It’s not often you get a mystery set in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia, but that’s the mean streets beat of Nergui and Doripalam — the former an official at the Ministry of Security, the latter a chief police inspector — featured in Michael Walters’ THE SHADOW WALKER. The location is definitely the star of the show, and Walters uses it to good effect, tying it logically into the plot, and showcasing Mongolian customs and habits in a natural, realistic way.
But that’s as far as it goes, unfortunately. For some reason, a third detective is brought onto the scene, Chief Inspector Drew McLeish from England, and all he really does is get in the way and make one wonder why we needed him in the first place. The far more intriguing character interplay between Nergui (the superior) and Doripalam (the qualified subordinate getting his big chance) is somewhat ignored in order to give more time to McLeish.
This trio is assigned to find the perpetrator of a series of grisly murders and mutilations. Corpses adding up in the city means a blow to the tourism industry, and it’s their job to find the culprit. However, their rather remarkably bungled investigation flails about the Mongolian countryside, as the killer seems to remain always one step ahead.
For all the brutality and frequency of the murders in the storyline, the excitement level is somewhat dulled. Walters insists on telling us over and over again how enigmatic is Nergui, and how strange is the world of Mongolia, instead of just showing us and letting us figure it out. Dialogue is a little wooden, and the story tends to drag.
Perhaps fewer bodies, fewer main characters and a sharper focus on the investigation would have helped. Still, there is some definite promise here, and the Mongolian angle is fresh. Another book may allow Walters to tighten up his prose and plot and then we’d really have something indeed. —Mark Rose
Related posts:
- Sun and Shadow
- A Test of Wills / A Long Shadow
- Night Walker
- The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls
- The Shadow: Crime, Insured / The Golden Vulture
