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kcfromaustcrime's review
2.0
Jo Bannister has an impressive back catalogue to her name with over 20 novels now, standalones and in a number of series groupings. CLOSER STILL is the 8th Brodie Farrell book, released in 2008 with LIARS ALL the next in the series, released in 2009.
It's probably worth getting this out in the open up front. I'm not a fan of Brodie Farrell, and that's not just because she's one of those "gifted" amateurs who seem to climb over the backs of the cops. In particular, her "partner" Jack Deacon who seems to do most of the graft and take most of the professional hits, whilst Brodie does the "solve the crime" using deduction alone stunt right at the end. Whilst it is possible for that sort of scenario to work - it may require less of the smugness that seems to go along with Brodie. To say nothing of the complicated private lives that seem to overshadow everything - even a possible terrorist plot.
In CLOSER STILL there's actually quite an interesting plot development going on. The death of a local gangster (who has recently threatened Brodie and their baby son) gets Jack into all sorts of warm water. Who killed Joe Loomis, is the death connected with drugs or is there a more sinister terrorist plot? Unfortunately the investigation ploughs on under the increasing melodrama of the vision problems of Jack and Brodie's baby son, the ongoing angst of their not really partnership, the unrequited love of Brodie's business associate Daniel, the self-imposed angst of Brodie as the lure of work over motherhood rears its head and, well you're probably getting the picture by now.
Unfortunately the plot just disappears, and whilst events leading up to the resolution are undoubtedly slightly outlandish, in these days of terrorist activities there was something compelling and strangely plausible about the whole thing. Mind you, Jack Deacon is not a man to be messed with and his confrontation with extreme danger towards the end of the book is an absolute highlight. Having said that, this leaping in and solving the puzzle when poor Jack's trying to keep mind, limb and the town in one piece is probably just another example of what is so annoying about Brodie. One day I must read one of Bannister's non-Brodie books as I really do like the police aspects of these books - the main character just puts me right off unfortunately.
Books by Jo Bannister:
Standalones:
* The Matrix
* The Winter Plain
* A Cactus Garden
* Mosaic
* The Mason Codex (Unlawful Entry)
* The Lazarus Hotel
* The Tinderbox
* From Fire and Flood
* Fathers and Sins
Brodie Farrell series:
* Echoes of Lies
* True Witness
* Reflections
* Depths of Solitude
* Breaking Faith
* Requiem for a Dealer
* Flawed
* Closer Still
* Liars All (2009)
Clio Rees / Harry Marsh series:
* Striving with Gods (An Uncertain Death)
* Gilgamesh
* The Going Down of the Sun
* The Fifth Cataract
Mickey Flynn series:
* Shards (Critical Angle)
* Death and Other Lovers
Castlemere series:
* A Bleeding of Innocents
* Charisma (Sins of the Heart)
* A Taste for Burning (Burning Desires)
* No Birds Sing
* Broken Lines
* The Hireling's Tale
* Changelings
Rosie Holland series:
* The Primrose Convention
* The Primrose Switchback
It's probably worth getting this out in the open up front. I'm not a fan of Brodie Farrell, and that's not just because she's one of those "gifted" amateurs who seem to climb over the backs of the cops. In particular, her "partner" Jack Deacon who seems to do most of the graft and take most of the professional hits, whilst Brodie does the "solve the crime" using deduction alone stunt right at the end. Whilst it is possible for that sort of scenario to work - it may require less of the smugness that seems to go along with Brodie. To say nothing of the complicated private lives that seem to overshadow everything - even a possible terrorist plot.
In CLOSER STILL there's actually quite an interesting plot development going on. The death of a local gangster (who has recently threatened Brodie and their baby son) gets Jack into all sorts of warm water. Who killed Joe Loomis, is the death connected with drugs or is there a more sinister terrorist plot? Unfortunately the investigation ploughs on under the increasing melodrama of the vision problems of Jack and Brodie's baby son, the ongoing angst of their not really partnership, the unrequited love of Brodie's business associate Daniel, the self-imposed angst of Brodie as the lure of work over motherhood rears its head and, well you're probably getting the picture by now.
Unfortunately the plot just disappears, and whilst events leading up to the resolution are undoubtedly slightly outlandish, in these days of terrorist activities there was something compelling and strangely plausible about the whole thing. Mind you, Jack Deacon is not a man to be messed with and his confrontation with extreme danger towards the end of the book is an absolute highlight. Having said that, this leaping in and solving the puzzle when poor Jack's trying to keep mind, limb and the town in one piece is probably just another example of what is so annoying about Brodie. One day I must read one of Bannister's non-Brodie books as I really do like the police aspects of these books - the main character just puts me right off unfortunately.
Books by Jo Bannister:
Standalones:
* The Matrix
* The Winter Plain
* A Cactus Garden
* Mosaic
* The Mason Codex (Unlawful Entry)
* The Lazarus Hotel
* The Tinderbox
* From Fire and Flood
* Fathers and Sins
Brodie Farrell series:
* Echoes of Lies
* True Witness
* Reflections
* Depths of Solitude
* Breaking Faith
* Requiem for a Dealer
* Flawed
* Closer Still
* Liars All (2009)
Clio Rees / Harry Marsh series:
* Striving with Gods (An Uncertain Death)
* Gilgamesh
* The Going Down of the Sun
* The Fifth Cataract
Mickey Flynn series:
* Shards (Critical Angle)
* Death and Other Lovers
Castlemere series:
* A Bleeding of Innocents
* Charisma (Sins of the Heart)
* A Taste for Burning (Burning Desires)
* No Birds Sing
* Broken Lines
* The Hireling's Tale
* Changelings
Rosie Holland series:
* The Primrose Convention
* The Primrose Switchback
novelbloglover's review
3.0
Book Review
Title: Closer Still
Author: Jo Bannister
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Rating: ***
Review: Brodie Farrell, owner of the Looking for Something? detective agency, and her choleric ex-lover, Det. Supt. Jack Deacon, compete once more to catch a killer whose crime has wildly unintended consequences.
Brodie has been caring for her newborn, Jonathan, who has a rare eye disease that could cause blindness. In the meantime, her good friend Daniel Hood has been running her detective agency, but Brodie is eager to return to work. And Jonathan’s father, Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, is doing everything in his power to shut down the most despicable crook in town, Joe Loomis.
Normally everyone in Dimmock would greet the demise of Joe Loomis, the town’s preeminent pimp, drug dealer and racketeer, with rousing cheers. But there are troubling implications when Loomis is stabbed to death. He’d just publicly slapped the face of his long-ago lover Faith Stretton, providing the otherwise inoffensive potter with a perfect motive for murder. As he expired in Brodie’s house, his last words—nothing more than the stammered letter “D”—pointed the finger at Brodie’s assistant Daniel Hood, who’d rebuked him for the slap; Faith’s mixed-race son Dev; and even his old nemesis Deacon, who’s shunted off the case in favor of an imported inspector. Already shaken by having to decide whether to sacrifice the eyes of the infant son Deacon fathered to protect him from the systemic effects of Retinoblastoma, Brodie struggles to keep her head when the emergence of still another D-suspect plunges the town into full-blown hysteria. Shrewdly as Bannister manages the resulting chaos, her tightly wound mystery is overwhelmed by complications spun madly out of control, leaving Brodie and Deacon, in their separate corners, laboriously recalculating the same deductions while Dimmock’s besieged from every corner.
Long-running series often become dull and predictable, but that’s not the case with Bannister’s Brodie Farrell cycle. The author divulges new insights into her characters’ personalities — and she writes a good murder mystery to boot. Here’s hoping Brodie will be around for many more years.
Each one of Brodie’s cases (Flawed, 2007, etc.) is an original. Her eighth looks beyond her tormented regulars to the big picture—a calculated risk that doesn’t quite pay off. Overall I think the book was really good but it was extremely slow paced in places and it could have done with some polish. But maybe that was what the author was looking for a gritty, rough crime novel, but it just didn’t tickle my fancy enough to warrant a higher rating.
Title: Closer Still
Author: Jo Bannister
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Rating: ***
Review: Brodie Farrell, owner of the Looking for Something? detective agency, and her choleric ex-lover, Det. Supt. Jack Deacon, compete once more to catch a killer whose crime has wildly unintended consequences.
Brodie has been caring for her newborn, Jonathan, who has a rare eye disease that could cause blindness. In the meantime, her good friend Daniel Hood has been running her detective agency, but Brodie is eager to return to work. And Jonathan’s father, Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, is doing everything in his power to shut down the most despicable crook in town, Joe Loomis.
Normally everyone in Dimmock would greet the demise of Joe Loomis, the town’s preeminent pimp, drug dealer and racketeer, with rousing cheers. But there are troubling implications when Loomis is stabbed to death. He’d just publicly slapped the face of his long-ago lover Faith Stretton, providing the otherwise inoffensive potter with a perfect motive for murder. As he expired in Brodie’s house, his last words—nothing more than the stammered letter “D”—pointed the finger at Brodie’s assistant Daniel Hood, who’d rebuked him for the slap; Faith’s mixed-race son Dev; and even his old nemesis Deacon, who’s shunted off the case in favor of an imported inspector. Already shaken by having to decide whether to sacrifice the eyes of the infant son Deacon fathered to protect him from the systemic effects of Retinoblastoma, Brodie struggles to keep her head when the emergence of still another D-suspect plunges the town into full-blown hysteria. Shrewdly as Bannister manages the resulting chaos, her tightly wound mystery is overwhelmed by complications spun madly out of control, leaving Brodie and Deacon, in their separate corners, laboriously recalculating the same deductions while Dimmock’s besieged from every corner.
Long-running series often become dull and predictable, but that’s not the case with Bannister’s Brodie Farrell cycle. The author divulges new insights into her characters’ personalities — and she writes a good murder mystery to boot. Here’s hoping Brodie will be around for many more years.
Each one of Brodie’s cases (Flawed, 2007, etc.) is an original. Her eighth looks beyond her tormented regulars to the big picture—a calculated risk that doesn’t quite pay off. Overall I think the book was really good but it was extremely slow paced in places and it could have done with some polish. But maybe that was what the author was looking for a gritty, rough crime novel, but it just didn’t tickle my fancy enough to warrant a higher rating.
scotchneat's review
3.0
I don't think I've read the other Brodie Farrell books, so this story is kind of in medias res for me. Basically, Brodie is a single mom and PI who is trying to take time off work to care for her son, who has a congenital disease.
The baby daddy is implicated in a murder of a local tough--Joe Loomis--so she is out in the field trying to prove his innocence.
Usually, I like the British mysteries for their attention to character, and this one has some moments, but I didn't really get the relationships with her 2 men: the baby daddy and the best friend (complete with unrequited love for her).
The ending is quite drawn out and turns to what are essentially pyrotechnics, and that was the most disappointing part of the story.
The baby daddy is implicated in a murder of a local tough--Joe Loomis--so she is out in the field trying to prove his innocence.
Usually, I like the British mysteries for their attention to character, and this one has some moments, but I didn't really get the relationships with her 2 men: the baby daddy and the best friend (complete with unrequited love for her).
The ending is quite drawn out and turns to what are essentially pyrotechnics, and that was the most disappointing part of the story.
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