The Child Before (DI Finnegan Beck #2) by Michael Scanlon
Genre: Crime Fiction
Read: 25th May 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 5th June 2019)
(release date: 5th June 2019)
★★ 2 stars
THE CHILD BEFORE is the second in the DI Finnegan Beck series by Michael Scanlon and I held out high hopes for this book after enjoying the first one. Sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations. The description made it sound for interesting reading and, having enjoyed the first one, I was looking forward to this book.
I was really interested to see where Beck would go after being redeemed and restored to his former rank of Detective Inspector but the only positive I could find remotely interesting in him this time round was his giving up the drink. Having said that, he did get himself completely blotto towards the end of the book and I thought "Why?"
THE CHILD BEFORE opens with alternating chapters between the present and some 60 years prior in 1954 in narrative. The historical narrative is of a young boy who witnesses the traumatic removal of his mother by the local police following the disappearance of his baby sister, Bernadette. The mother is covered in blood so naturally the police believe she has killed the baby. I thought "this sounds promising" but then after half a dozen or so chapters, they stopped. Presumably because we learnt the identity of the boy in the historical narrative. But what of THAT mystery?
The present narrative features the return of Detective Inspector Finnegan Beck, who had been demoted and relocated from Dublin to Cross Beg after a questionable shooting. He was cleared in the previous book and restored to his former rank of Detective Inspector. As in the first book, he continues his struggle with alcohol but I was pleased to see he had embraced sobriety and attended AA meetings. His so-called friend, Dr Gumball, also the State Pathologist, spent his free time drinking himself to oblivion and seemed rather put out that Beck now chooses not to. I could have throttled the selfishness out of Gumball for belittling a man who was taking sobriety seriously.
Beck's latest case involves the murder of Samantha Power, who was discovered in the wood of desolate village Kellys Forge with her throat slashed open, and the disappearance of her baby daughter Roisin. The team work simultaneously investigating Samantha's horrific murder and in the search for Roisin, in the hope the baby is still alive. Whilst this is the central story arc in the book, there are other sub plots going on beneath the surface as characters deal with issues in their own lives as we try to figure out who may be responsible.
When a second body is discovered the case hits much closer to home making it personal for the team as they endeavour to solve both murders. As the investigation builds it becomes apparent everyone has secrets of their own and those woven into the storyline slowly begin to surface.
THE CHILD BEFORE is peppered with some colourful characters who are woven neatly into the story. Claire Somers, Beck's partner whose own relationship issues surface, has recently married her journalist partner Lucy Grimes and the couple have unsuccessfully been trying for a baby. Lucy doesn't feature in this story as much as she did in the previous book, except through mention. Inspector O'Reilly, who has been a thorn in Beck's side since his arrival in Cross Beg. He doesn't rally like Beck and made it known when he was of a senior rank before Beck's rank was restored, making them now of the same rank. Superintendent Wilde - not sure about him. He was pretty chummy with O'Reilly in the first book and they appeared to be "against" Beck at the time. In this book, he is more on the side of his officers. Vicky, a journalist also in AA with Beck though I'm confused as to where she first popped up or how she really fit in. She just seemed to be there with no real purpose. And then there are potential suspects. Maurice Crabby, who runs the local supermarket and appears to be somewhat strange. Billy Hamilton, Roisin's father and Samantha's violent ex. Edward Roche, her current partner who seemed to be a bit of a bully himself. Mikey Power, Samantha's brother who scarpered to Australia ten year before but was back on holiday. He annoyed me with his constant use of Aussie slang calling everyone "mate" and using terms no real Aussie actually uses. I should know - I'm Australian and when a writer from lands afar portrays an Aussie, it just seems ts false. It was irritating, to say the least.
I enjoy most crime thrillers and mysteries but I can't say I enjoyed this one much. I found it somewhat disjointed which is a shame considering I loved "Where She Lies" (the first one) and was looking forward to this one. However, I found THE CHILD BEFORE lacking in depth and believability. Unlike most books where everything is tied up neatly, this book fails to do so. I was left with unanswered questions as to what happened to the child that disappeared in 1954 and its mother now in a sanatorium, amongst other things. If you are going to introduce a mystery from half a century ago, the least you can do is bring some form of closure to it in solving it! The only answer we got for it was a "monster". Instead, it's just filed away as something or other one can't be bothered to deal with. I was most disappointed and felt cheated.
While the book does move at a decent pace, I found it a disappointing follow-up to the first Beck novel and I hope the third one is an improvement.
I would like to thank #MichaelScanlon, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheChildBefore in exchange for an honest review.
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