Sarah DunantBirth MarksOut of printChristina says:
Private investigator Hannah Wolfe just returned to London from Hong Kong completely broke. Her subtenant trashed her apartment in her absence and so she is forced to ask her ex-boss Frank Comfort for a job. He sends her to the country to speak to the spinsterly ballet teacher Miss Patrick who is missing her protégée Carolyn Hamilton. Carolyn went to London hoping for a brilliant career as a dancer and always kept in touch with her first teacher until suddenly the monthly postcards ceased to arrive. Hannah has barely started to look for Carolyn when her pregnant corpse is pulled from the Thames. Hannah now has no reason to carry the investigation any further, but an anonymous client pays her to go on. Sarah Dunant touches a rather hot issue with her first Hannah Wolfe mystery but almost completely waives any controversial debate or statement. The plot drifted towards a certain point, slowly but with determination, and I thought it a bit overdone how surprised Hannah Wolfe was in the end when she discovered what was behind Carolyn’s death. Children are the thread that runs through the book. Hannah watches her sister and her family and keeps asking herself whether she would actually be willing to embrace this kind of life. And as the title suggests children are also important for the case Hannah has to solve. Hannah is a modern woman who stands on her own two feet, but that doesn’t stop her from falling for one of the oldest clichés in mystery writing. BIRTH MARKS could have used a bit more drive but was all in all a pleasant read. |
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Last changes: 17-03-03 Copyright 2001 Christina Gross & Monika Hübner |
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