There's a lot to fear in this world, but when something goes bump in the night, it isn't ghosts that haunt me."

The fact that Wigan is tasked with infiltrating London’s rare and second-hand book industry allows Farmer to work his bountiful knowledge of the trade into the story. For instance, Wigan spends a great deal of time pounding the pavement on Tottenham Court Road as he trails from one book dealer to the next, looking for people who knew and might have had reason to kill Fisk. A persistent Middlesex police officer plunges into the surprisingly cutthroat world of bookselling in this savory reprint first published in 1956.

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Sometimes Roach sounds like such an insufferable not-like-other-girls, sometimes Laura sounds like a tryhard London literary type – there are points where both of them will make you roll your eyes. Yet as dark as Roach’s story gets, it’s hard not to extend compassion to her, because the narrative is always extending compassion to her too. It’s the same thing with Laura: she’s often an absolute mess, and we see how her behaviour parallels Roach’s in ways she’d no doubt be reluctant to admit – but we get why. If at first it seems clear that Roach is the dark and Laura the light, somewhere along the line both characters are painted such similar shades of grey that they blend and bleed into each other.

Alice Slater absolutely NAILS the pacing in this. Not so fast that you lose out on the detail & feeling of suspense, but gripping enough that I binge-read the whole thing in a couple of days. a collaborator of the detective, suddenly disappears and Wigan doesn't care too much about what might have happened to him ... not seeing him, he thinks he will wait a few more days to look for him, even though he knows that the situation could be dangerous ... and then in reality he doesn't even look for the man!

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But when did I ever agree with the majority on books? It’s an oddity, certainly – not the greatest prose and the plot is rather loose and rambly, and there’s a weird thread running through it where sensible and rational people all seem to find the idea of raising the devil and demons not just possible, but quite likely. But for all that, I found that once I got used to the rather plain writing style I enjoyed it, and as it progressed towards the end, I got fully caught up in the story and found the tension building nicely. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. Roach feels Laura is as interested in the morbid and macabre as she is even though Laura’s contempt for Roach is obvious but she is determined to know everything about her life regardless of the consequences. The story explores the danger of our fascination with true crime and as a person who only really reads thrillers and listens to true crime Podcasts, it made me take a pause and think about whether I am too drawn to these areas and whether I need to explore other areas of interest. But Laura (our other POV) and the object of Roach’s obsession has no interest in being friends with her. Having suffered from the trauma of losing her mother at the hands of a serial killer, Laura is physically repulsed by Roach’s fascination with serial killers and avoids all overtures of friendship.

The author worked for a time as a policeman so the details of police procedures and office politics seem convincing. Unfortunately, as a write Bernard Farmer is plodding and clumsy. He explains, he summarizes, he tells us what to think. This book has been praised for its plotting, but I found many of the twists and turns wildly improbable, especially when supernatural elements come to be involved. The climactic scene of confession is just ridiculous. Partly I just didn't enjoy being in Roach's head. She's a great creation in the spirit of The Wasp Factory, The Magus etc--a really unpleasant person made up of whining, unjustified smugness, and self justification--but I think I prefer looking at horrible people rather than inhabiting them, at least over long stretches. And also, by 30% we hadn't really got anywhere in plot terms: Roach is becoming more stalky and Laura doesn't like her, repeat. I DNFd because I just didn't want to spend time in this world without a propulsive plot. /shrugs./ YMMV and probably will. a villain who confesses to a murder because if he doesn't confess the devil will be summoned and the devil will turn his mother into a rat ... hey come on ! The book is set in the 50's and not in the middle ages, who can believe such threats?The writing style is odd and simplistic, but not calculatedly so. It reminded me of the narration of Edgar Lustgarten's Scotland Yard true crime series shown on British TV years ago, a sort of flat pseudojournalese . The plot, concerning the murder of a bookman, also manages to drag in witchcraft, spiritualism and psychology, all very unconvincing and dull. I would probably advise not to read it before bed. I did, and then dreamt about serial killers. But if that’s your thing, then I won’t stop you.