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Brighton #5
Those Who Feel Nothing
A macabre discovery beneath Brighton’s Royal Pavilion has links to the horrors of Pol Pot’s Cambodia in this absorbing mystery
Ex-Chief Constable Bob Watts is hoping to ease gently into his new role as Brighton’s first Police Commissioner but is hit with a shocking scandal involving the director of the Royal Pavilion. In the subsequent investigation, Detective Inspector Sarah Gilchrist and Detective Sergeant Bellamy Heap are bemused by the discovery of looted antiquities from Cambodia’s Angkor Watt in the tunnels beneath the Pavilion, but the further discovery of a corpse gives their investigation a darker hue.
As does the arrival in Brighton of a man who was once caught up in the horror of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. A man for whom redemption has become retribution.
Ex-Chief Constable Bob Watts is hoping to ease gently into his new role as Brighton’s first Police Commissioner but is hit with a shocking scandal involving the director of the Royal Pavilion. In the subsequent investigation, Detective Inspector Sarah Gilchrist and Detective Sergeant Bellamy Heap are bemused by the discovery of looted antiquities from Cambodia’s Angkor Watt in the tunnels beneath the Pavilion, but the further discovery of a corpse gives their investigation a darker hue.
As does the arrival in Brighton of a man who was once caught up in the horror of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. A man for whom redemption has become retribution.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Peter Guttridge
43 books17 followersPeter Guttridge is the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at Southampton University and teaches creative writing. Between 1998 and 2002, he was the director of the Brighton Literature Festival. Since 1998, he has been the mystery reviewer for The Observer, one of Britain's most prestigious Sunday newspapers. He lives in Sussex on the edge of the South Downs National Park.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 21, 2015
Guttridge's writing is sound. He takes the pace well and deftly handles his character's dialogue with realism and intelligence. I have not read titles populated by these characters but found this easily stood alone without feeling the lack of back stories as Guttridge allowed enough information to fill in the minimal needed effortlessly. Clearly the man knows how to write unlike some other dreck I've endured lately.
Perhaps I am just a lazy reader now, but I found the literary device of switching back and forth between the two story lines (a la 'meanwhile, back in Cambodia") tiresome. It's not an unusual strategy and can enhance the tension, but I suppose I just wasn't in the mood and stubbornly wished the author had kept to a simpler delivery. Petulant I know.
The convergence of the several story lines took a little longer than I was willing to wait for so I confess I skipped into the last quarter of the book. Perhaps I also did not wish to dwell on the horrid re-telling of how the Khmer Rouge regime affected the plot...living through it was bad enough, never mind enduring it for literature's sake.
Odd how an ambivalent title can plant a notion in the reader-mind. The home base characters were unique and intrigued me enough though and so I might seek out another of this author's work. Or not...I suppose I too feel nothing, enough to seek another title by Guttridge very soon.
Perhaps I am just a lazy reader now, but I found the literary device of switching back and forth between the two story lines (a la 'meanwhile, back in Cambodia") tiresome. It's not an unusual strategy and can enhance the tension, but I suppose I just wasn't in the mood and stubbornly wished the author had kept to a simpler delivery. Petulant I know.
The convergence of the several story lines took a little longer than I was willing to wait for so I confess I skipped into the last quarter of the book. Perhaps I also did not wish to dwell on the horrid re-telling of how the Khmer Rouge regime affected the plot...living through it was bad enough, never mind enduring it for literature's sake.
Odd how an ambivalent title can plant a notion in the reader-mind. The home base characters were unique and intrigued me enough though and so I might seek out another of this author's work. Or not...I suppose I too feel nothing, enough to seek another title by Guttridge very soon.
August 20, 2015
I'm sorry, I really don't care for the books that have two stories going at the same time. In this case, I mostly followed the police side and then got caught up with the other side of the story at the end and more comes clear in the epilogue. Love the Brits but not this one.
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May 13, 2014Available at NetGalley. Members in US and UK are preferred.
September 5, 2014
Please visit my blog, Bibliophage, to read my full review.
3 1/2 Stars
Overall, it was enjoyable.
3 1/2 Stars
Overall, it was enjoyable.
Read
March 20, 2019Started reading it and something was off. I realized I hadn't read # 4 and that was the problem. Unfortunately my library doesn't have # 4 and I'm too cheap to buy it. Too bad. It was a good series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews