Source: Review Copy from Orenda Books as part of the Random Things Blogtour
This is my second read by New Zealand’s Queen of Crime Vanda Symon. The first was Prey, the latest in her popular Dunedin-set series featuring Detective Sam Shephard. That may have been the 6th in the series but with Sam returning from maternity leave had a fresh start feel to it with little continuing story arc to it, so could be read as a stand alone.
The Reaper, it turns out, is the second by Symon to feature former detective, now homeless, Max Grimes. Maybe more of how he reached this situation can be found in the first volume, Faceless, which I now must read! However, although there are hints to his former life in the Auckland police department, they aren’t needed to enjoy this novel on its own merits.
As the novel opens Max Grimes wakes up in the villa under renovation where he’s squatting, packs. up his sleeping bag leaving no trace he was there, and sets off on his rounds – to his friend’s gym where he has a small job cleaning, for which he’s very grateful, and on the way checking in on various others of Auckland’s homeless folk. He passes by a turning where police are gathered. He carries on. Later, he gets a call from a former colleague, DS Meredith Peters who needs his help in identifying a body found earlier, up that turning he passed in the morning. Sadly, Max knows who it is, one of his tribe, the homeless. It’s not long before a second body is found murdered in a different way, another of the homeless. Soon people are talking of a serial killer, they call him the Reaoer, and Symons takes us into his mind with short chapters in between those let by Max and some from Meredith. The Reaper is truly scary.
We also find out a little about Max’s past, when he is contacted by the father of the young man that had murdered Max’s daughter. Shane McFarlane’s son had died, and the father wants Max’s help to find his killer. Max, although still grieving, recognises another father in pain and agrees to help.
So we have the two strands set up with Max at the middle of both, and as you might guess he will find himself in danger, indeed he’ll put himself in danger to draw out the Reaper lurking in the the city’s underbelly. Running through the novel is a strong sense of social justice and comment on the situation of Auckland’s homeless. There is one particularly awful local politician who wants to rid the city of this inconvient problem. The Reaper is doing him a favour. Yeugh!
The Reaper is gritty, violent and a thoroughly addictive read because of Max. He cares, and so do we.
Orenda books, paperback original, 248 pages.
