Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Genre: Crime
Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Mel Comley gave up her job in
retail ten years ago and, after a traumatic divorce, moved to France, a country
she’d never even previously visited. After renovating a few houses, she took a
creative writing course, following her life’s dream, and began to write.
You can
learn more about the author on her blog.
Description:
Ex-police
officers Ellen Brazil and Brian Lynx run a missing persons firm, specialized
private investigators for hire. When Ellen takes on a new case for a
bodybuilder little does she realize quite what consequences will result.
Appraisal:
Something
didn’t quite work for me with Sole
Intention. It’s well written for sure, the author is clearly very
experienced and portrays the character, place and action well. At times there
is a strong suspense element, so nothing wrong there. So perhaps it is me.
Sole Intention deals with some difficult issues –
murder, kidnap, rape and abuse among them, this is not, at times, a soft novel.
Periodically we enter the killer’s head and witness events from his maniacal
perspective. Not always easy reading and it’s well handled. The characters are
decent, Ellen has to deal with family issues at the same time as the
investigation.
Again I
recognize this is being my ‘preference’ but generally the strength of the
language didn’t match up to the events – for example there is hardly any
swearing in the dialogue. I am not suggesting that swearing is a must, it
isn’t. However the prose was sometimes nice, when the action wasn’t. Almost as
if the author is more comfortable with another genre or events? It was
interesting for sure.
The other
element that concerned me slightly and made me question the story was quite
quickly Ellen determines there are a lot of women missing and more occurring.
They all bear a striking resemblance to each other and disappeared in similar
circumstances. However the police are not interested in the case, there isn’t
enough evidence. Really? Maybe, but I struggled to believe it. Also the killer’s
mother showed varied responses to learning about her son’s activities. I could
see what the author was trying to achieve, but I don’t think it quite worked.
M A Comley
is a successful author who clearly knows her trade. Although a decent book this
had a few issues for me, but I certainly will try others for comparison.
FYI:
Grim events
such as kidnap and rape, although not graphic.
Format/Typo Issues:
None.
Rating: *** Three Stars
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