Review of 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams' outlandish and slightly surreal sense of humour is brought to bear on the detective genre in fantastic style with this book. The story follows Richard MacDuff, Cambridge graduate and software engineer working with Gordon Way at WayForward industries. After an evening dining with a Professor at his old Cambridge college, a series of unusual occurrences lead Richard into the services of Dirk. As a detective, Dirk Gently firmly believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things; somehow there is a connection between a sofa stuck in a stairwell, a conjuring trick and a mysterious murder, and he is determined to find out what it is.

The plot of this story is a beautiful example of the kind of forward planning that I have never found myself quite capable of. It opens a series of strings, then brings them all back together seamlessly by the end of the book. There is no rushing, no unnecessary detail, and the yarn is spun extremely well. Anything that is important is mentioned at its first occurrence as commonplace, then brought up later as extraordinary. The story is compelling and never boring, and the suspense is kept up until the last few pages where the reader is let down just slowly enough to avoid the ending feeling rushed.

The characters in this book were all brilliant. They each seemed rich and real, despite everything that was going on. Richard is a good example of a computer scientist obsessed with strange ideas and given enough freedom to explore them. The Professor of Chronology was only a slight fantasy caricature of the Cambridge Don stereotype, and within it he was believable and real. Even Dirk, eccentric as he is, has an air of reality that is carried through the book. As well as starting out good characters, I felt that there was excellent consistency throughout.

In terms of comedy, I don't know if Douglas Adams' humour is for all; it is often off-the-wall and odd, but for me that was one of it's greatest charms. This book wasn't often laugh-out-loud funny, but it was consistently amusing, and I had a smile on my face for much of the reading. At each turn the strange events fit perfectly with what is known of the world we have been introduced to.

Generally, this was a very entertaining read, well written and very well composed. This is another to add to my list of recommendations of a very enjoyable, if slightly odd and irreverent science fiction comedy.

Review of 'Broken' by Martina Cole

Broken sees the return of Kate Burrows and Patrick Kelly from 'The LadyKiller' in a new story. Young children are being taken from their mothers and left in peril. Most are rescued from harm, but then the body of a small child is discovered... Kate is on the investigation. In the mean time, Patrick gets into trouble with some very dangerous individuals.

Despite my continuing tirade against Martina Cole, I have to say this wasn't that bad. It was an entertaining read with a good plot and some good characters. Perhaps I started the book with such low expectations that anything would have seemed good, but as I read I found myself forgetting how much the style annoyed me for large swathes, and I was actually quite keen to find out what would happen.

As the plot unfolds, Cole hints at things that are to come with excellent pacing, and I was actually genuinely surprised by some of the revelations. Despite Cole's continuing attempts to undermine her characters by spelling out their traits and thought processes, I found myself quite liking Kate Burrows, even though at times I couldn't believe in her. While I couldn't understand or relate to the bad guys or the unfortunates that Cole is writing about, I did for the most part accept them enough to get into the story, which was a huge improvement over some of the things I've read. For the first time in a long while I glimpsed something of what has made Martina Cole quite so popular.

However, while the elation I feel at never having to read another of Martina Cole's novels has left me with a propensity to be magnanimous, I feel I must also mention some of the major criticisms that occasionally reminded me why I disliked the previous books. For one thing, certain characters were undergoing regular personality-transplants which grates on the reader a little at times, especially when it is drawn attention to by some of Martina's stock phrases.

Which brings me to my main criticism of all the books: I don't understand why all her characters talk and think in the same annoying cockney accents. I'm sick of rhyming slang. I'm sick of people loving each other 'in their own way' as opposed to the normal, healthy way. I'm sick of Kate 'feeling the pull' of Patrick: yes, she's hot for him, I get that... please, move on. I'm sick of characters telling me that people are 'a touch'. A touch of what? Plague? All of these would be fine if they appeared a couple of times, but the fact that I noticed them means that they are used far too regularly, and as Martina's characters are so fond of saying: it got on my wick.

I'm harsh, by now... as I bought these books, I had to read them. If I had bought them all consecutively rather than in a batch, I would have read perhaps three or four before growing tired and not bothering. So they were entertaining reads, once upon a time, and I don't believe for a second that the ones I read first were just inherently better. So, as I have said before, you may well enjoy Martina Cole. As an experienced hand, I believe this is one of her best books, and certainly one of the most interesting plots that she has written. It could have done with being half the length, but it was not as mind-numbing as other things I've read.

In conclusion, while I tentatively put 'Broken' forward as a good read in comparison with other Martina Cole novels, I am still very glad I do not have any more such books waiting on my shelf.