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A review by justinkhchen
Dark Objects by Simon Toyne
5.0
4.5 stars
Solidly constructed, Dark Objects delivers everything I want from a police procedural thriller. Fiction with heavy emphasis on the investigative procedure is not something I typically gravitate towards—I find them a little too by the numbers, always following the same story beats. But once in a while I would pick one up just to scratch my true crime itch, and I'm very glad I chose this one (it's bold, moody cover definitely did a lot of the convincing).
Even though the overarching structure is familiar (a crime is discovered, police collects evidences, interviews are conducted, etc.), Simon Toyne manages to keep things fresh with some creative storytelling mechanisms (my favorite, and the most unexpected, was the housewives' WhatsApp group chat—a genius way to 'info dump' and adding a different perspective to the mix). I also really enjoy reading from all the characters (a very even spread of quirks and personal conflicts), as well as the way the mystery builds and unfolds. I'll also note this novel works great as an audiobook (I consumed about half of it that way), if you're interested in that format.
The ending... that's where readers will either be onboard with it or not. I'll say it definitely leans on the side of over-the-top (while the story has been pretty grounded up to that point), but thematically I get its intention and it comes across crystal clear. Yes, in retrospect I can definitely notice some obvious plot holes (as the proceeding relies on an abundant amount of serendipity for it to play out as intended), but it doesn't distract from my overall enjoyment.
Solidly constructed, Dark Objects delivers everything I want from a police procedural thriller. Fiction with heavy emphasis on the investigative procedure is not something I typically gravitate towards—I find them a little too by the numbers, always following the same story beats. But once in a while I would pick one up just to scratch my true crime itch, and I'm very glad I chose this one (it's bold, moody cover definitely did a lot of the convincing).
Even though the overarching structure is familiar (a crime is discovered, police collects evidences, interviews are conducted, etc.), Simon Toyne manages to keep things fresh with some creative storytelling mechanisms (my favorite, and the most unexpected, was the housewives' WhatsApp group chat—a genius way to 'info dump' and adding a different perspective to the mix). I also really enjoy reading from all the characters (a very even spread of quirks and personal conflicts), as well as the way the mystery builds and unfolds. I'll also note this novel works great as an audiobook (I consumed about half of it that way), if you're interested in that format.
The ending... that's where readers will either be onboard with it or not. I'll say it definitely leans on the side of over-the-top (while the story has been pretty grounded up to that point), but thematically I get its intention and it comes across crystal clear. Yes, in retrospect I can definitely notice some obvious plot holes (as the proceeding relies on an abundant amount of serendipity for it to play out as intended), but it doesn't distract from my overall enjoyment.