[It should perhaps be noted that this book is presently available only in/through the UK or Canada.]
Dr. Edward Jenner, an unlucky protagonist, is the hero and goat not only in this follow-up novel, but in the author’s excellent “Precious Blood,” in which he killed the evil-doer but in the process lost his license as a medical examiner in New York City. At loose ends, he accepts a temporary pathologist position in a small Florida community at the behest of his friend and mentor, who is planning a three-month around-the-world cruise.
No sooner does Jenner arrive in the Sunshine State than he finds the aforementioned friend and his wife being pulled from their car submerged in a swamp. Then Jenner finds four men hanging from trees in the middle of the Everglades. Thus begins a long, tortuous tale to unravel the reasons behind these (and other) deaths.
While the plot is sound, fully absorbing this reader’s interest, the novel could have benefited from some editing to tighten it up. There are long descriptions which, while graphic, provide little in the way of moving the story forward, slowing the reader’s progress towards what is an ultimately intriguing conclusion.
Always interesting to hear reader’s thoughts on one’s work! I do agree with you that the book needed a little work; I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the original edition of A HARD DEATH. I’ve just finished a pretty complete rewrite for the US edition, which I think is much tighter and faster – out in April 2011 on Harper…