Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron
Dec. 1st, 2024 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
A house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb, a child disappears in the aftermath, and Sarah Tucker - bored and unhappy with life - becomes obsessed with trying to find her.
Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long-believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.
30-something Sarah Tucker worked for a small publisher until she was made redundant a few months ago. She met her husband Mark when they were at university. He now works as a banker and they live in South Oxford on a housing estate near the river.
Bored with her life but unsure what she wants to do, Sarah reluctantly supports Mark with his work by entertaining his clients. Mark is particularly keen to impress potential new client Gerard Inchon who he has invited to dinner. Zoe despises the boarish, sexist Gerard and his insipid trophy wife whose name she can’t remember and despite inviting her best friend Wigwam and Wigwam’s husband, aspiring actor Rufus, the night is proving to be a disaster.
Then a neighbour’s house blows up.
Zoe didn’t really know the neighbour - Maddie Singleton - but she remembers seeing her with her young daughter, Dinah, and feels strangely protective of the little girl. The authorities say that the explosion was caused by a gas leak, but when Zoe tries to find out what will happen to Dinah, she finds herself blocked at every turn and begins to worry that something is very wrong.
Frustrated she turns to private investigator Joseph Silvermann who digs into the explosion on her behalf. But Joe discovers that there are dark forces at play here with links to the shadiest parts of the British establishment and the military’s most disturbing secrets. When those same forces train their sights on Sarah, she finds herself on the wrong side of the law with her only allies a dangerous man with his own agenda that he’ll happily sacrifice Sarah to achieve …
Mick Herron’s thriller (the first in the OXFORD SERIES) mixes sharp one-liners, genuine twists and cynicism but Sarah’s convoluted back story didn’t work for me given what you see of her before it’s revealed. Zoë Boehm makes a bigger impact despite limited page time and I found both her and the dangerous and driven Michael Downey more interesting characters. It’s an entertaining read and I will read on, but it’s not as good as SLOUGH HOUSE.
I picked this up because although I’ve read all of Mick Herron’s other books, his OXFORD SERIES has passed me by and having discovered that there is a TV adaptation coming with Emma Thompson, I figured that I should rectify that.
When I started the book I found Sarah Tucker to be a relatable character. In her 30s and knowing that she doesn’t want children and yet not sure what she does want to do with her life since she was made redundant and also aware that she is not happy in her marriage to Mark and yet feeling guilty about that at the same time. I found her aimlessness and frustration to be well portrayed - they flesh her out rather than restrict her - and it also makes it more believable that she becomes fixated on finding out what has happened to Dinah.
The problem for me came in when Herron builds in her backstory and it was just too much for me because it’s intended to make the reader suddenly question whether she’s reliable while also giving the authorities a reason to disregard her and try to make her give up investigating but given what you’ve seen already it didn’t ring true and seemed too convoluted. She’s further hampered by a development that links her up with ex-soldier Michael Downey (of which more below) which then turns her into a passenger for the second half of the book, whereas she’d been driving events for the first half and that robbing of her agency made me quite disappointed.
Michael Downey is much more successful as a character. There are layers to him - he’s dangerous and vengeful but also driven by a twisted sense of loyalty and it’s genuinely interesting to see what he’s going to do next. His backstory is much more interesting and I enjoyed the way Herron ties him into the antagonists Amos Crane and Howard (who also have some great scenes showing what’s really going on in the United Kingdom).
I also enjoyed what little you see of Zoë Broehm, a sharp-tongued woman of a certain age and business partner to PI Joe who joins up with Sarah to find some answers. She’s much more hard nosed and cynical but also driven and determined. What she lacks in page time, she makes up for in impact and I am interested to see what Herron does with her in future books.
I have to say that the story did keep me interested and there are a number of genuinely shocking twists that I thought were marvellous. The central storyline of dirty doings by the UK government and military is one that previews a lot of what Herron later does to such success with the SLOUGH HOUSE books. The issue is that if anything, Herron tries to do too much in terms of surprise and had Sarah just lost some of that backstory I think this would have been a genuinely brilliant read. That said, there’s plenty here that is enjoyable and I would definitely read the next book in the series.
The Verdict:
Mick Herron’s thriller (the first in the OXFORD SERIES) mixes sharp one-liners, genuine twists and cynicism but Sarah’s convoluted back story didn’t work for me given what you see of her before it’s revealed. Zoë Boehm makes a bigger impact despite limited page time and I found both her and the dangerous and driven Michael Downey more interesting characters. It’s an entertaining read and I will read on, but it’s not as good as SLOUGH HOUSE.
A house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb, a child disappears in the aftermath, and Sarah Tucker - bored and unhappy with life - becomes obsessed with trying to find her.
Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long-believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.
30-something Sarah Tucker worked for a small publisher until she was made redundant a few months ago. She met her husband Mark when they were at university. He now works as a banker and they live in South Oxford on a housing estate near the river.
Bored with her life but unsure what she wants to do, Sarah reluctantly supports Mark with his work by entertaining his clients. Mark is particularly keen to impress potential new client Gerard Inchon who he has invited to dinner. Zoe despises the boarish, sexist Gerard and his insipid trophy wife whose name she can’t remember and despite inviting her best friend Wigwam and Wigwam’s husband, aspiring actor Rufus, the night is proving to be a disaster.
Then a neighbour’s house blows up.
Zoe didn’t really know the neighbour - Maddie Singleton - but she remembers seeing her with her young daughter, Dinah, and feels strangely protective of the little girl. The authorities say that the explosion was caused by a gas leak, but when Zoe tries to find out what will happen to Dinah, she finds herself blocked at every turn and begins to worry that something is very wrong.
Frustrated she turns to private investigator Joseph Silvermann who digs into the explosion on her behalf. But Joe discovers that there are dark forces at play here with links to the shadiest parts of the British establishment and the military’s most disturbing secrets. When those same forces train their sights on Sarah, she finds herself on the wrong side of the law with her only allies a dangerous man with his own agenda that he’ll happily sacrifice Sarah to achieve …
Mick Herron’s thriller (the first in the OXFORD SERIES) mixes sharp one-liners, genuine twists and cynicism but Sarah’s convoluted back story didn’t work for me given what you see of her before it’s revealed. Zoë Boehm makes a bigger impact despite limited page time and I found both her and the dangerous and driven Michael Downey more interesting characters. It’s an entertaining read and I will read on, but it’s not as good as SLOUGH HOUSE.
I picked this up because although I’ve read all of Mick Herron’s other books, his OXFORD SERIES has passed me by and having discovered that there is a TV adaptation coming with Emma Thompson, I figured that I should rectify that.
When I started the book I found Sarah Tucker to be a relatable character. In her 30s and knowing that she doesn’t want children and yet not sure what she does want to do with her life since she was made redundant and also aware that she is not happy in her marriage to Mark and yet feeling guilty about that at the same time. I found her aimlessness and frustration to be well portrayed - they flesh her out rather than restrict her - and it also makes it more believable that she becomes fixated on finding out what has happened to Dinah.
The problem for me came in when Herron builds in her backstory and it was just too much for me because it’s intended to make the reader suddenly question whether she’s reliable while also giving the authorities a reason to disregard her and try to make her give up investigating but given what you’ve seen already it didn’t ring true and seemed too convoluted. She’s further hampered by a development that links her up with ex-soldier Michael Downey (of which more below) which then turns her into a passenger for the second half of the book, whereas she’d been driving events for the first half and that robbing of her agency made me quite disappointed.
Michael Downey is much more successful as a character. There are layers to him - he’s dangerous and vengeful but also driven by a twisted sense of loyalty and it’s genuinely interesting to see what he’s going to do next. His backstory is much more interesting and I enjoyed the way Herron ties him into the antagonists Amos Crane and Howard (who also have some great scenes showing what’s really going on in the United Kingdom).
I also enjoyed what little you see of Zoë Broehm, a sharp-tongued woman of a certain age and business partner to PI Joe who joins up with Sarah to find some answers. She’s much more hard nosed and cynical but also driven and determined. What she lacks in page time, she makes up for in impact and I am interested to see what Herron does with her in future books.
I have to say that the story did keep me interested and there are a number of genuinely shocking twists that I thought were marvellous. The central storyline of dirty doings by the UK government and military is one that previews a lot of what Herron later does to such success with the SLOUGH HOUSE books. The issue is that if anything, Herron tries to do too much in terms of surprise and had Sarah just lost some of that backstory I think this would have been a genuinely brilliant read. That said, there’s plenty here that is enjoyable and I would definitely read the next book in the series.
The Verdict:
Mick Herron’s thriller (the first in the OXFORD SERIES) mixes sharp one-liners, genuine twists and cynicism but Sarah’s convoluted back story didn’t work for me given what you see of her before it’s revealed. Zoë Boehm makes a bigger impact despite limited page time and I found both her and the dangerous and driven Michael Downey more interesting characters. It’s an entertaining read and I will read on, but it’s not as good as SLOUGH HOUSE.
