Forgotten Book - The Accident of Robert Luman

The Accident of Robert Luman was published in 1988. The author, David Fletcher (a pen-name for Dulan Barber) died in the same year. He was only 48. Fletcher's tragically early death probably explains why his work has been neglected in recent years. Another reason for that neglect is that he didn't create a major series character (although this novel introduces a cop called DS Jolley, who appeared in Fletcher's last two novels). He was a well-regarded novelist in his day, but I'm pretty sure that he'd have developed further had he lived, and he might well have become a doyen of the genre.

This novel is interesting on several levels. First, it's a "whowasdunin". An introductory section reveals that a murder of extraordinary savagery has been committed - but we don't know the identity of the victim. This aspect of the story is intriguing, though it's not Fletcher's main focus - and I think it's fair to say that the victim isn't characterised in great depth, a weakness of the story.

Second, it's a novel of psychological suspense, a gripping tale which reads in some respects like an updating for the 80s of the work that John Bingham and Julian Symons were doing twenty or thirty years earlier. Fletcher builds the tension as he shows a young man being trapped in a web of suspicion. In fact, in some respects, this book is a development from his previous novel, On Suspicion - but it's a superior work.

And one of the reasons why it's superior is that Fletcher presents a very interesting picture of a brain-damaged character, Robert Luman himself. I'm not sure that I can think of an earlier, more convincing portrayal of a character with a severe mental disability - if you can, please let me know! In recent years, several authors have tackled a comparable challenge with great success: one thinks of books like Elizabeth is Missing and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Fletcher's novel is not quite as impressive as either of those two books, but I thought it a highly readable piece of work. 

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer - review

In a short space of time, Belinda Bauer has established herself as one of my favourite contemporary authors. Her latest book, Rubbernecker, is a memorable piece of work. I'm tempted to say that it's not for the squeamish, but then, I'm rather squeamish, and I really liked it. There are lots of descriptions of what it is like to be in a coma, and to dissect bodies in an anatomy class, and I must admit that I didn't linger too long over some of this material. But what makes this a fine novel is the combination of superb characterisaton and a very clever plot. These are the ingredients that made Minette Walters' early books hugely successful, and I think Bauer is definitely in the same league.

The main protagonist is young Patrick Fort. Bauer specialises in telling stories from the point of view of boys or young men, and she captures Patrick very well. Thsi is quite an achievement, since he has Asperger's Syndrome. I am no expert, but I do know a small amount about the challenges of living with this condition, and it seems to me that Bauer's empathetic portrayal is as effective as Mark Haddon's in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. At first, I wasn't sure how Rubbenecker was going to fare in any comparison with Haddon's book. Bauer took a risk, I think, when she opted to venture into similar territory. But it paid off. Her book is quite distinctive.

The build-up is relatively steady rather than providing instant reader gratification, but as I've mentioned before in this blog, that's a technique that plenty of writers (including me) use, and Bauer never lost my attention. I took an instant dislike to one character who made it clear at the outset that he didn't like a very good song by Rupert Holmes, and Bauer probably intended this. But I felt very sorry for him when eventually I learned of his fate, and this is part of her skill..

There's some wonderful black comedy as Patrick decides to investigate the apparent murder of a corpse he and his classmates have been dissecting. A police officer called Williams who is introduced late on in the story is given some marvellous lines, though I was a little surprised by the DCI who had never heard of vagal inhibition, when a retired cop was telling me about it only a couple of weeks ago. Equally good is an awful nurse who is out to ensnare a rich husband in an entertaining sub-plot. The attention Bauer pays to her minor characters is the mark of a gifted writer. I read one national newspaper review that carped about some aspects of the book, but although there was quite a bit of coincidence in the story, where would crime writers be without the occasional coincidence? The last part of the book is especially strong, and I eagerly look forward to what Belinda Bauer will do next.. Yep, I'm a fan.