MY DARTMOOR DOZEN PART FOUR

7] PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE:

It has been such a long time since I read any Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine psychological suspense novels that I have chosen The Reunion by Simone Van Der Vlugt which I read recently, and reviewed here. 

You can read another review of The Reunion by Crimeficreader here. 

Most of the story involves  Sabine struggling to recapture her repressed memories from the day her friend Isabel went missing nine years before, but there is a very interesting sub plot concerning a form of abuse in the work place. This is such a common practice in many organizations when they "restructure" that I am surprised more is not written about it. 

"Sabine, did you send that authorisation to Pricewaterhouse yesterday? I've got an email here asking where it has got to go."

"Authorisation? Which authorisation?" I ask.

"The authorisation I asked you to send yesterday. I left a note on your computer because I had to leave. You did see it, didn't you? It was right in the middle of your computer screen."

"I didn't see a note."

Sabine in The Reunion gives us an idea of what it is like to be both ostracized and bullied in school and then later in the workplace, and the psychological damage this causes. 

You can read another review with nice maps here at Steph's blog, Wheredunnit.

8] CAPER AND COMIC CRIME FICTION:

The choice in this category was a difficult decision to make, but then I thought which book has made me laugh the most since I started Crime Scraps and I chose The Big O by Declan Burke, reviewed here. 

Characters are probably more important than the plot in comic crime books and in The Big O Declan's quirky creations kept me giggling for days after I had finished the book. 

I particularly liked Frank, the crap plastic surgeon, whose problems included Karen, his receptionist who moonlighted holding up gas stations, Madge his ex -wife, his demanding twin daughters, and the medical ethics committee. When Frank decides to arrange for Madge to be kidnapped in order to claim the ransom from an insurance company...... Well read the book which as well as being packed with laughs has some philosophical wisdom as well.

That's was when it finally dawned on him: it's not the way a woman looks, it's the way she looks at you.