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Weirdo
Named one of the Best Crime Books of the Year by the Guardian , Weirdo is an atmospheric thriller about a teenage girl convicted of murder in a 1980s seaside town and the private investigator who reopens the case to discover that she may not have acted alone . . .
Corinne Woodrow was fifteen when she was convicted of the ritualistic murder of her classmate in a quaint seaside town. It was 1984, a year when teenagers ran wild, dressed in black, stayed out all night, and listened to music that terrified their parents. Rumours of Satanism surrounded Corinne and she was locked up indefinitely, a chilling reminder to the parents of Ernemouth to keep a watchful eye on their children.
Twenty years later, private investigator Sean Ward — whose promising career as a detective with the Metropolitan Police was cut short by a teenager with a gun — reopens the case after new forensic evidence suggests that Corinne didn’t act alone. His investigation uncovers a town full of secrets, and a community that has always looked after its own.
Corinne Woodrow was fifteen when she was convicted of the ritualistic murder of her classmate in a quaint seaside town. It was 1984, a year when teenagers ran wild, dressed in black, stayed out all night, and listened to music that terrified their parents. Rumours of Satanism surrounded Corinne and she was locked up indefinitely, a chilling reminder to the parents of Ernemouth to keep a watchful eye on their children.
Twenty years later, private investigator Sean Ward — whose promising career as a detective with the Metropolitan Police was cut short by a teenager with a gun — reopens the case after new forensic evidence suggests that Corinne didn’t act alone. His investigation uncovers a town full of secrets, and a community that has always looked after its own.
408 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2012
45 people are currently reading
1572 people want to read
About the author
Cathi Unsworth
15 books91 followersCathi Unsworth moved to Ladbroke Grove in 1987 and has stayed there ever since. She began a career in rock writing with Sounds and Melody Maker, before co-editing the arts journal Purr and then Bizarre magazine. Her first novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent's Tail in August 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
January 13, 2016
3 1/2 stars this was a well written thriller that got me in on the get go characters were good & a good ending just thought at times it was a bit slow.
December 3, 2013
Tense and exciting - with a strong sense of place
This is the third book I have read by Cathi Unsworth and Weirdo is even more page-turner-y than The Singer and Bad Penny Blues. I raced through the second half of the book as the story became more tense and exciting.
In common with both The Singer and Bad Penny Blues, Cathi Unsworth excels at creating a strong sense of place. In the case of Weirdo, this is the Norfolk seaside resort Great Yarmouth (here called Ernemouth). There are two interlinked narrative threads running concurrently, one set in 1983, and the other in 2003.
In common with a lot of Victorian and Edwardian English seaside resorts, Great Yarmouth is a tawdry, deprived and slightly unsettling place. This atmosphere is perfectly evoked, along with a bit of local history. The less you know about the actual story, the better, suffice it to say that the tale revolves around a horrific murder and a reinvestigation following new DNA evidence.
Some of the narrative takes place at the local school, and the music and fashions of the early 80s are perfectly evoked, along with the dynamics at the school and the different families.
Ostensibly this is a crime novel, however - and in common with the best genre fiction - there is a lot more going on here than just a thrilling story. It's also an exploration of an era, of local politics, of corruption, Norfolk, alienation, magic, evil, youth culture, fashion, and I still haven't covered it all. 4/5
This is the third book I have read by Cathi Unsworth and Weirdo is even more page-turner-y than The Singer and Bad Penny Blues. I raced through the second half of the book as the story became more tense and exciting.
In common with both The Singer and Bad Penny Blues, Cathi Unsworth excels at creating a strong sense of place. In the case of Weirdo, this is the Norfolk seaside resort Great Yarmouth (here called Ernemouth). There are two interlinked narrative threads running concurrently, one set in 1983, and the other in 2003.
In common with a lot of Victorian and Edwardian English seaside resorts, Great Yarmouth is a tawdry, deprived and slightly unsettling place. This atmosphere is perfectly evoked, along with a bit of local history. The less you know about the actual story, the better, suffice it to say that the tale revolves around a horrific murder and a reinvestigation following new DNA evidence.
Some of the narrative takes place at the local school, and the music and fashions of the early 80s are perfectly evoked, along with the dynamics at the school and the different families.
Ostensibly this is a crime novel, however - and in common with the best genre fiction - there is a lot more going on here than just a thrilling story. It's also an exploration of an era, of local politics, of corruption, Norfolk, alienation, magic, evil, youth culture, fashion, and I still haven't covered it all. 4/5
August 12, 2014
http://www.mybookishways.com/2014/08/...
It’s been twenty years since a terrible, supposedly ritualistic murder was committed in a small town by the sea, and Sean Ward, former detective of the London Metropolitan Police is now working cold cases as a private detective after being badly injured on the job. Corinne Woodrow has been put away for her part in the murder, and as far as the public knows, she was the only one involved, but new DNA evidence suggests there was someone else at the scene, and Sean has been hired to get at the truth. He may not prove Corinne innocent, but if there’s a chance that a killer is still on the loose, it’s his job to find the culprit. When he arrives in Ernemouth, he consults with the local police, hoping to meet some of the detectives that worked the original case and gain some insight into the events of 20 years ago. When he meets the editor of a local paper, she seems eager to help, and they each begin pursuing different aspects of the investigation. It soon becomes clear that more than just murder was going on all those years ago, and the revelations may prove fatal.
Attention crime fans: Have you discovered Cathi Unsworth yet? She’s well known in the UK, and after reading Weirdo, to me she’s right up there with the stellar talent of Megan Abbott and Tana French. The narrative goes back and forth between the events of 1984 and the Sean’s investigation in 2003, and as fascinating as the 2003 investigation is, it’s the 1984 bits that make up the real meat of this chilling novel. This is especially hard to read if you’re the parent of a teen, particularly a teen girl, which I am. Corinne Woodrow is only 15, and her lot in life is a tragic one. Her mother is a particularly cruel woman, dealing in drugs and sex, and the neglect and abuse that Corinne suffers at her hands is astonishing. The depth of depravity that Corinne was born into knows no bounds, and when she meets Debbie , she thinks she might have at last found a friend. But, as it so often happens, Debbie meets a boy, and they begin spending more and more time together, putting a bit of an unintentional rift between the girls. It’s just the gap that’s needed for something more insidious to move in. Giving away too much would spoil the myriad of twists that this book has in store, but Unsworth has her finger on the pulse of 80s small town English teen angst and their struggle to find themselves amidst so much confusion about family, the future, and of course, their place in a social hierarchy that knows no mercy.
Cathi Unsworth has been called the UK’s Queen of Noir for good reason. She goes to some very, very dark places and themes of friendship, mental illness, corruption, and just plain evil are explored with the sure hand of someone who knows her subject inside and out, and knows how to turn it into dark crime gold. This one will break your heart and terrify you in equal measure, and like I said, if you don’t know Unsworth’s work yet, here’s the perfect place to start. The final twist is particularly satisfying. Wonderfully chilling and absolutely riveting.
It’s been twenty years since a terrible, supposedly ritualistic murder was committed in a small town by the sea, and Sean Ward, former detective of the London Metropolitan Police is now working cold cases as a private detective after being badly injured on the job. Corinne Woodrow has been put away for her part in the murder, and as far as the public knows, she was the only one involved, but new DNA evidence suggests there was someone else at the scene, and Sean has been hired to get at the truth. He may not prove Corinne innocent, but if there’s a chance that a killer is still on the loose, it’s his job to find the culprit. When he arrives in Ernemouth, he consults with the local police, hoping to meet some of the detectives that worked the original case and gain some insight into the events of 20 years ago. When he meets the editor of a local paper, she seems eager to help, and they each begin pursuing different aspects of the investigation. It soon becomes clear that more than just murder was going on all those years ago, and the revelations may prove fatal.
Attention crime fans: Have you discovered Cathi Unsworth yet? She’s well known in the UK, and after reading Weirdo, to me she’s right up there with the stellar talent of Megan Abbott and Tana French. The narrative goes back and forth between the events of 1984 and the Sean’s investigation in 2003, and as fascinating as the 2003 investigation is, it’s the 1984 bits that make up the real meat of this chilling novel. This is especially hard to read if you’re the parent of a teen, particularly a teen girl, which I am. Corinne Woodrow is only 15, and her lot in life is a tragic one. Her mother is a particularly cruel woman, dealing in drugs and sex, and the neglect and abuse that Corinne suffers at her hands is astonishing. The depth of depravity that Corinne was born into knows no bounds, and when she meets Debbie , she thinks she might have at last found a friend. But, as it so often happens, Debbie meets a boy, and they begin spending more and more time together, putting a bit of an unintentional rift between the girls. It’s just the gap that’s needed for something more insidious to move in. Giving away too much would spoil the myriad of twists that this book has in store, but Unsworth has her finger on the pulse of 80s small town English teen angst and their struggle to find themselves amidst so much confusion about family, the future, and of course, their place in a social hierarchy that knows no mercy.
Cathi Unsworth has been called the UK’s Queen of Noir for good reason. She goes to some very, very dark places and themes of friendship, mental illness, corruption, and just plain evil are explored with the sure hand of someone who knows her subject inside and out, and knows how to turn it into dark crime gold. This one will break your heart and terrify you in equal measure, and like I said, if you don’t know Unsworth’s work yet, here’s the perfect place to start. The final twist is particularly satisfying. Wonderfully chilling and absolutely riveting.
August 16, 2019
I'd never heard of Cathi Unsworth before the pulp fiction group picked her as the author of the month, surprising considering she cites Derek Raymond as a major influence, has published several highly raised novels and the state of the copies found in my library suggests a lot of people have enjoyed reading them in the past few years. And she is really quite good.
Weirdo reads like a Bantam paperback Tom Piccirilli pulp meets David Peace's Red Riding - welcome Norfolk, where we do what we want - and Gillian Flynn's Dark Places. When viewed as a disposable piece of pulp entertainment it's really quite good and allows you to look past the deficiencies, the things that annoy and the general obviousness of the plot, because when it comes down to it Unsworth's novel is a real page turner in what is a somewhat unique setting.
I have issues with the insertion of song names as a short cut to realism, but then the author used to be a music journalist, I found some of the interactions to be the kind you only find in novels - regularly referring to people by name and even full name when you are talking to them for example? - and the parallel narratives of 1983 and 2003 much like Gillian Flynn's novel mentioned above only serving to draw the readers attention to the fact that things are being withheld from you rather than raising tension and heightening the mystery which is what I assume the intention was.
Despite all of this I found myself having a great time as I reached half way and was looking forward to seeing how Unsworth would make things fall out, she didn't disappoint either. I'll definitely be looking for more from her when in need of a fast, dark read in future.
Weirdo reads like a Bantam paperback Tom Piccirilli pulp meets David Peace's Red Riding - welcome Norfolk, where we do what we want - and Gillian Flynn's Dark Places. When viewed as a disposable piece of pulp entertainment it's really quite good and allows you to look past the deficiencies, the things that annoy and the general obviousness of the plot, because when it comes down to it Unsworth's novel is a real page turner in what is a somewhat unique setting.
I have issues with the insertion of song names as a short cut to realism, but then the author used to be a music journalist, I found some of the interactions to be the kind you only find in novels - regularly referring to people by name and even full name when you are talking to them for example? - and the parallel narratives of 1983 and 2003 much like Gillian Flynn's novel mentioned above only serving to draw the readers attention to the fact that things are being withheld from you rather than raising tension and heightening the mystery which is what I assume the intention was.
Despite all of this I found myself having a great time as I reached half way and was looking forward to seeing how Unsworth would make things fall out, she didn't disappoint either. I'll definitely be looking for more from her when in need of a fast, dark read in future.
April 1, 2016
Hm. I'm still not completely sure what to think of this book. It had such a creepy, enticing plot, but for some reason I found myself getting lost in too many characters & a scattered plot. Full review to come after I've had some time to digest!
March 9, 2018
Another great thriller from Cathi Unsworth who sets the scene of this story on the Norfolk coast in the fictitious seaside town of Ernemouth. In 1984, a teenage girl was convicted of the murder of a classmate; a murder which had overtones of black magic - or so the story goes.
Fast forward to 2003 and former police detective Sean Ward is hired by a civil rights lawyer to find out if the accused, 15 year old Corinne, really acted alone. The action flips between 1984 and 2003, as Ward, with the aid of the female editor of the town's newspaper, uncovers dark secrets involving current and former members of Ernemouth's police force and the seamier side of a small town, scarred by a sensational crime.
The truth is pieced together as we read about the build up to the 1984 murder through the eyes of the teens and adults involved and the details of Ward's cold case investigation in 2003. At the story's denouement, there are one or two stings in the tail as justice, of a sort, is finally done.
Fast forward to 2003 and former police detective Sean Ward is hired by a civil rights lawyer to find out if the accused, 15 year old Corinne, really acted alone. The action flips between 1984 and 2003, as Ward, with the aid of the female editor of the town's newspaper, uncovers dark secrets involving current and former members of Ernemouth's police force and the seamier side of a small town, scarred by a sensational crime.
The truth is pieced together as we read about the build up to the 1984 murder through the eyes of the teens and adults involved and the details of Ward's cold case investigation in 2003. At the story's denouement, there are one or two stings in the tail as justice, of a sort, is finally done.
June 1, 2018
This both was and wasn't what I had expected. On the one hand, just the little dollops of the occult lends an interesting contrast, on the other, there's so much of it involved that it almost clashes with the "regular" British murder mystery being investigated. Contradicting, I know.
But major cudos keeping the suspense alive. None of my candidates for the murdered classmate turned out to be right.
But this came at a bit of a price, because the rest of the plots and intrigues and cover-ups made it a rather confusing story. I could never remember what mother belonged to Corrine and Samantha respectively. At one point I kept confusing the two characters completely.
But it has a bittersweet ending, so it made up for it.
And bonus points for a man and a woman working together without having sex or even being attracted to each other. 👌
But major cudos keeping the suspense alive. None of my candidates for the murdered classmate turned out to be right.
But this came at a bit of a price, because the rest of the plots and intrigues and cover-ups made it a rather confusing story. I could never remember what mother belonged to Corrine and Samantha respectively. At one point I kept confusing the two characters completely.
But it has a bittersweet ending, so it made up for it.
And bonus points for a man and a woman working together without having sex or even being attracted to each other. 👌
July 12, 2018
The story has a wonderful range of different characters that clearly mess with your mind. Be sure that Weirdo will stay with you long after you have finished reading Weirdo. I certainly recommend Weirdo to all readers that like a psychological thriller.
Twenty years ago in an isolated seaside town of Ernemouth, Corinne Woodrow a fifteen year old - young school girl was convicted of murdering one of her classmates. The newspapers called her Wicked witch of the east. The local people called her a weirdo.
Twenty years ago in an isolated seaside town of Ernemouth, Corinne Woodrow a fifteen year old - young school girl was convicted of murdering one of her classmates. The newspapers called her Wicked witch of the east. The local people called her a weirdo.
May 22, 2021
I had been looking forward to this, it’s been in my tbr list for a few years. I like the way Unsworth writes, particularly about London.
But this is set on the Norfolk Coast, and aside from the period detail, one of its two storylines is set in the 1980s, and music references (cleverly used as chapter headings), it’s a fairly predictable crime story. There are darker elements to the plot, including a smattering of witchcraft, but such a minor detail that it gets diluted so it’s barely tastable.
Despite it probably being Unsworth’s most famous novel, for me at least, it’s not her best.
But this is set on the Norfolk Coast, and aside from the period detail, one of its two storylines is set in the 1980s, and music references (cleverly used as chapter headings), it’s a fairly predictable crime story. There are darker elements to the plot, including a smattering of witchcraft, but such a minor detail that it gets diluted so it’s barely tastable.
Despite it probably being Unsworth’s most famous novel, for me at least, it’s not her best.
July 27, 2013
This review is late: I should have written it *before* Harrogate Crime Fest last weekend because then I'd be writing it clean, untainted by having met - indeed shared a panel - the author. So this is full disclosure: I've shared a panel with Cathi Unsworth and if I thought she must be engaging, iconoclastic and deeply committed to alternative culture, that's been more than demonstrated.
So: I read Weirdo because of the panel, but I'm glad that I did. Set in a fictional Yarmouth, this is a dual time line book with part set in 2003 and part in 1983: it doesn't quite qualify as historical fiction (books with a primary time line set 35 year or more prior to the date of publication) but it's close enough as makes no difference and it's well within that bracket of 'living history' which is to say a large swathe of the potential readership will be old enough to remember how life was in both time lines - terrifying for any historical writer.
The plot revolves around a murder committed in the earlier time - 1983 - by a fifteen year old girl: Corinne Woodrow. In 2003, a London lawyer pays for Sean Ward, a private investigator, to travel to Ernemouth (a fictional Yarmouth) and re-investigate a case which has too many questions hanging over it.
Ernemouth itself is a fantastically realised, and fantastically scary place. Run by a seedy mafia which seems to take in everyone from the boss of the local newspaper to the local police chief, there's a clear conspiracy of silence wrapped around the facts of the case - and those facts are startling enough to draw a lot of attention: the victim had been stabbed multiple times and was found in a pentacle drawn in black wax with candles at the points.
Inevitably, there are strands of witchcraft, but these are so carefully woven in, so grounded, that they never drift into 'True Blood' territory or anything like it. What grabs us instead, are the characters in past and present: the delightful transsexual girl (Noj, who used to be Jon) who always seems to know more than she used to let on, Sean himself, and Sam, the deeply unstable girl who has been dragged back from London by her mother, to live in the desperate backwater that is Ernemouth.
The tension grows from the start and the threads continue to wind tighter right up to pretty much the last page when all the pieces fall into place. I haven't read anything by Cathi Unsworth before, but I certainly will now: this is excellent.
So: I read Weirdo because of the panel, but I'm glad that I did. Set in a fictional Yarmouth, this is a dual time line book with part set in 2003 and part in 1983: it doesn't quite qualify as historical fiction (books with a primary time line set 35 year or more prior to the date of publication) but it's close enough as makes no difference and it's well within that bracket of 'living history' which is to say a large swathe of the potential readership will be old enough to remember how life was in both time lines - terrifying for any historical writer.
The plot revolves around a murder committed in the earlier time - 1983 - by a fifteen year old girl: Corinne Woodrow. In 2003, a London lawyer pays for Sean Ward, a private investigator, to travel to Ernemouth (a fictional Yarmouth) and re-investigate a case which has too many questions hanging over it.
Ernemouth itself is a fantastically realised, and fantastically scary place. Run by a seedy mafia which seems to take in everyone from the boss of the local newspaper to the local police chief, there's a clear conspiracy of silence wrapped around the facts of the case - and those facts are startling enough to draw a lot of attention: the victim had been stabbed multiple times and was found in a pentacle drawn in black wax with candles at the points.
Inevitably, there are strands of witchcraft, but these are so carefully woven in, so grounded, that they never drift into 'True Blood' territory or anything like it. What grabs us instead, are the characters in past and present: the delightful transsexual girl (Noj, who used to be Jon) who always seems to know more than she used to let on, Sean himself, and Sam, the deeply unstable girl who has been dragged back from London by her mother, to live in the desperate backwater that is Ernemouth.
The tension grows from the start and the threads continue to wind tighter right up to pretty much the last page when all the pieces fall into place. I haven't read anything by Cathi Unsworth before, but I certainly will now: this is excellent.
May 12, 2014
Corrine has been locked away since she was 15 for the brutal slaying of a fellow teenager - 20 years later, new evidence has been uncovered that maybe Corrine was not working alone. Enter Sean Ward, former police officer, current private detective who has been asked to turn over every stone in the local community to get to the bottom of this decades old crime.
Starts strong, some good ideas then it just seems to go all over the place - murders, porn rings, incest, name changing, prostitution, black magic, wiccans, police cover-ups, family cover-ups, press, attempted murder, animal abuse, people hounded out of jobs, blackmail ...... oh, it just goes on & on. I know things like this happen all over the place but this is meant to be a smallish, tight knit community, all spearheaded by one single, evil man. Bit too much of a stretch of the imagination, even for me!
Starts strong, some good ideas then it just seems to go all over the place - murders, porn rings, incest, name changing, prostitution, black magic, wiccans, police cover-ups, family cover-ups, press, attempted murder, animal abuse, people hounded out of jobs, blackmail ...... oh, it just goes on & on. I know things like this happen all over the place but this is meant to be a smallish, tight knit community, all spearheaded by one single, evil man. Bit too much of a stretch of the imagination, even for me!
January 16, 2014
I scooped up a bunch of cheap books on my kobo on boxing day special offers, and this has to be the star of the lot.
A well written dual time line mystery involving a cold case from 1984, my teenage years.
It was an interesting trip back in time combined with a good mystery.
By the last quater of the book the reader has a geneal idea of who had done what but managed to plant a few twists in the end.
I will be looking for more books by Cathi Unsworth.
A well written dual time line mystery involving a cold case from 1984, my teenage years.
It was an interesting trip back in time combined with a good mystery.
By the last quater of the book the reader has a geneal idea of who had done what but managed to plant a few twists in the end.
I will be looking for more books by Cathi Unsworth.
October 29, 2016
Whew! Found it quite a slog getting through this book. I'm not sure exactly why, just couldn't seem to get into it although it was a fairly good story. Too many characters to keep straight and I had to keep flipping back to remind myself who was who. Normally I can get through a book in a lot less than 12 days but found I only wanted to read a few pages at a time and didn't have a burning desire to find out what happened.
May 4, 2020
Als ich das Buch beendet hatte, war ich maximal verwirrt.
Sagen wir so: Es ist ein sehr komplexes Buch voller Intrigen, Lügen, gestellten Fallen und vielen Fragezeichen im Kopf des Ermittlers, des Dorfes und somit auch im Kopf des Lesenden.
Also enthält es eigentlich alles, was man sich in einem Kriminalroman wünscht. Es ist definitiv ein sehr verworrenes Buch und vielleicht habe ich es auch einfach nicht richtig durchdrungen, aber ich bin definitiv verwirrt.
Die Geschichte teilt sich in zwei Zeitstränge - einmal 1983/84, wo Madonna gerade die Herzen erobert, aber gleichzeitig auch ein schrecklicher Mord passiert und einmal 2013, wo der eigentlich vermeintlich abgeschlossene Fall neu aufgerollt wird.
Aufgrund dieser zwei verschiedenen Zeiten und, dass teilweise aus verschiedenen Sichtweisen geschrieben wird, lernt man viele Menschen, ihre Geschichten und auch ihre Gedanken näher kennen. Es sind zeitweise so viele, dass ich oft den Überblick verloren habe und weiter vorn im Buch nachschlagen musste.
Auf viele Gedanken und Geschichten hätte ich persönlich verzichten können, denn ich glaube, es hätte an der Geschichte letztlich nicht viel verändert, wenn sie gefehlt hätten. Oft kam es mir auch so vor als würden manche Personen auftauchen und lediglich eine Info loswerden wollen, danach hat man dann gar nichts mehr von ihnen gehört. Das war teilweise wirklich nervig.
In der ersten Hälfte des Buches fehlen leider die Spannungselemente. Manchmal streifen sie einen, wie ein leichter Windhauch im Sommer, und sind dann aber so schnell weg, wie sie gekommen sind. Während die erste Hälfte sehr ausführlich beschrieben wurde und man somit einen guten Einblick in die Beziehungen der einzelnen Figuren bekommt, es sich aber auch sehr in die Länge zieht, wirkt es in der zweiten Hälfte des Buches und zum Ende hin wiederum so, als würde man die Geschichte schnell zu Ende bringen wollen. Das war für mich an manchen Stellen sehr anstrengend, da die wichtigen Informationen ungefähr in der zweiten Hälfte kommen und haufenweise Informationen in einen eingetrichtert werden. Über den/die Mörder/-in war ich tatsächlich nicht überrascht, auch wenn die Auflösung am Ende anders war als erwartet.
Leider wurden die Nebenfiguren zum Schluss viel wichtiger dargestellt als der eigentliche Protagonist, der dann weniger bis gar nicht mehr erwähnt wird. Kein “Danke für Ihre Arbeit”, keine Gedanken seinerseits zur Aufklärung des Falles, nichts. Und auch andere Personen, die zwischendurch essenziell wichtig erscheinen, sind dann am Ende wie weg.
Es gibt zwar zwei Zeitstränge und beide haben ihre Berechtigung, aber man kann doch nicht die Hauptfigur vernachlässigen und einfach verschwinden lassen.
Insgesamt fand ich den Magie-Anteil zu gering, obwohl das ja eigentlich der Hauptaufhänger der Geschichte war.
Außerdem muss man sich damit anfreunden, dass das Buch von Andeutungen lebt. Viele Sachen werden nur angedeutet und nie ganz ausgesprochen. Oft kann man es sich zwar denken, aber ein paar Mal wusste ich nicht, ob es nun die Wahrheit ist oder nur gesagt wurde, um zu verletzen.
Fazit: Ich denke, es ist ein ganz solides Buch, aber ich habe auch schon bessere Bücher gelesen. Der erste Teil war mir persönlich zu ausführlich und so zog sich das Lesen sehr lange hin. Ich habe viele Ungereimtheiten entdeckt, die ich auch nach dem Buch nicht für mich lösen konnte. Wer sich für schwarze und weiße Magie interessiert, kann es lesen und hat damit vielleicht auch seine/ihre Freude.
Und jetzt noch Dinge, die mir aufgefallen sind.
Klischees, die in vielen Kriminalromanen vorkommen und auch in diesem erfüllt wurden:
Der Ermittler/ Privatdetektiv: Klischee definitiv erfüllt - ehemaliger Polizist, durch Wunde nicht mehr arbeitsfähig, sucht neue Arbeit, wird von Albträumen geplagt, gebrochener Mann
(Kein Alkoholiker oder sonst wie abhängig von Suchtmittel - ich war überrascht!)
→ Mehr lässt sich dann aber auch nicht mehr sagen, denn von einem richtigen Kennenlernen kann nicht die Rede sein und das, obwohl er einer der Hauptfiguren ist.
Die Kleinstadt: Klischee ebenfalls erfüllt. Kleine Stadt, wenig Geld, korrupt, Jeder kennt Jeden, alle sind in sich gekehrt und wollen den “Neuen” aus der Stadt, dunkles Geheimnis.
P.S.:
Was mich aber am meisten an der ganzen Sache interessierte ist (ja, immer noch)..
Sagen wir so: Es ist ein sehr komplexes Buch voller Intrigen, Lügen, gestellten Fallen und vielen Fragezeichen im Kopf des Ermittlers, des Dorfes und somit auch im Kopf des Lesenden.
Also enthält es eigentlich alles, was man sich in einem Kriminalroman wünscht. Es ist definitiv ein sehr verworrenes Buch und vielleicht habe ich es auch einfach nicht richtig durchdrungen, aber ich bin definitiv verwirrt.
Die Geschichte teilt sich in zwei Zeitstränge - einmal 1983/84, wo Madonna gerade die Herzen erobert, aber gleichzeitig auch ein schrecklicher Mord passiert und einmal 2013, wo der eigentlich vermeintlich abgeschlossene Fall neu aufgerollt wird.
Aufgrund dieser zwei verschiedenen Zeiten und, dass teilweise aus verschiedenen Sichtweisen geschrieben wird, lernt man viele Menschen, ihre Geschichten und auch ihre Gedanken näher kennen. Es sind zeitweise so viele, dass ich oft den Überblick verloren habe und weiter vorn im Buch nachschlagen musste.
Auf viele Gedanken und Geschichten hätte ich persönlich verzichten können, denn ich glaube, es hätte an der Geschichte letztlich nicht viel verändert, wenn sie gefehlt hätten. Oft kam es mir auch so vor als würden manche Personen auftauchen und lediglich eine Info loswerden wollen, danach hat man dann gar nichts mehr von ihnen gehört. Das war teilweise wirklich nervig.
In der ersten Hälfte des Buches fehlen leider die Spannungselemente. Manchmal streifen sie einen, wie ein leichter Windhauch im Sommer, und sind dann aber so schnell weg, wie sie gekommen sind. Während die erste Hälfte sehr ausführlich beschrieben wurde und man somit einen guten Einblick in die Beziehungen der einzelnen Figuren bekommt, es sich aber auch sehr in die Länge zieht, wirkt es in der zweiten Hälfte des Buches und zum Ende hin wiederum so, als würde man die Geschichte schnell zu Ende bringen wollen. Das war für mich an manchen Stellen sehr anstrengend, da die wichtigen Informationen ungefähr in der zweiten Hälfte kommen und haufenweise Informationen in einen eingetrichtert werden. Über den/die Mörder/-in war ich tatsächlich nicht überrascht, auch wenn die Auflösung am Ende anders war als erwartet.
Leider wurden die Nebenfiguren zum Schluss viel wichtiger dargestellt als der eigentliche Protagonist, der dann weniger bis gar nicht mehr erwähnt wird. Kein “Danke für Ihre Arbeit”, keine Gedanken seinerseits zur Aufklärung des Falles, nichts. Und auch andere Personen, die zwischendurch essenziell wichtig erscheinen, sind dann am Ende wie weg.
Es gibt zwar zwei Zeitstränge und beide haben ihre Berechtigung, aber man kann doch nicht die Hauptfigur vernachlässigen und einfach verschwinden lassen.
Insgesamt fand ich den Magie-Anteil zu gering, obwohl das ja eigentlich der Hauptaufhänger der Geschichte war.
Außerdem muss man sich damit anfreunden, dass das Buch von Andeutungen lebt. Viele Sachen werden nur angedeutet und nie ganz ausgesprochen. Oft kann man es sich zwar denken, aber ein paar Mal wusste ich nicht, ob es nun die Wahrheit ist oder nur gesagt wurde, um zu verletzen.
Fazit: Ich denke, es ist ein ganz solides Buch, aber ich habe auch schon bessere Bücher gelesen. Der erste Teil war mir persönlich zu ausführlich und so zog sich das Lesen sehr lange hin. Ich habe viele Ungereimtheiten entdeckt, die ich auch nach dem Buch nicht für mich lösen konnte. Wer sich für schwarze und weiße Magie interessiert, kann es lesen und hat damit vielleicht auch seine/ihre Freude.
Und jetzt noch Dinge, die mir aufgefallen sind.
Klischees, die in vielen Kriminalromanen vorkommen und auch in diesem erfüllt wurden:
Der Ermittler/ Privatdetektiv: Klischee definitiv erfüllt - ehemaliger Polizist, durch Wunde nicht mehr arbeitsfähig, sucht neue Arbeit, wird von Albträumen geplagt, gebrochener Mann
(Kein Alkoholiker oder sonst wie abhängig von Suchtmittel - ich war überrascht!)
→ Mehr lässt sich dann aber auch nicht mehr sagen, denn von einem richtigen Kennenlernen kann nicht die Rede sein und das, obwohl er einer der Hauptfiguren ist.
Die Kleinstadt: Klischee ebenfalls erfüllt. Kleine Stadt, wenig Geld, korrupt, Jeder kennt Jeden, alle sind in sich gekehrt und wollen den “Neuen” aus der Stadt, dunkles Geheimnis.
P.S.:
Was mich aber am meisten an der ganzen Sache interessierte ist (ja, immer noch)..
April 10, 2019
The novel is set in a coastal town in Norfolk, Ernemouth, and the action takes place in two different time frames, 1983 and 2003. A vicious murder takes place in 1983 and a fifteen year old schoolgirl, Corrine goes down for it for life. An ambitious QC asks a private detective to look in to the case again in 2003 because new DNA evidence has shown the involvement of a second person in the murder. So Sean Ward agrees to this and sets about delving into the past in Ernemouth where he does indeed uncover many secrets. Some people want those secrets kept, and some want the truth to be found.
The unholy alliance of a fairground owner and a senior policeman keeps a threatening stranglehold on events in 2003, but the real story is back in 1983, where teenage girls Corrine, Debbie and Samantha enter into a complex and intense relationship which is born of classic teenage angst, made more complicated by the wayward mothers of Corrine and Sam.
It is not spelled out who the victim is until the last pages, but the inference is that Sam is so hateful that it is her who is the victim. But underpinning the brutal events, the corruption and cover-ups is a story of love and loyalty and protection between the teenagers against a stronger enemy who prevails, but not forever. Truth will out.
The ending is unexpectedly tender and poetic, and makes sense out of the various personal tragedies that have occurred. I felt this book was deeply involving, with its intricate plot and the author's perceptive and sensitive revelations of the relationships between the various characters.
The unholy alliance of a fairground owner and a senior policeman keeps a threatening stranglehold on events in 2003, but the real story is back in 1983, where teenage girls Corrine, Debbie and Samantha enter into a complex and intense relationship which is born of classic teenage angst, made more complicated by the wayward mothers of Corrine and Sam.
It is not spelled out who the victim is until the last pages, but the inference is that Sam is so hateful that it is her who is the victim. But underpinning the brutal events, the corruption and cover-ups is a story of love and loyalty and protection between the teenagers against a stronger enemy who prevails, but not forever. Truth will out.
The ending is unexpectedly tender and poetic, and makes sense out of the various personal tragedies that have occurred. I felt this book was deeply involving, with its intricate plot and the author's perceptive and sensitive revelations of the relationships between the various characters.
June 14, 2015
It's been a long, long time since I've read a book that had so many twists and surprises, one that kept me in suspense, and still shocked me, even to the very last page. I'm just in awe at how good this book was!
Unsworth does the flashback thing well, alternating chapters between the cold case investigation in 2003, and the original events in the school year 1983-84. Character development is good for both current and past characters, and as I said, lots of plot twists and surprises, not the least of which is the victim. There's no description of the person on the back blurb of the book, and the author wisely doesn't reveal the identity until the last 20-30 pages of the novel. Amazing feat, considering that while I had a few ideas, I really did not know who it would be.
I highly recommend this to those that love mysteries, police procedurals, and anyone who felt like a complete weirdo back in their high school days.
NOTE: This is very much an English book, written in a sort of dialect almost. Stick with it, though...well worth it.
Unsworth does the flashback thing well, alternating chapters between the cold case investigation in 2003, and the original events in the school year 1983-84. Character development is good for both current and past characters, and as I said, lots of plot twists and surprises, not the least of which is the victim. There's no description of the person on the back blurb of the book, and the author wisely doesn't reveal the identity until the last 20-30 pages of the novel. Amazing feat, considering that while I had a few ideas, I really did not know who it would be.
I highly recommend this to those that love mysteries, police procedurals, and anyone who felt like a complete weirdo back in their high school days.
NOTE: This is very much an English book, written in a sort of dialect almost. Stick with it, though...well worth it.
September 12, 2012
This is a book I didn’t expect to like – I’ll be honest, when I chose it from Amazon Vine I was thinking of Cath Staincliffe, but we women in our 50s aren’t too good on names. I don’t like books about the seamy side of life, and with the dialogue in Norfolk-speak that should’ve sealed it. But I have to say, with some surprise, that I loved this book, it was just so incredibly different, with strong characters and a wonderful sense of place and time. Dual time frame – Corrine Woodrow, convicted of a murder in the 80s, and a blow by blow account of teenage life and what led up to it; then the modern story, the endearing detective Sean Ward and journalist Francesca trying to get to the truth. That seamy side is all present – the corrupt police chief is an excellent creation – and I must say I loved every moment. Really full of period atmosphere, and genuinely thrilling. Will search out more by Cathi Unsworth (if I can remember her name...).
January 15, 2016
Weirdo is about a grisly crime that takes place in a seaside English town in the 80's. Current forensic evidence suggests that the teenage girl convicted of the murder either had an accomplice or may be innocent of the crime. Unsworth's chapters alternate between the present investigation led by private detective Sean Ward and the climate that led to the crime twenty years earlier. Although I determined who the killer was early on, the identity of the victim wasn't evident until the last few chapters. Indeed, Unsworth keeps her cards close to her vest revealing quite a few surprises at the end.
July 3, 2015
I couldn't put this book down, it offered far more than i had expected, twists and turns and constant suspense. Just when i thought it couldn't throw any thing else into the mix, there is was. This was my first time reading Cathi Unsworth, i look forward to reading plenty more.
February 9, 2020
Not really the 'atmospheric thriller' described. The biggest mystery is why the Guardian named this one of the best crime books of the year.
May 11, 2018
I am not sure this gets billed as detective fiction, so I am listing it as a novel, also. I read it because it was recommended in the Guardian, and I liked the narrative and the people doing the detecting, but thought many of the other characters were thinly drawn, stereotypical. And must all contemporary thrillers and/or mysteries hinge upon the unmasking of sexual predators? Yes, they are everywhere, but they need to be revealed and punished, but there are other injustices to settle. (This pattern in contemporary work may be why I have been reading more historical works.) Okay, got that off my chest. On the other hand, Corrine is a great character. I hope she lives long and prospers as a hair dresser.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2018
Weirdos abound in this sordid tale of a closed community that looks after its own, and distrusts outsiders. An assortment of tortured characters either on the wane, on the game, or on the make, each with their own secrets. A bent copper, a teenage prostitute, a trans-gender sorceress, evil biker gangs, are all part of this splendidly sordid whodunit. Add an eighties backdrop and nostalgic musical references to further entertain those of us who remember buying vinyl and cassettes in Woolies, and the likes of The Damned and Echo & The Bunnymen ( track names from the latters Ocean Rain album are recycled here as chapter headings), and you have a dark and dirty, very British mystery, that you won't find on the Norfolk Tourist Boards recommended reading list anytime soon.
May 6, 2020
I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this. It was atmospheric and you got a real feel for the small town setting. I liked the split time lines, seeing the cold case unfold at the same time as the actual events helped keep the tension. There were plenty of twists that I didnt see coming and it kept surprising me right until the end. I also enjoyed the slight occult slant on things.
September 19, 2021
Atmospheric, dark thriller which captures the seedy side of a Norfolk seaside town well. Good pace and interesting plot but too many characters and at times difficult to keep abreast with the various characters across 2 decades.
October 3, 2022
Una historia policial muy bien armada con un final vertiginoso, con personajes a los que se les toma odio y cariño, que es lo más importante en un buen libro. Una historia que más allá de la intriga, habla de la amistad y cómo esta puede superar cualquier barrera.....igual que la enemistad.
September 14, 2021
3.5 stars - some points for the music references - especially Echo and the Bunnymen. :-)
June 10, 2025
3.5 * it‘s good, but it‘s not great for me
January 21, 2013
I knew Great Yarmouth in the early 1980s since my grandparents lived in Gorleston. So it was a surprise to find the Great Yarmouth I knew so well, preserved in aspic, as the centre stage for Weirdo. There was the city I knew with Marine Parade, the Pleasure Beach, the Harbour and the dunes; the model village and Bernie Winters or Jim Davidson appearing on the pier. There was the lodge my grandfather used to visit, the market and the hotels... But revisiting Great Yarmouth through Cathi Unsworth's narrative there is now access to a seamy side of the town - the pubs, the drugs and the prostitution - which were unknown to my youthful mind.
I should say that as I grew up, I started to find Great Yarmouth more and more unsettling. I came to see it as a rather squalid, deprived place with a thin veneer of holiday festivity which, for a few months a year, hid the daily struggle of people shopping in discount supermarkets and eating cheap chips and gravy. This comes through perfectly in Weirdo, with all the more poignancy as the locals vie with each other for respect and position in such a pokey, hokey town.
The actual story - a child murderess languishing in a secure hospital as her unknown accomplice walks free - is well told. Cathi Unsworth carefully controls the information available to the reader to keep the suspense, keep the reader guessing. And interleaving the contemporaneous events leading up to the murder with a private detective twenty years later trying to reheat the cold case works very well. Unlike so many twin narratives, this pair actually help one another in some kind of symbiosis. And both work to the same moment of reveal, one forwards and the other backwards.
For all the taut storylines - occasionally rather complicated but resolving nicely - it is the characters that stand out. Len Rivett, the (semi)retired police chief who ran the town from the masonic lodge; Dale Smollett, the local lad following in Rivett's footsteps, the mysterious Noj and a pub full of pondlife. And going back into the 1980s narrative, the catty jockeying for position between the girls, their dreadful families (especially mothers) and, again, the mysterious Noj. And it all comes with a witchy subtext, goth music and shoulderpads. There is also a liberal use of Norfolk dialect in the dialogue. This is nailed perfectly.
Weirdo is a really accomplished novel. It's crime but it is so much more. It's a dissection of a holiday town that has a grim and deprived underbelly. It's also a brilliant evocation of one of the true grimness of life outside London in the 1980s. It feels real.
So please read Weirdo - probably the least flattering depiction of Norfolk since Henry Sutton's fabulous Gorleston.
I should say that as I grew up, I started to find Great Yarmouth more and more unsettling. I came to see it as a rather squalid, deprived place with a thin veneer of holiday festivity which, for a few months a year, hid the daily struggle of people shopping in discount supermarkets and eating cheap chips and gravy. This comes through perfectly in Weirdo, with all the more poignancy as the locals vie with each other for respect and position in such a pokey, hokey town.
The actual story - a child murderess languishing in a secure hospital as her unknown accomplice walks free - is well told. Cathi Unsworth carefully controls the information available to the reader to keep the suspense, keep the reader guessing. And interleaving the contemporaneous events leading up to the murder with a private detective twenty years later trying to reheat the cold case works very well. Unlike so many twin narratives, this pair actually help one another in some kind of symbiosis. And both work to the same moment of reveal, one forwards and the other backwards.
For all the taut storylines - occasionally rather complicated but resolving nicely - it is the characters that stand out. Len Rivett, the (semi)retired police chief who ran the town from the masonic lodge; Dale Smollett, the local lad following in Rivett's footsteps, the mysterious Noj and a pub full of pondlife. And going back into the 1980s narrative, the catty jockeying for position between the girls, their dreadful families (especially mothers) and, again, the mysterious Noj. And it all comes with a witchy subtext, goth music and shoulderpads. There is also a liberal use of Norfolk dialect in the dialogue. This is nailed perfectly.
Weirdo is a really accomplished novel. It's crime but it is so much more. It's a dissection of a holiday town that has a grim and deprived underbelly. It's also a brilliant evocation of one of the true grimness of life outside London in the 1980s. It feels real.
So please read Weirdo - probably the least flattering depiction of Norfolk since Henry Sutton's fabulous Gorleston.
March 1, 2015
This was a random selection from the library shelves and I couldn't put it down, a really good crime novel from a writer I haven't heard of before and will definitely want to read more of. The plot centres around a murder in 1983 in a Norfolk seaside town. I liked the fact that whilst we know a murder has occurred the reader doesn't know who has been killed save that a woman is in a psychiatric unit as the murderer and in 2003 a former met police officer is investigating a miscarriage of justice. It was refreshing that this book centres on the youths at the centre of the crime rather than the detective and the sense of place and time was very believable. I rattled through it and found surprises right to the very end and would recommend it to crime lovers. I was really tempted to put it up to 5 stars save that I felt that the finale was dragged out a little bit and it could of lost 30 pages and I felt something that happens to a villain was a bit too convenient but saying that I don't think it decries from a book that I really enjoyed a lot and I suspect that the author is a talent to watch for crime fiction enthusiasts.
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