Review: An enticing mixture of murder mystery, mafia thriller, and noir comedy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2013
Perhaps it is unnecessary to place an author in a category except that it just my entice readers who enjoy said category to pick up this novel and read it. Terry Murphy has that peculiar and utterly absorbing British bent for making bad things happen and at the same time linger long enough to find the human comedy in everything. It is this sort of tongue in cheek approach that makes WEEKEND IN WEIGHTON a mystery embroidered with droll humor that satisfies those who love mysteries as well as those who happen to appreciate British humor.Quite quickly, the novel is a murder mystery whose central character is one Eddie Greene, a smart-mouthed private investigator from the small town of Weighton who tangles with a crime boss while trying to find the killer of his first client Helen Porson - a murder that by Eddie's proximity to the event places him as a suspect. Reluctant to trust the local police he is off and running to solve the case, clear his name, survive the subterfuge and assaults, all the while uncovering Weighton's criminal underworld, the `fine-and-upstanding mayor', and a pair of ominous strangers with the uncanny tendency to turn up wherever there's trouble. Told in Greene's mouthy, trashy talk, that manages to at the same time be endearing, this entertaining tale is part whodunit, gang mentality, and funky small town on its collective ear mystery - with a big dollop of humor on the side. Grady Harp, September 13