The Fire Baby

Philip Dryden #2

by Jim Kelly

In the stifling heat wave of June 1976, an American plane crashes on the Cambridgeshire Fens, the point of impact the remote Black Bank Farm. Out of the flames walks a young woman, Maggie Beck, clutching a baby in her arms.

Twenty-seven years later, Maggie is dying. Journalist Philip Dryden knows this because Maggie is lying in the hospital ward next to his wife Laura.

As Maggie prepares to leave this world, Laura---locked in a coma for four years---appears to be slowly returning to it. And for the last few days, she has listened to Maggie's death-bed confession surrounding events on the night of the crash all those years ago.

It's a confession that will blow open the murder story that Dryden is covering. But can Laura somehow communicate to her husband the shocking secrets she has learned?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Ebooks, British Literature, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2004

About the author

Jim Kelly is a journalist and education correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in Ely with the biographer Midge Gilles and their young daughter. The Water Clock, his first novel, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award for best first crime novel of 2002.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Dryden is intrigued by Maggie Beck's story. She is one of only two survivors of a plane crash twenty seven years ago. But she has a confession to make before she dies which will change the lives of many people. Dryden - a journalist - promises to tell her story after her death. Maggie is sharing a room with his semi-conscious wife, Laura, who is trying to tell him something which may just be important to his safety and that of others.

This is the second book in the series set in and around Ely in the Fens - a stark and beautiful landscape which the author really brings to life. I like Dryden as a character and I'm intrigued to see how the author will develop the story of Laura and he disastrous car crash which has totally changed her life and that of her husband.

It is a powerful and well written crime novel which stays with you after you have read the last page. This book could be read as a standalone novel but is probably better read as part of a series so that the reader can follow the development of the series characters.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in Jim Kelly's series featuring Philip Dryden. I gave The Water Clock five stars, as I found it captivating.

I'm not sure why I don't feel the same about The Fire Baby. The plot, while complicated, is legitimate and deftly played out. Philip Dryden is still a great lead character, and I still enjoy him. Kelly's prose still crackles with vivid and rich imagery, and his description of the Cambridgeshire Fens is wonderful. So what was the problem?

My one word answer: bleak. This is not a happy book, and there is precious little in the way of a happy ending (although the last page is a gem in that respect). Everything in this book, from Dryden's personal life to the characters and events he encounters, is very negative, often tragic and sometimes twisted. I see why; there is a very strong and honest message in this book about how the choice made by one person can affect so many lives as a pebble falling into a quiet pond sends ripples in all directions. To make that point apparently required a very dark canvas.

I will visit with Dryden again, though...it is very difficult not to care a bit for this character!

[Leen Decaluwé · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alhough the story intrigued me (the fire and swapping babies) at first, i found it very difficult to finish the book. The level of suspense was not very high and there were too many side stories that seemed difficult to link to the first one. On he whole, it was not very convincing and not an easy read. I love mysteries and murder stories but this one was not complex enough or fast paced enough for me.

[Megan Deppe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know if it was the writing style or the British lingo that I didn't understand or just the fact that the title of the story was way more interesting than the rest of it, but it was actually really hard for me to finish this one.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am definitely NOT as big a fan of this series by Jim Kelly. The story was good and had many twists but it was written in a semi-confusing manner. There were description passages that seemed unnecessary and then other passages that needed clarity.

[Fiona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this too disjointed for me .

[Belita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many sub-plots, and too many English (unexplained) terms.

[GBL · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fire Baby is the second book in the series by Jim Kelly, featuring journalist Philip Dryden, set in and around Ely in the fenland of Cambridge.

A plane crash in the summer of 1976 starts off a series of events that come to a head twenty seven years later as Maggie Beck makes a deathbed confession about the events of the past. Dryden becomes involved and soon there are murders to be investigated by him and the local police.

Dryden is an interesting character, coping with his wife Laura trapped in a coma after a road accident years before. Kelly brings the setting of the Fenland to life and there is a real sense of place in the novel. Both this novel and the first in the series, The Water Clock show how events in the past have consequences in the future and how buried secrets don’t always stay buried.

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It starts in 1976 with a Military Plane crashing into a farm shortly after taking off from a US airbase in Cambridgeshire. The only survivors are the farmer's daughter and a baby who had been on the plane. Twenty seven years later the baby, now a USAF pilot, returns to the base. The woman who saved him that night is dying and enlists the help of journalist, Philip Dryden, to tell the story of what really happened the night of the crash. Dryden is also working on stories involving human trafficking, a pornography smuggling ring and a murder begins to find links between them all.

A really good read with some interesting characters especially Humph, the eccentric cabby who acts as Dryden's driver. I'll definitely be looking out for more books in this series.

[Kathleen Robson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the character of the main protagonist, Philip Dryden, a journalist whose wife is lying in a coma, and also his boon companion, Humph, the taxi driver. This is a crime novel set in the Fens and very much steeped in its geography. It centres around a historic air crash that claimed the lives of American airmen and their families, and also the occupants of a farmhouse on the fens - all except a young woman and a baby. This tragedy sets in motion a chain of events that culminate in murder.

The plot is quite circuitous, encompassing people smuggling, illegal workers, pornography, mistaken identity and various other elements. I enjoy these characters and Kelly's writing style but found the plot to be a touch far-fetched on this occasion.

[Michael Cordery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is in summer!! A long hot summer. It's very different from the first book which seemed to be in totally within a very cold winter where snow fell for months. Jim Kelly writes a very good story with plenty of twists and intrigue with I think very good endings. His books do require concentration. There are plenty of characters in developing the plot but if you can stick to the task it's worth it. I'll leave others to provide the plot etc. I'm simply saying it's good book to read though don't go looking for the good feel ending.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first Philip Dryden book in 2015 and it has taken a while to follow up. A twisting storyline about an air crash into a farmhouse in 1976 with people smuggling into the Fens emerging as a sub-plot. The Dryden character is complex but well-drawn but I found this one lacked a bit of pace, but still 4 stars.

[Aurelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this 2nd installment of the Philip Dryden series - a much more complex story than the first book. Not the most fast paced mystery series, but the characters are great - I love Philips 'friendship' with Humph (his cab driver).

[laura harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book. There's a few different stories, twists and turns going on. I half guessed about the baby. I'm like that the Laura story continues from book 1, looking forward to the next book!

[Eirlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read.

A riveting story which continues Dryden's story. I enjoyed learning more about his wife, as well as his stubbornness in the search for the truth. Exceptional descriptions of his characters who sprang off the pages,so well. I love his descriptions of the Fens.

[Marilyn F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only mildly enthused by this group of characters etc. An okay read.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual author keeps one in suspense.

[Emg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly complicated and not very convincing.

[Zedd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid thriller with a bittersweet finale.

[Rachel Hutton macdonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the local setting. I felt the plot was just a bit far fetched, but an enjoyable read none the less.

[Paschalis]

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[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Fast paced & atmospheric, clever plot, eccentric likable characters

[Laura at the Batavia Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Fast paced & atmospheric, clever plot, eccentric likable characters

[Aimee McMillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a different one for me. I really enjoyed it. Plenty of twists and pretty gritty.

[J Barkess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I aquired this as part of a Reader's Digest volume. These books used to offer a good selection of reading, unfortunately not in this case.
This book it amongst the most boring I have ever read, there is nothing positive I could say about it. Dreadful plot and unbelievable characters.
Why isn't there an option to leave NO stars? ?

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Philip Dryden series begins with a fire. In the early summer of 1976, Britain is in the grip of a severe drought. Maggie Beck is at home at Black Bank Farm with her parents and her infant son. They are having lunch when a plane from the nearby US airbase crashes into the house, turning the world into a white hot mass. When help arrives, Maggie is walking from the house, carrying an infant in her arms, but the baby is not her baby. Her baby died in the house with her parents. She is carrying an infant wrapped in a blanket marked with USAF: Air Convoy. Maggie Beck was carrying Lyndon Koskinski, the two week old son of a US Airforce captain and his wife, flying to Texas to introduce him to the family. Lyndon was thrown clear and rescued by Maggie who sent him on to the grandparents who were waiting for him.

Twenty-seven years later, in an old army pillbox not far from Black Bank Farm, a man is chained. In front of him, on a shelf, is a glass of water. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot reach the water. It is desperately hot in the pillbox and the man watches the water evaporate. His jailor comes each day and refills the glass. He never speaks and the prisoner never sees his face. The chained man thinks there is something familiar about the man but he can’t pin it down. He knows he is dying for lack of water, for the water that is just out of reach. “He’d speak before the end came. He felt sure of that. But he wanted to know now. Know now for which of his crimes he was being punished.”

At the Tower Hospital, Philip Dryden visits his wife, Laura, as he does everyday. Now he spends some of the time talking with the woman in the other bed. Maggie Beck is dying. She has cancer and her time is running out. Philip has known Maggie for a long time. When Philip was eleven, his father had died, swept away, his body never found. Maggie has just lost her family and she moved in with the Drydens to help his mother deal with her loss. Maggie tells Philip that she has a story to tell; she has to put things right. Philip brings her a tape recorder and, as Laura listens, Maggie tells her terrible story of secrets and lies.

Away from the hospital, Philip is drawn into other stories horrifyingly common in the twenty-first century. Someone is smuggling illegal immigrants into Cambridgeshire, transporting them in container trucks. As the police close in, the immigrants are being left to die in the containers, locked in without food or water as the temperatures inside soar.

A new supply of pornographic pictures is circulating in the Fens. Young women are being drugged in bars and led away be men who are not known in the area. The women are returned to the town center but they have no memory of the men or the place they were taken. Then one of the women is found dead.

And now, twenty-seven years later, Lyndon Koskinski has returned to Black Bank Farm to meet the woman who rescued him. He is now in the US Air Force, assigned to the same air base as his father had been. Lyndon and Maggie’s daughter, Estelle, have become very close, a romance brewing. When Maggie’s health suddenly deteriorates, the couple are on holiday. Maggie begs Philip to find them; she must see them before she dies.

Philip, Laura, and Humph (Philip’s personal cabbie) are the core of the stories but Jim Kelly creates other characters in each book who carry some of the storytelling duties. The characters in FIRE BABY are formed by secrets and lies, carrying the burdens left by other people’s choices. The Dryden series on one of the best.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A week before the accident that put her in a persistent vegetative state, Dryden's wife gave him a key. Now, four years after their accident, Laura is waking up. Kind of: she responds occasionally to questions and has been provided with a machine which she can type out words if she wants. It's a bit like an Ouija board, though, so the messages are often garbled. She now has a roommate, a woman named Maggie Beck, who is dying of cancer but wants to confess her sins to Dryden and to her daughter before she goes. Her confession dovetails with the break in a person-smuggling-and-porn ring based in the area.

Dryden is stuck trying to figure out what the repercussions of her confessions mean to her family after her death. He is also trying to figure out what to do if his wife never actually wakes up. During all of his searches for good copy for the local paper, he compulsively tries his key on every lock he comes across. In the end, no one goes home happy, although there is some sense of contentment and commitment in some parts.

This is not a story that will cheer the reader, nor likely bring tourism to the fens around Ely, but Dryden is an absolutely human and clearly-written character; one can't help but feel for him as he sleepwalks through his days, insisting that he's not a particularly good person.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FIRE BABY (Unlic. Invest-Philip Dryden-England-Cont) – VG
Kelly, Jim – 2nd in series
St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0-312-32145-7

First Sentence: East of Ely, above the bone-dry peatfields, a great red dust storm drifts across the moon, throwing an amber shadow on the old cathedral.

It starts with a plane crash resulting in a house fire. One baby dies and another survives. It progresses to a dying woman, a comatose wife providing occasional clues, includes smuggling of illegal immigrants, pornography, and a WWII bunker. It all combines into a mystery reporter Philip Dryden feels compelled to solve.

I have rapidly become a fan of Kelly’s writing. It takes a touch of work to follow him through the maze of plots and subplots he creates, but it’s a very enjoyable journey. I am thoroughly fascinated with his three main characters; Dryden, the journalist and husband; Laura, his comatose wife; and Humph, Dryden’s driver who has a ready supply of airplane-sized liquor bottles and listens to foreign language tapes. What I most appreciate is the way Kelly takes all the threads of his story and brings you to a dramatic and satisfying place at the end. I am definitely looking forward to continuing with this author.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather depressing overall. Nothing good happens to any of the characters. The most annoying part for me is that it is filled with egregious errors about the US Air Force. Almost everything the author says about Air Force combat history, personnel, aircraft, uniforms etc. is incorrect. As an example the first Air Force character introduced is a major who has received a purple heart (the US decoration for being wounded in combat) in Korea. Since the Korean War ended in 1953 this character would have to be at least in his 70s (the book was published in 2003 and takes place around that time). There are so many other problems like this that could have been fixed by someone like myself in 30 minutes, I can't understand why this wasn't done. It would not have interfered with the story.