Flawed

July 23, 2007
In Bannister’s emotionally weighty seventh Brodie Farrell mystery (after 2006’s Requiem for a Dealer
), Farrell panics when her unexpected pregnancy threatens the continued success of her business—Looking for Something?—an eclectic problem-solving agency in Dimmock, England. One of her paramours, mathematics teacher Daniel Hood, delays his return to the classroom to serve as her assistant and eventual caretaker of the company. When a former student happens by, Hood soon determines that the boy is being beaten at home and quickly identifies his father, affluent and powerful attorney Adam Selkirk, as the guilty party. The bulk of the plot centers on Hood’s amateurish efforts to intervene in the dysfunctional Selkirk family and Farrell’s conflicted attitude toward the men in her life. Readers will be most satisfied if they approach this as a novel that happens to involve a criminal investigation, an impression enhanced by Bannister’s quiet prose style and emphasis on relationships.

Starred review from September 1, 2007
Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon is asked to help out on a case involving a childhood friend who is thought to be a major criminal. At the same time, Brodie Farrell ("Requiem for a Dealer"), who is now pregnant with Deacon's second child, has turned to her old friend Daniel Hood for help in running her private investigation agency, a move that adds tension to her already strained relationship with Deacon. The couple's inability to share an honest conversation places Brodie in a precarious situation; Deacon needs his deducing skills to ferret out political mine traps and the hidden agendas of others in the police force. The ending is shocking and unexpected. Bannister creates great characters and, much like John Harvey and Deborah Crombie, spins emotionally charged plots. She lives in Northern Ireland. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 5/1/07.]

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
Bannisters latest Brodie Farrell mystery is chockablock with plots, subplots, and sub-subplots. But Bannister skilfully weaves the disparate story lines together and offers up an intriguing, thoroughly entertaining read. When Brodie discovers shes pregnant with the child of her former lover, Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, shes shocked and overwhelmed. Brodies friend, math teacher Daniel Hood, steps in to support Brodie, which hes more than willing to do since hes been secretly in love with her for years. Brodies ex-lover Jack faces his own problems: Detective Inspector Alix Hyde from the Organized Crime Agency is sent in to bring down local Mob boss Terry Walsh. Nailing Walsh could be Alixs ticket to her much-desired promotion, and she doesnt care who she steps on (Jack), insults (Jack), or uses to get what she wants (Jack, again). But the most poignant subplot focuses on Daniels discovery that one of his former students is being abused by his father, a high-powered London lawyer. A masterfully written story that is as provocative as it is engaging.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)