About the Book
You.
Yes, you, reading this.
Get in the car.
Sit in the back – you’re joining the detective and the other guy who’s driving. They’re both in the front. Don’t think about the other guy. He’s not important.
You’re going to the West Heart clubhouse. The country club that’s so swanky it’s in the title of this book. Kill. It’s not that kind of kill. Or maybe it is, after all.
You arrive, it’s the Fourth of July weekend and look – there’s cocktails on the lawn. What’s your poison
Don’t flick forward. You just have to wait. Especially for the part when you find out what happens on page XX.
Format: Paperback (288 pages) Publisher: Raven Books
Publication date: 4th July 2024 Genre: Crime
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My Review
You. Yes, you reading this review. How do you fancy a murder mystery where the story is frequently interrupted by a case study, a questionnaire, a definition of a term or a musing on the history of the genre? Or where the author addresses you directly, telling you what you’re thinking at any particular point. Or admits that the next few paragraphs aren’t going to be particularly interesting. Or makes a point of drawing attention to the fact the narrative has switched from first person to third person or, wait for it, to first person plural. We’re not sure, are we?
Assuming you haven’t stopped reading by now, does this all sound…
a) Clever?
b) Too clever by half?
[Choose one option only]
If you leave aside all the discursive elements, the plot is actually a fairly conventional whodunnit set in a community cut off from the outside world and generously populated with characters who have both motive and opportunity to commit a murder. It’s set in 1975 which means conveniently no internet or mobile phones. There’s even a final theatrical gathering together of all the suspects before the culprit is revealed, although perhaps you won’t be surprised that this doesn’t provide all the answers. I suspect the author was chuckling away to himself as he wrote the final paragraph. This reader had a rather different reaction.
West Heart Kill is likely to divide readers. Some will find it refreshingly original, others utterly infuriating. I was somewhere in between.
My thanks to Graeme Williams and Bloomsbury for my review copy.
In three words: Inventive, provoking, clever
Try something similar: The Appeal by Janice Hallett
About the Author
Dann McDorman is an Emmy-nominated TV news producer. He’s also worked as a newspaper reporter, book reviewer, and cabinetmaker.
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children. West Heart Kill is his debut novel.
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