Howard's suicide shortly after his imprisonment Hughes teams up with George Gardener to try and piece together the thirty-year-old mystery and have the conviction overturned. After the inital stall, the plot moved quickly and easily through each puzzle to a dramatic (and thankfully logical) conclusion. I do think it's rare, though, to find a book with no really likeable characters in it. Perhaps that's supposed to be refreshing, but I like to have at least a couple of semi-likeable characters to relate to. The closest to this was George, but even she didn't balance the unpleasantness of the rest of the cast. I'd recommend this book to mystery fans, as long as they're ready for a deeply disturbing book with no recognisable heroes.
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