Trevor Wood gained a legion of followers with his Jimmy Mullen trilogy, which began with The Man on the Street. His homeless protagonist got readers thinking about the way society treats its poorest people and how their vulnerability places them at risk of crime and the a lack of support from the law when things go wrong. If you like crime fiction with a social conscience, The Silent Killer opens a new series that might be to your taste. It deals with an issue that could affect all of us and our families and friends, at least to some degree – dementia.
The unreliable narrator often plays an angle in crime fiction, but introducing a character with Alzheimer’s is complex, brave and challenging. You may remember Swedish legend Henning Mankell ended his Wallander series with his protagonist retiring and succumbing to the disease in retirement, following years of watching his father decline in earlier novels. Here Detective Chief Inspector Jack Parker is younger, just 53, and not ready yet to relinquish his career. He’s finding it hard to get his head around what’s happening to him, thanks to this cruel and frightening disease.
This novel starts with a fatal car crash. Just when you think we have a buddy cop relationship developing between Jack and his sergeant, tragedy strikes. Jack survives, his partner dies. He winds up in hospital with a cracked skull and some nasty injuries. Tests show anomalies in his brain scan and eventually he is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Jack is disbelieving, it is, however, in his genes. Once he starts to get his head around the diagnosis he’s afraid he could turn into his father, who became scared and angry, and everyone around him suffered.
But Jack doesn’t want anyone around him to know, not even his wife Helen and son Aiden. So, when his behaviour becomes more erratic and sometimes aggressive they draw their own conclusions, sometimes getting it wrong. There are some funny yet poignant and thought provoking moments for readers to negotiate.
When Jack gets back to work the hit and run driver who killed his colleague still hasn’t been traced and though he’s been warned off by his boss Jack won’t rest until the culprit is apprehended. That’s going to get him into a lot of hot water. Meanwhile, whether on surveillance or in the office, Jack behaves erratically and his colleagues are worried about him. Mostly they put his problems down to his injuries and the trauma of losing his police partner.
On top of his off-the-books private op, Newcastle just got itself a serial killer and that becomes Jack’s case. The first murder occurs at St Bede’s Middle School in Wallsend. An ordinary Monday morning turns sour as there’s a gruesome discovery in one of the toilets. The body of an adult male was left there over the weekend. The victim’s mother and wife seem ambivalent about it and initially they are under suspicion but when a second victim turns up the focus shifts to the real possibility of a serial on the loose. When they discover a connection to the first victim there is something to go on but what could have happened in the past to have led to such a twisted revenge in the present?
It’s clear Jack is a good cop. While investigating, he’s dealing with his own fears, trying to mask the signs of the disease and worrying about every burst of anger or moment of disorientation which might be a sign of the progression of the illness. Of course, he needs to be focused to catch a murderer in this most demanding investigation. Clearly the killer hasn’t fully satisfied the bloodlust yet.
On a personal level the choices Jack makes have consequences for his relationship with his son and his wife, that can be poignant and tragic. Wood doesn’t shy away from the effects of the illness or how it derails life. Jack pushes his family away to avoid hurting them, which just causes more pain and appears inexplicable. This is the emotionally charged side of the story. It’s a portrait of genuine empathy from Trevor Wood who is able to convey Jack’s vulnerability and confusion amidst his anger.
Jack also has a brother, a former priest, and they have a feisty kind of relationship. There’s plenty of teasing and this is an interesting thread that will no doubt develop with the series. There’s a lot of humour here too. Dark as the protagonist’s woes are, life always has its absurd and funny moments. His attempts to get the doctor diagnosing his illness to have a laugh meet with a stern putdown.
For all his troubles Jack is an instinctive and talented policeman dedicated to his mission catching a serial killer and not forgetting the murderous driver. That creates a lot of tension in the story. At the same time, Jack’s new DS, Emma, is beginning to suspect something is wrong with Jack, and then there’s, Leon, on his team but spying on him for the boss, who fears Jack will go rogue. How long can the secret of his illness remain his alone?
It’s a powerful first novel and an excellent start for a series. It’s clear there’s plenty of milage in Jack’s story. Just as we got to empathise with Jimmy Mullen, Wood has created a new character we can really care about. We will see how the disease progresses and how he manages with family, colleagues and career. Jack’s Alzheimer’s encourages us all to think about how we would react in his situation. With an ageing population it’s an increasingly important issue for society. As ever, the Newcastle setting has that authentic feel that leaves you feeling you know something of the city from the book.
Ultimately, if you portray someone with Alzheimer’s you need to do it respectfully and sensitively. At times this is heartbreaking but there’s plenty of thrills, spicy relationships and funny moments to enjoy too. This is zeitgeisty and relevant, my kind of crime fiction. There are rumours this could be picked up by a production company for streaming soon too, I look forward to that.
Also see Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey.
Quercus
Print/Kindle
£9.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars