Elizabeth Flynn (2)

PEARL RULE (30%)

Rating: 2* of five

The Publisher Says: Brendan Phelan, rock star, is playing in a stage show that includes guns and whips. As it reaches its climax, a shot rings out—but it's not part of the show. The body of Oliver Joplin, one of the road crew, lies lifeless outside the stage door. Detective Inspector Angela Costello and her team investigate, but they quickly discover that several stage hands, and Phelan himself, are adept with firearms—and that Joplin was widely disliked and distrusted. So why had Phelan kept him on, despite the reservations of his crew? Joplin's emails reveal the presence of a shadowy figure stalking the dead man. Who might profit from Joplin's death?

Little by little, Costello unpicks the web of lies. But unless one key person opens up, she can't crack the case. And that is not going to happen.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: When the production manager of the rock star's road show takes six lines to say "the star added the dead guy to the staff, not me, I hated the bastard," I realized I wasn't going to finish this story.

Gay is hilarious, you see, thinking a famous rock star might be gay can cause a room full of his sycophants to clutch their sides in laughter, and the fact that he's accused of having sex with a fourteen-year-old girl elicits a flurry of justifications like "plenty of girls that age are sexually active" (with middle-aged men? that's a problem, folks) and "how was he to know?" (maybe keep it zipped while on the road? just spitballin' some thoughts here).

The sleuth and her team follow procedures, I suppose, but I couldn't tell you what those were. I'm spoiled by Ann Cleeves and her ilk in this regard: The say what the procedures are. Anyway. It comes down to "I do not like this book or the characters in it so I am exercising my readerly right to bugger off now."

I do not recommend this read to you.… (mais)

I received this as an Early Reviewer request in September 2016 and apologies to LT and Lion, the publisher, for taking so long to read it! Overall I enjoyed it, it tells of the shooting of a roadie in the crew of heart-throb pop star Brendan Phelan after a gig in London; one of DI Costello's team happened to be attending the concert and was first on the scene. As the investigation begins, the team wonder if Brendan was the intended target, but as they make progress it becomes apparent that the roadie was definitely the victim, as more and more is revealed of his unsavoury lifestyle and various scams he had. It worked well as a cosy crime story, it's the 3rd in a series but that didn't detract from my enjoyment; I found the characters likeable and whilst it made a change to have police officers who were relatively content with their lot , as opposed to the usual divorced/alcoholic/estranged from their family etc, I did think that sometimes they were a little bit too good to be true, and slightly old-fashioned which seemed to belong to a different era. However it was enjoyable gentle read, and thanks to Lion (and LT) for introducing me to a new author.… (mais)

The D.I. Costello mysteries feature Angie Costello and her team of detectives. The first Costello mystery that I read was set in the world of fashion design, this one centres around a murder in the pop music scene. In this case a roadie was killed and Costello's partner was in position to be on the scene minutes after the shots were fired because it happened at the end of a concert which the young detective had attended.

Suspicion moves through the various members of the music group and the background crew. For some time it even points at the group's charismatic star. It kept me guessing and I also felt like I had learned something about the music world.… (mais)

A roadie is shot in an alley along side a theater in London. One end of the alley is a dead end and the other is barred by an iron gate guarded by two security guards. Detective Constable Gary Houseman happens to be standing by the gate when the shot occurs followed closely by the sound of a slamming door. Houseman was through the gate and down the alley to the dead body in less than a minute. There he finds Brendan Phelan, the star of the show, standing by the dead body, apparently in a state of shock. At that point the only options are that Phelan is the murderer or someone else committed the murder and ran into the theater through the stage door.

My initial impression at the beginning of The End of the Roadie was that the writing was awkward and the dialogue unnatural; real people do not talk like these characters. That impression became less salient as I continued to read and, although still noticeable, it ceased to become bothersome in the second half of the book.

A second and more lasting impression is that the police officers were depicted as incompetent. Detective Constable Houseman is portrayed as naïve and unsophisticated; taking charge of the crime scene seems almost beyond his capability. When Detective Inspector Angela Costello, houseman's boss, arrives she notices that security cameras overlooking the alley and stage door are situated so that they should have captured a video of the murder. Instead of investigating that possibility immediately, Costello makes repeated mental notes over the next several hours that she should check out that possibility later. It is only some 18 hours after the murder before she actually assigns one of her staff to check the security camera. In addition, Phelan, a potential suspect or witness to the murder "appears" to be in shock so she doesn't try to question him because "it wouldn't be fair to press him." Instead, she goes inside the theater where, crossing the stage, her thoughts are not on Phelan or the camera. Instead she finds herself imagining what it would be like to a star and have the curtains open to reveal her to the audience. I doubt a real police officer just called to the scene of a murder would allow her mind to wonder in such an undisciplined manner. Her actions at the crime scene would do justice to Inspector Clouseau.

Elizabeth Flynn repeatedly portrays DI Costello as weak at interrogation. Costello frequently notes something of potential significance and thinks, "I'll have to follow up on that later." This comes across as sloppy police work, but I think it is actually a device Flynn uses to disguise the thin plot. If Costello and her subordinates had pursued the numerous ideas of potential significance when they first occurred the repeated visits to the same person that form the backbone of the plot would have been unnecessary and The End of the Roadie could have been reduced by at least a third.

When the detectives finally get around to asking to see the tape—I imagine you have already guessed—they are informed that the system was not working correctly. It seems that the taping system shut off at precisely the time the murder occurred so none of the cameras in the alley or showing the stage door were functioning. The theater manager explains that he does not know what went wrong but ventures a vague guess that the system was hacked. What's worse, the theater personnel have not yet had a technician examine the system. Apparently, incompetence extends beyond the ranks of the police.

The faulty camera system is not the only element of the plot that Flynn foreshadows repeatedly. There is a widespread interest in magic among the roadies and backup band members and the earlier career of one of the suspects as a former performing magician, and the mysterious cases around the van at the scene of the murder. After those have been mentioned repeatedly you are sure to suspect that they will figure significantly in the solution of the crime.

Throughout The End of the Roadie Flynn portrays the detectives as star-struck bumpkins. One male detective, on being assigned to take photographs at the theater, began popping breath mints in anticipation of seeing a country-western singer rehearsing. The women are weak in the knees at the prospect of meeting Phelan. My guess is that Flynn intends for these scenes to be funny, but if that is her intent she apparently does not have the knack for creating humorous scenes.

Despite these flaws I do not regret reading The End of the Roadie. Flynn sketches out the mystery in the first few pages so I continued to read to find out who committed the murder and how they did it. I would have enjoyed the book much more if the protagonists had been depicted as more competent, the mystery had been of greater complexity, and the author had not felt compelled to repeatedly foreshadow significant plot elements. I do not plan to read another Flynn novel; there are far too many better mystery/detective writers to devote time to another of her offerings. Nevertheless, if you have a copy of The End of the Roadie or just want to give an Elizabeth Flynn novel a try, you will find this book to be a mildly enjoyable and relatively painless experience.… (mais)