The Flood (A Fiona MacLeish Crime Thriller, #1)

by G. N. Smith

[Jeff Sexton]

Atmospheric Novel Can Get Repetitive At Times. This is one of those detective novels - not really a police procedural, since it is almost a "locked room" scenario (with the "room" in question being a sequestered area of a small town) with only a single detective available - where the setting seems as much as character as any of the actual human characters. Smith manages to put the reader right in the titular flood and the fight for survival from both the elements and the murderer that only our detective knows lurks in their midst. And yet, in repeating the detective's personal motivation *so* often... Smith does in fact get repetitive enough to at least warrant mentioning in the review. Indeed, it becomes as tedious at times as seeming *every* Batman movie with a new actor portraying the character having to do some version of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders, or every new Spiderman movie having to do some version of Uncle Ben's murder. With those franchises... guys, we get it. We already know these characters. With this particular book... the first mention was solid character development. Maybe a reference back here or there could have been good. But to be hit with a near word for word repetition of the motivation *so many times*... the editing could have been better here, at minimum. Beyond this though, the story itself was quite strong indeed, even within the "locked room" type space, and the overall plotting was quite solid, with the tension ratcheting up at a fairly steady pace and the reveals coming at enough of a clip to keep the pages turning. Overall a strong series starter and I'm interested to see where we're going here. Very much recommended.