This murder mystery takes everything I normally dislike – the 60’s, baseball, annoying kids, polish food – and combines it in way that I found enjoyable. It will drag you into the setting, ground you with believable characters, keep you reading with a plot that blossoms with satisfactory timed reveals. And thoroughly annoy you with baseball trivia and a subplot that does nothing for the narrative. In short, the Murder’s Apprentice by Daryl Anderson is a rich, detailed, albeit flawed story with strong cast of characters and plot line.
The POV alternates between Dara Burk, a 12-year-old tomboy, and Stan Gorsky a policeman and would be detective. Anderson eases us in with Dara’s side of the story first, which while initially light-hearted, quickly becomes grittier and more real-to-life. Her chapters establish the first inklings of an issue, using a macabre hobby of collecting photographs of deceased people as a narrative device. This becomes important later and helps to link it to the second POV character and the overarching plot. Stan on the other hand fills the procedural detective aspect. He has been dragged into this by an ex-flame, which turns up some family drama which helps to keep his side rooted.
Anderson is a subtle and clever author, able to thread these two contrasting viewpoints deftly together into a murder mystery plot that is both believable, and exciting. There is a lot of detail and research here, and no easy outs. She brings life to the characters and world in way – even alternating her writing style to accommodate – that few others attempt. This is artistry at work.
However, that said, there are a few problems. At times Anderson gets so wound up in the setting that she will run off on a tangent with descriptions and world building. Now, I love that sort of thing, but towards the middle I found myself skimming. This problem manifests in a different manner towards the end of the book with an extraneous subplot (trigger warning, involves sexual assault). This scene neither advances the story, nor affects the character in question in any meaningful way. As such, it begs to question why it was included. Also, an early paranormal element in the first half of the book is dropped quickly with no explanation. It left me wondering if this was an aspect that was later nixed, and just not edited out. But this doesn’t terribly distract from the overall picture enough to upend the book.
At the core, the Murder’s Apprentice survives its flaws, and comes together in a solid, well-written mystery. Anderson’s ability in weaving two storylines is almost masterful, and her understanding of the genre, deep. Taken as a whole this book will presents a wonderful choice for fans of the murder mystery genre.
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