An audio book.
Whose fault is it if a character dies? The author's or the reader's?
Kate, a 40 y.o. writer, wakes in an attic. She's asked by her captor (The Wolf - he wears a latex mask) to write murder stories in the style of fairy tales so he can enact them. His previous captive refused. He killed her.
Kate writes a Cinderella-based piece where a rich girl buys a cheap dress. He goes and kidnaps a rich girl, Grace, brings her back to the house. Kate notices that her own room contains her old books. Maybe if she wrote a chapter about her escape, she'd escape.
Lyla, a hard-working detective (her boss is Rebecca, her colleague is Jimmy), investigates the case. 25 years before, her friend Alison disappeared, a poisoned red/green apple left behind. Alison had helped Lyla when her parents died. She visits Grace and Francis's house in Lymington. She meets a herb/mushroom seller, Millicent, at a market. She thinks that the wood tells her things, that the myceleum passes on messages. Lyla thinks a police person is leaking info to the press.
The writer writes another story, making the Wolf the hero. She writes a story about twins killed in a wood. She drops clues into the stories, hoping the police will discover them. She explores the house. There's a cellar, of course. She gets trapped there.
Teresa, now a journalist, was at school with Lyla, and had made fun of her when Alison disappeared. When a body is found, Teresa's at the press meeting. Then dead twins are found, sprinkled with gingerbread crumbs and myceleum.
Lyla finds a book called "Little Red Death" in a BskyB-style cottage. She's a character in it. Back home, she realises that she's never seen her flatmate Annie. She knows as much about her as there would be in an introductory paragraph. They just leave each other notes. She questions Annie's reality, then her own and Alison's.
Kate learns that (the Wolf's?) ex was killed by someone who copied the method from a book written by Kate's predecessor.
She can hear Kate's voice in her head. Kate explains about the red herrings, and points out that murderers should be introduced early. The next body is found on the Isle of Wight.
The kidnapper leaves Kate with pills and drink. She tries to kill herself. Lyla saves her and calls an ambulance.
The next story is based on Rapunzel. Rebecca uses extensions. She's kidnapped.
Tattooist Ellen recognises the tattoo - the Wolf is Ben Unsworth. Alison had been his sister by adoption. There's been no record of Alison for years. The police see Unsworth in a boat called "The Tower" and follow him. Katy's shot by the Wolf, who falls overboard. She thanks Lyla for giving her meaning. Jimmy is knifed. Lyla finds Alison in the boat. She's one of the Wolf's writers. But is someone writing her? Lyla works out that when a person has tinnitus it's because they're being written about. She says she was molested by her father and ran away from home. Lyla was Alison's imaginary friend. She tells Lyla that she's the lead character and that lead characters always have a choice. Writers leave breadcrumbs of their selves. The murderer gives them 3 guesses about his/her identity. Rebecca's behind it all.
It's an audio book, so I expect I missed many allusions and connections. I like many of the constituent ideas (the tinnitus for example) and the overall meta-plot. Sometimes (e.g. when Lyra hears Katy in her head) a mechanism feels like an easy way out of a technical problem. In a world where anything is possible I like there to be some rules. Maybe the rule is that only the lead character can communicate telepathically with the author?
Other reviews
- Jen Med (A kind of Grimm fairy tales, police investigation, metafiction mash up)
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