Reviews

A Place of Safety by Caroline Graham

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ladyethyme's review against another edition

4.5

As I have said before on every other book, the narrator does an absolutely impeccable impression of John Nettles. You actually have to check and recheck the narrator to make sure that it's not him once he starts doing his Barnaby narration.

It's not just the voice, it's the WAY he talks. His rhythm, how he cuts off certain words in sentences. I don't know how to explain it. I've never heard anybody do an impression of another person that accurately.

As for the book, I do very much enjoy Caroline's writing. She is deeply insightful to the human condition, as well as all of the nooks and crannies of every day life that passes by, but when commented upon, are so obvious and deeply moving as to seem a revelation.

However, I must say that she must not like homosexuals very much. Let's take a look at the homosexual representation in her books. First, a homosexual mortician, who has been sexually abused by his mother since he was a child and is deeply damaged.

Then a homosexual couple, with one being a cold and rather heartless cheater, treating his partner with contempt and indifference. The partner is a histrionic and desperate person, lonely and miserable.

Then we have the representation of a young boy raped in a public bathroom by a gang of men, to the point where he is so traumatized that he can't talk, and crouches at the feet of his "master" like a dog.

Then we have a young boy who is also raped by another boy, and kidnapped into sexual slavery through his childhood, to the point where he has a mental breakdown and has basically dissociative identity disorder.

Two partners who died of AIDS.

And then there's this book.

Val- desperate, completely willing to be manipulated, both physically and mentally, because he's obsessed with another man. Petulant and juvenile, he defends a murderer because....he's hot and young. I mean honestly… Val's obsession with this guy goes away beyond creepy into the realm of genuine mental illness.

A lesbian easily manipulated, and desperate who goes to jail for a con woman.

A man, a felon who is completely heartless, callous and sadistic using sex as a manipulation.

These are not......great. And they tend to be repeats of the same types of characters. I mean let's be honest here…

Joyce.... well it seems the author keeps making her more unlikable as the books go on. She's kind of a non-entity in the first few books, but as we encounter her more often, she seems to just be kind of a… well....I enjoyed the BBC depiction of her far more than the one in the books.

On the upside, this book almost makes Troy likable. While in other books he's nauseatingly toxic to the point where his character is reprehensible, in this book, he's far, FAR more palatable.

Particularly in that he loves all dogs, and does not seem to have the toxic trade of "masculinity fragility" by only liking large aggressive dogs. He likes small dogs like pekingese etc. just as much.

He genuinely tries to give up smoking for his daughter.

And that makes him much more likable. He has genuine concern over a small dog's injuries etc.

He even defends a homosexual for using self defense. Something previous Troy would never, EVER have done.

A real "hurrah!!" moment for abused and down-trodden housewives.

I must add a trigger warning for people though, as a dog is severely injured in this book.

Of course, Graham's turn of phrases are top notch. Her humour is....perfection. Dry, sardonic.

The mystery itself was fairly transparent and obvious, but still very enjoyable.

caitibeth's review against another edition

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3.0

One of the better Barnaby novels. Troy & Barnaby are still unlikable, but less obnoxiously so as in some of the others.

Note: There is a very unhealthy gay relationship, and homophobia directed at both participants.

mrsbooknerd's review against another edition

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3.0

This book didn't have the most dramatic of plots, and I had worked out a large proportion, but the characters were far more sympathetic and engaging than in previous books. I quite enjoyed the development of the characters.

archetypewriter's review against another edition

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4.0

Maybe more like a 3.5; I waver between a 3 and a 4. tw/cw: animal cruelty. I love the long-running televised Midsomer Murders program, based on Graham's mystery series. My favorite parts of this book were the touches of wit and the familiar details about DCI Tom Barnaby. Some of the plot is dated.