September 13th, 2008
Review – Our Lady of Pain
Our Lady of Pain
by Elena Forbes
There are several things that I look for in a mystery. The story should make me care about the characters. There should be plenty of clues. The solution should be an “of course” moment. It should be well-paced. “Our Lady of Pain” has all of these. The author does a great job of avoiding the “sophomore jinx” by writing a good follow-up to the first book in her series.
Rachel Tenison, a beautiful art dealer, is found dead in a park one snowy winter morning. Her body is found in a way that suggests a sadistic killer. Who wanted her dead? Was it her business partner, Richard Greville? Her half-brother, MP Patrick Tenison? Her occasional lover, Jason Bourne? Her friend, Liz Volpe? And is this murder related to the murder of Catherine Watson? Detectives Mark Tartaglia and Sam Donovan have to sift through the clues and find the killer. There are enough suspects and clues as well as red-herrings to keep the story moving.
London is a used well as a backdrop in this “noir” mystery where it is always either snowing, raining, or night time. The author creates a dark atmosphere which permeates the story and helps creates a sense of impending evil. It’s not the greatest mystery ever written but as an entertaining read it fills the requirements. If you are looking for something fast and cleverly written, then you can do a lot worse than “Our Lady of Pain”.
