Nothing Important Happened Today

Starred review from July 20, 2020
In the prologue to Carver’s outstanding second mystery featuring London Detective Sergeant Pace (after 2018’s Good Samaritans), a man’s corpse is discovered a year after he apparently committed suicide by handcuffing himself to a tree in a remote forest and throwing away the key. In the main narrative, nine nameless individuals who call themselves “The People of Choice,” each movingly describe their lives. Another unidentified narrator ruminates about the psychology of cults and the mistakes made by notorious serial killers. In due course, the nine all turn up at Chelsea Bridge and hang themselves in full view of horrified bystanders. Meanwhile, Pace is undergoing psychotherapy to be cleared for a return to duty, but he’s not sharing his belief that he’s the epicenter of “bad things.” When Pace learns of the group suicide, his professional curiosity moves him to investigate. The gut-punch ending explains the death in the prologue. Fans of classic downbeat noir from Cornell Woolrich and the like will find Carver has brilliantly translated their themes for the 21st century. Agent: Blake Friedmann, Blake Friedmann Literary (U.K.).