| Stuart Pawson, a well known author in England and Europe, but maybe not so well known in the United States. He writes police crime stories. His current production, Shooting Elvis, pits DCI Charlie Priest against a serial killer. While the murders initially appear random, they soon become personal to DCI Priest.
Pawson’s uses descriptive language and wit in a truly grand fashion. He writes in the first person, and DCI Priest describes the first corpse. “I looked at the eyes rolled back in their sockets like one of El Greco’s saints, at the silver streak of dried dribble from the toothless cavern of his mouth and at the flies homing in on the corpse, attracted by the smell of corruption that was as inviting to them as freshly baked bread is to hungry coppers.” The reader has to adjust to some language changes, his use of freshly baked bread to hungry coppers, is probably as common a phrase to the English people as our phrase – cops at a donut shop. Pawson also displays a rare wit which requires a little thought. I particularly liked the phrase – “We were overworked and over budget, and needed another murder enquiry like giant pandas need contraception.”
In addition to good use of language and humor, Pawson provides a number of red herrings throughout the book to keep the reader guessing. Was it murder or suicide? Is the murderer a member of a biker gang? Was the murder related to owed drug money? Did the murder kidnap Charlie’s girlfriend or is the kidnapping unrelated? Pawson keeps the reader intrigued and guessing right up to the end of the book.
I enjoyed reading this book both for the story and use of language and humor. Pawson is a British author so there were a few points were cultural differences made the story interesting. For instance, during the murder investigation Priest interviewed the landlord. In this case the landlord was actually the bartender, and the on duty officer found it perfectly acceptable to drink a pint or two while on duty. British detectives do not carry guns without special permission, and they have to be certified and qualified to carry a gun. This qualification process plays a role in the story. If you are looking for something different and enjoy police stories, take a chance on Stuart Pawson. He is not a well known author in the United States, but well worth reading.
BGS 9/6/2008
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