Death of a Murderer

Starred review from June 11, 2007
Thomson (The Insult
) takes the death of real-life British serial sex murderer Myra Hindley, who died of natural causes in prison years after her crimes, as the starting point for his riveting eighth novel. Billy Tyler, an underachieving, unambitious policeman, gets the night shift guarding the killer's body, which lies in a hospital morgue before cremation. During Billy's 12-hour vigil, he reflects on his troubles with his wife, Sue; their Down syndrome child, Emma; lost love, friendship and death. In several perfectly drawn scenes, the ghost of “Britain's most hated woman” (Hindley is never named) appears, drawing Billy into discussions that leave him troubled and confused about the nature of evil and the possibility that it exists within us all. The writing is quietly brilliant: “The night smelt musty, thrilling. Cow parsley, fox fur. The breath of owls.” At one point Billy thinks to himself, “Certain stories lodge like rusty hooks in the soft flesh of the mind. You cannot free yourself.” Readers will agree; this fine novel is one of those unforgettable stories. Author tour.

July 1, 2007
In Thomson's latest, set in Britain in 2002, a policeman's all-night guard duty becomes an occasion for soul-searching. While spending a long night in a hospital morgue guarding the body of a notorious female serial killer, Officer Billy Tyler is visited by memories and ghosts as he contemplates the disappointed dreams of his marriage, the challenges of raising a daughter with Down syndrome, and old lovers and friends the situation calls to mind. He struggles to come to terms with the memory of childhood friend Trevor, who claims to have been abducted by the woman Billy is now guarding, as well as his complex and unresolved feelings toward school friend Raymond Percival, with whom he took a notable trip to the Continent. Visited by the ghost of the old murderer, he is brought face to face with his own capability for evil as he reflects on his dealings with the abusive father of former lover Venetia. Thomson ("Divided Kingdom") has crafted a deeply introspective work that memorably probes dark questions of love, guilt, and self. Recommended for public libraries.Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, Andover, MA

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2007
A woman who has spent 30 years in prison for comitting the most heinous crimes imaginablethe torture and murder of childrenhas finally died, and Billy Tyleris assigned a 12-hour shift guarding the killers body at the hospital morgue. Throughout the long night, he reflects on his life, recalls his past failures as a husband and father, and even speaks with the ghost of the killer. The series of murders, so deeply scarred into Britains collective consciousness, is a reflection of our current cycle of national tragedy: those rare news items against which you defined yourself and which are sadly becoming ever less rare. As a stand-in for all of us, Billy is properly repulsed but inwardly fascinated bythe killer'scapacity to travel beyond the limits of human behavior to a point where good and evil are no longer even relevant. One tick worse than a monster, she is human. You may not think youd want to follow Thomson in his remarkable act of fortitude through our deepest, most troubled thoughts. But you do.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)