A Moment Of Madness

Rock star Scott Silver dies mysteriously in his South Devon home. Washed-up journalist Joe Kelly, investigating the death, becomes obsessed with the rock star's widow, Angel Silver. As he falls under her influence, his life disintegrates. Will he be able to find out the truth and save himself before it is too late? The answer, predictably enough, is yes. This is a fairly straightforward detective mystery, competently constructed and told in lucid, journalistic prose - as one would expect, given that Hilary Bonnner is an erstwhile columnist for the Daily Mirror. The concomitant failing, however, is that with its lucidity comes flatness: when the characters suffer the emotionally wrenching events inflicted on them by Bonner's narrative, the writing seldom rises to the occasion. Furthermore, we are all too often told, sometimes repeatedly, rather than shown. Still, this is a piece of fiction which is quite determinedly of a particular genre - right down to its melodramatic title and ambience borrowed from the sort of British TV detective drama with a rural setting, a flawed hero, and a bit of sordid sex, drugs and rock-and-roll to titillate middle England without actually being that shocking. As such its plot and characters matter much more than the way it is written. Here, Bonner's work is good. Kelly himself is complex enough to be interesting without being distracting and his flaws are believable; the plot, meanwhile, moves along at a swift pace. Its destination is fairly predictable but there is a twist at the end. All in all, a solid piece of modern detective fiction. (Kirkus UK)