Detective Chief Inspector Mark Lapslie suffers from an unusual and quite debilitating condition: synaesthesia. Almost any sound he hears, he also experiences as a taste. A crowd of people speaking causes hundreds of different flavors to roll through his mouth: a door slam, a phone’s ring, anything and all of it combines to make him feel nauseous, angry and afraid. The condition has ruined his marriage, and it’s starting to destroy his career as well.
He’s working from home, writing security reports, when he is called back out into the field to investigate the torture and murder of a television personality. Shortly thereafter, a car bomb kills a commuter. These two unconnected high-profile cases force Lapslie back into the public eye, on a job where he is finding it very difficult to cope.
Nigel McCrery’s other book featuring Lapslie, STILL WATERS, suffered from a contrived plot and the fact that the synaesthesia gimmick, while interesting, wasn’t very integral to what was going on. Both those problems are fixed in his newest, TOOTH AND CLAW. The plot, while still quite a bit over-the-top, has more believability, and this time, McCrery’s affliction actually helps solve the cases, in a very unique way.
It’s true, however, that Lapslie is not unique in crime fiction: T. Jefferson Parker also has a character, Robbie Brownlaw, who suffers from synaesthesia in THE FALLEN, but apparently, that was a one-off. Regardless, I hope this series continues.
McCrery has an emotional touch with his characters, drawing them complete with warts and bouquets, which instantly connects you to Lapslie and his colleagues. The topic of synaesthesia is fascinating in its own right, and the author uses it to full advantage in this tale. It’s worth a read. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• STILL WATERS by Nigel McCrery
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