A Howl of Wolves by Judith Flanders

First Sentence:  “There are thirteen dead people here.”  Jake was accusing.

      

Book editor Sam Clair takes her Scotland Yard detective partner, Jake, to a West End play in which her neighbor. Kay, and her son, Bim, have small parts, along with the play’s director, Campbell Davison.  The play is chock full of faux murders, until one is not faux at all.  As Sam learns about Davison, the list of suspects grows.  With another death, the need to find the killer becomes imperative.

      

This is an opening that will get your attention.  After the first sentence, it’s the author’s voice which draws one in—“’I don’t make up dead people.’  I replayed the sentence in my head.  It sounded worse the second time around.’”—and her protagonist, Sam, is a character with whom many of us can identify—“I spend so much time inside my own head that imperiled animals would have to claw their way up my leg, sit on my shoulder and bat at my nose before I looked up from my book long enough to notice them.”

      

It is nice to have Sam’s partner be with Scotland Yard as it gives veracity to her being involved in the investigation.  It’s also nice that they clearly have such a good relationship—“He looked me over.  ‘You should be fine.  You’re clean.’ That cut through my exhaustion.  ‘I’m always clean.’  He held up a palm against my outrage. ‘Sorry, I had a man moment. …I like the way you look, and you look the way you always look.  Which I like.’”   

      

Another wonderful character is Mr. Rudiger, the resident of the top-floor flat in Sam’s building. He’s a former architect who is agoraphobic, but smart, and resourceful.  Sam’s mother isn’t necessarily someone one would want for a mother, but she is an excellent character.

      

Flanders thoroughly dissuades any thought one might have of a book editor’s job being a glamorous one.  However, she also does a very good job of defining the role of an editor, while providing a clear picture of the misogamy women face every day—“Bruce and I were roughly the same age, in our mid-forties.  When he was angry, he shouted, and people were obliged to listen.  When I raised my voice, however, it was called “being upset,” and people could refuse to listen.  In my twenties, if I’d been angry charmingly enough, I might have got away with being called feisty.  Now I was just a bitch.” 

      

Her writing is wonderfully visual—“The rain the previous night had diminished to the odd shower, and it was clear now, but still wet enough that Bim could hopscotch his way across the pavement, aiming for the centre of each puddle as we went.”  Her dialogue is a treat—“I snarled, but, being Miranda, she ignored it, concentrating on essentials:  “’Maybe we could set up a pool, have a sweepstake about who you’re going to blast next.’  There was only so much a person could take.  ‘For goodness sake,’ I snapped. ‘Whom. Whom you’re going to blast next.’”

      

The plot is very well done with plenty of effective twists.  Flanders does an excellent job of taking the story from suspense and dread to lightness and humor, without its ever being forced, but feeling realistic.

      

“A Howl of Wolves” is a wonderfully-written mystery with humor, suspense, twists--including the motive--and an inside look at the world of publishing.

A HOWL OF WOLVES (Trad Mys- Sam Clair-London-Contemp) - Ex

      Flanders, Judith - 4^th in series

      Minotaur Books – May 2018