A review by aisforargon
The Bedlam Detective, by Stephen Gallagher
4.0
One-sentence synopsis: Becker is a detective that investigates people's mental standing for a lawyer; he is summoned to investigate an author and becomes entrenched in a mystery that involves the murder of two children.
I thought the premise for the book was really well done, it's nice to have a backstory more interesting than a generic 'private detective' take. Becker himself is kind of flat, though. I thought the 'what actually happened in that trek through the jungle' subplot was also interesting, and found myself captivated by both the journal entries and narration by various members of the party.
Towards the end, though, I found myself a little disappointed about the ending. I'm glad it didn't completely boil down to 'Sir Owain was nuts', but the Big Bad seemed to come out of nowhere and it didn't quite sit right with me. However, it was still great to get through.
I thought the premise for the book was really well done, it's nice to have a backstory more interesting than a generic 'private detective' take. Becker himself is kind of flat, though. I thought the 'what actually happened in that trek through the jungle' subplot was also interesting, and found myself captivated by both the journal entries and narration by various members of the party.
Towards the end, though, I found myself a little disappointed about the ending. I'm glad it didn't completely boil down to 'Sir Owain was nuts', but the Big Bad seemed to come out of nowhere and it didn't quite sit right with me. However, it was still great to get through.