Blacklight Blue

August 4, 2008
In May’s dark, intense third mystery to feature Scottish forensic scientist Enzo Macleod, Enzo takes on his third cold case described in a book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin—the murder of a “rent boy” 16 years earlier—but Enzo’s investigation runs into trouble after he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer and he’s framed for murder. Evidently, the rent boy’s killer fears Enzo will solve the crime if he ever gets a chance. May makes the French settings sharply real, while creating a seething tangle of emotional conflicts between Enzo and the people around him. By novel’s end, the overall plot, like the emotional relationships, isn’t really settled, which may feel frustrating—or may hook readers into following the developments of an unusually compelling ongoing saga. Those already familiar with the previous two books in the series, Extraordinary People
(2006) and The Critic
(2007), will be at an advantage.

One tends to approach this title timidly because of its subtitle. Should one have listened to the first two Enzo Files? No need. Simon Vance boldly introduces the listener to Enzo Macleod, a Scots forensic scientist who has already solved two of seven cold cases written about in a book by a Parisian journalist. In this third (and maybe his last--Macleod has been diagnosed with a terminal illness), Enzo searches for clues to solve the murder of a boy 16 years earlier. Vance uses his natural British voice in the narrative passages but delivers Enzo appropriately with a heavy Scots brogue, and the villain with a pure French accent. Thanks to Vance's well-rounded reading, the listener is motivated to immediately take in the earlier two titles. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine