ROUGH CIDER

by Peter Lovesey ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1987

Like recent novels by Peter Dickinson, Robert Barnard, and Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell), Lovesey's new mystery is in the form of an investigation into the past, an exercise in troubled (and perhaps confused) memory--focusing on Theo Sinclair, a lame, youngish university lecturer (in 1964) who is forced to relive the traumas of his WW II childhood. This recollective journey begins when Theo is confronted by a young American woman named Alice, the daughter of G.I. ""Duke"" Donovan--who, stationed in 1943 England, befriended little Theo Sinclair, an evacuee living on the Lockwoods' apple farm. And Alice wants Theo to tell her all he can remember--about Duke's apparent romance with young Barbara Lockwood, and about the crime Duke was hanged for: killing the local youth who (as witnessed by nine-year-old Theo) raped lovely Barbara (who herself then committed suicide). In pursuit of more detailed memories, Theo (reluctant) and Alice (frenetic) revisit the rural scene-of-the-crime, seeking out other witnesses to the tragic goings-on. And it soon becomes clear that Theo's childhood perceptions might have been flawed (could he have mistaken mutual lust for rape?), that Duke was probably innocent, and that the real murderer is still at large 20 years later. . .and still dangerous. Despite echoes of The Go-Between and other innocence/sensuality dramas, the revelations here don't quite deliver the anticipated psychological layers. Theo is a pallid hero overall, in fact, while Alice, whose American speech is lamely rendered, is mostly just strident. Nonetheless, even if not up to Lovesey's highest standards, this is darkly atmospheric crime-reconstruction--best in the evocation of wartime apple-picking, wary country-folk, and grisly surprises in the cider keg.

Pub Date: May 1, 1987

ISBN: 1569472289

Page Count: -

Publisher: Mysterious Press--dist. by Ballantine

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION