saturday morning

If the classic mystery writer is to keep her covenant with the reader (PD James calls it “playing fair”, though she may be taking up a slyer position than first seems), large volumes of data must be conveyed. Any channel is acceptable. The cast face front & announce themselves, adding a brief genealogy, a short CV, some personal history, a rationale for their behaviour to date. That explains the woodenness, but not the sheer unlikeability, of the characters in The Private Patient.

About these ads