Far Cry
A Will Grayson and Helen Walker Mystery
John Harvey
Review: Cambridge police officers Helen Walker and Will Grayson investigate the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl in a case eerily similar to one that took place 13 years earlier -- and involving the same family -- in Far Cry, the second mystery in this series by John Harvey.
Ruth and Simon Pierce tragically lose their only daughter, Heather, after she disappears while on holiday with friend, only to be found dead at the base of an abandoned mine shaft, into which she had apparently fallen during a particularly dense night of fog. Unable to deal with her death, the couple divorce, with Ruth remarrying Andrew Lawson, with whom she has another daughter, Beatrice. In what can only be considered a heartbreaking coincidence, when Beatrice is about the same age as Heather, she, too, vanishes. Helen and Will aren't sure the cases are related, taking place so far apart, and especially since the first was ruled an accident, but are troubled nonetheless by two crimes that have so much in common.
Far Cry may be a novel of suspense, but the emphasis here should be on "novel". At 500 pages, it is lengthy, with the first half (and then some) essentially serving as a backstory to the disappearance of Beatrice ... an unsurprising event foretold in the synopsis on the dust jacket. That it takes so long to get to this point is a bit frustrating. Discursive, far-reaching subplots involving the early release from prison of a child rapist and the respective personal lives of Helen and Will, while interesting in and of themselves at first, ultimately become intrusive and contribute little to keeping the center of attention on the primary storyline.
The final third of the book finally focuses on the mystery of Beatrice's disappearance, and, as a whodunit-style police procedural, is really quite riveting. It's unfortunate, however, that many readers, given the circuitous path taken thus far, may have given up well before reaching this point.
Acknowledgment: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provided a copy of Far Cry for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Location(s) referenced in Far Cry: Cambridge, England
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Far Cry by John Harvey
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 0-547-31594-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-31594-2
Publication Date: June 2010
List Price: $26.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): Ruth and Simon reluctantly agree to let their young teenage daughter, Heather, go off on a camping holiday in Cornwall with her best friend, Kelly, and her family. While on a vacation of their own, they get the news that both girls have gone missing. Kelly is found alive, but, after several days of searching, Heather's body is discovered inside some old mine workings. Although the police detective leading the investigation harbours suspicions of foul play, the verdict is that the death was accidental.
The emotional strain of Heather's death ruins Ruth and Simon's marriage. After the divorce, Ruth moves from London to Cambridgeshire, where she remarries and has another child - a daughter, Beatrice. But when Beatrice is close to the age Heather was when she died, she too mysteriously disappears ...
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