Book Nook: Touchstone

I was captivated by this novel from page 1. Touchstone has a very fragmented introduction consisting of three events that are poignant moments leading up to the motive for the whole book to take place. While these episodes are disjointed the novel itself reads in a complete linear style. The raw emotion contained in the opening episode of the death of a small child was really striking because the narrator is anonymous. It's obviously a woman, and a wealthy one at that, but you don't find out until much later which character has experienced this terrible grief, but it is obviously the impetus for darker things happening later.

I read Bones of Paris first, accidentally, thinking it was part of the Mary Russell series and I was startled that it was so much darker than I had expected. Now that I was expecting a noir-esque detective story I let myself fall completely into the story. King writes Harris Stuyvesant like a literary version of Sam Spade. Harris is a big brute of an American, but he conceals his true cleverness behind a mask of genial American harmlessness. He and his companion, Bennett Grey, are both deeply flawed, but it is their flaws that make following them all the more interesting. If you were stripped of every self protection mechanism your body provides you how could you adapt? Bennett Grey was blown up and "reborn" with an awesome ability to intuitively sense any untruths in the people around him. It is a staggering ability that leaves him drained, in pain, and desperate for a getaway, but his love for his sister and England force him to become involved in Harris' hunt for a terrorist bomber.

The story follows a pretty traditional detective novel plot: Terrorist bomber, possible connection to Communism, bomb threat on the Prime Minister, gorgeous blond distraction. What I think is unusual from the average hard boiled crime novel is the length of this book. King spends much more time analyzing her character's emotional state of being than I think Hammett or Chandler ever did. I think this makes her characters much more realistic than stereotypical private eyes. My personal experience with King's writing is that the atmosphere and emotion of her prose translates deeply into the current emotional state of the reader. Reading The Thin Man is entertaining and engaging, but I was not struck to the core over any moral decisions Nick Charles had to make.

My only regret is that I read Bones of Paris first. While Laurie R. King is excellent at building strong characters that can move from book to book without filling in too much back story, I missed meeting Sarah Grey as the carefree young woman she is in Touchstone. Instead I saw her first as a jaded, damaged woman trying to reclaim a normal life in Paris and that overshadowed my impressions of her. However, I was extremely pleased to get Harris and Bennett's stories in more detail. As I said King is excellent at keeping the story moving in her series, and while Bones of Paris presented fairly complete characters, it was gratifying to learn even more about them and not feel like I had been missing big parts of their motivations.

I would definitely suggest picking this book up if you like film noir, detective stories, and good characters. This an excellent read, and although its long, the reading actually goes quickly because you are so drawn into the world on 1926 in England. However, if you like light mysteries or have problems with psychological fiction this might not be the best choice for you. Its certainly no Gone Girl, but some of her themes are pretty disturbing.

*This blog is part of a grant Medfield has been awarded through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library and Services Technology Act administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.