She Treads Softly: Unsound

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Unsound

Unsound by Heather Critchlow
9/5/24; 349 pages
Canelo Crime
Cal Lovett Files #3

Unsound by Heather Critchlow is a very highly recommended mystery and the third book in the Cal Lovett series.

Cal, a true crime podcaster, has a life in transition. He is in the midst of the trial to convict his sister's killer. His daughter Chrissie is leaving home for the university in Edinburgh. He is the only one to keep track of his elderly mother and Shona, his girlfriend, wants them to live together. When unforeseen circumstances delay the trial, Shona brings a new case to his attention. A friend of hers had her nineteen-year-old son, Arran, disappear from college and seemingly from the face of the earth. Nothing was ever discovered by the police. His parents have been looking for closure for years. Cal heads to Edinburgh to look for clues about what happened to Arran.

The narrative alternates between the past and the present. Cal in the present day investigation is looking into Arran's disappearance. Alternate chapters follow Arran's story in the past when he arrives at the university and makes three close friends. Both time periods are equally interesting and compelling. The novel is well paced and the plot moves forward quickly with some surprising twists along the way. The final denouement was unpredictable. I thought I had figured it out but I was

Unsound is a well-written, compelling mystery and the third book in a series. The first two are Unsolved and Unburied. Admittedly, I started with Unsound and haven't read the first two - yet. Although it was still easy to extrapolate much of what happened in the two previous books, this novel was enjoyable enough that I'd recommend reading the whole series, if possible, before starting Unsound. I have a feeling that it would have made this third novel even more enjoyable.

In any event, Unsound is an excellent fast-paced mystery. Thanks to Canelo Crime for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.