The Mother Tongue
Bantam Books 2001
ISBN 0-553-57719-0
Christina says:
After her excursion to England, historian Gale Grayson has retired once
more to her native Statler's Cross, Georgia, this time to write her own
story, namely a book about her marriage to Tom Grayson, a poet who turned
terrorist and committed suicide. Unfortunately, she doesn’t find the
peace she desired in her grandmother's house. Just when her friend Chief
Inspector Daniel Halford of Scotland Yard is visiting her, a triple murder
happens in the seemingly peaceful small town in the South of the US.
Like in the first three instalments of the series Teri Holbrook
succeeds in portraying the very special atmosphere of her setting. The
readers are transported to Statler's Cross, a small town in the South of
the United States, where nearly everybody knows everybody else and
newcomers are looked on with a wary eye, especially if they are Vietnamese
immigrants and paint their house bright blue. Holbrook unmasks the bigots
as well as the feigned liberals, and in the end the victims, too.
Beside the mystery, The Mother Tongue also contains a book in
the book, this time Gale's memoirs where she reflects upon her life with
Tom whose eco-terrorism, which she didn't notice at first or didn't want
to notice, still determines her life and the life of her daughter Katie
Pru. Just like her protégée Nadianna Jessup with whom she found refuge
in her Grandmother Ella's house, she has reached a turning point in her
life.
The Mother Tongue is a mystery without chases, wild shootings and
tough heroes; instead it has to offer a dense atmosphere and vivid
characters. For me, Katie Pru Grayson is still the most believable child
in crime fiction. |
Any comments? Write us:
Christina
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