Reviewed by Dee Harrington
I am not an entomologist, but I am an avid reader of whodunnits.
This book is a whodunnit, set in a place called Greensands. The sandy ridge exists in real life, but the town/village of the same name is invented.
Our hero is Dr Vanessa Marwood, a forensic entomologist. She is about to leave for a new job in New York when she is called in by an old friend, DCI Paul Truss, to help investigate a number of murders in Greensands. As with most whodunnits, there is a team member who objects to her being brought in because he feels he could have done the entomological work himself.
The book describes using maggots from the dead bodies to determine when the victims died. It isn’t the first book to do this, but it goes into a lot more detail about the forensic procedures required. For example, some of the maggots must be killed on site but some must be kept alive in the lab and allowed to develop so as to be certain what species they are and therefore confirm the time of death more accurately.
The dead bodies are displayed to reflect aspects of behaviour, in this case mostly of spiders. Our forensic entomologist seems to know enough about spiders, even though they are not insects. The fact that the murderer has a detailed knowledge of spider behaviour helps determine who could and who could not have committed the murders.
I would recommend this book to whodunnit fans because the story is interesting and well written. It moves forward in time rather than hopping backwards and forwards, which a lot of authors seem to do nowadays (do they realise how annoying that is?). There are some good plot twists near the end.
There are a few things that jar a little with the reader. Firstly, DCI Paul Truss is said to hate butterflies, which seems unlikely. Secondly, there is inappropriate swearing (I feel sure that Vanessa would not use the F-word). Thirdly, the descriptions of how the victims were murdered and their bodies displayed are overly gruesome (it might be best not to read this book near mealtimes). Lastly, it is difficult to keep track of the many characters. It would be easier if the peripheral characters were referred to by their role rather than their name. The main characters could be listed at the front of the book, as is done by Ngaio Marsh for example.
