The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet
| The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Social climbing turns to murder in this debut novel. Whilst I wouldn't recommend this book, the author will be one to watch in the future. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: March 2024 |
| Publisher: Faber & Faber | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: {{{isbn}}} | |
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Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.
There is darkness in Edward's past but it's not a secret. He was involved in an accident on the rugby field when he was at school and another boy died from a brain injury. Edward's not blamed for what happened but knows the intent was there. Robert has a secret in his past and he'd like it to stay there but he's being blackmailed. It's another problem he'd like Edward to sort out. He has a lever: Edward once broke into Robert's house.
I'm finding it difficult to give a balanced review of The Kellerby Code. It's darker than I was expecting and this is not to my taste. That's a personal matter and I've tried to put it to one side as far as possible. I found the plotting weak. I lost count of the number of times that I groaned as Edward did something stupid such as agreeing to become involved in a major crime in exchange for Robert's silence over something which was nothing more than a minor embarrassment. Laughter and an apology would have settled the matter. The writing, on the other hand, is overworked and occasionally tortuous. There were times when a simple statement would have more than sufficed.
I had a further problem. In addition to reading the review copy of the book sent to me by the publishers, I listened to a download which I bought myself. The narrator is Jack Davenport and he has a good range of voices and the pacing is excellent. He handles the tension of the story well but the voice he used for Robert Pepper was as close to Boris Johnson's as possible. It was difficult not to compare the two characters and it took something away from the story for me.
I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.
As I read The Kellerby Code I was put in mind of The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald came off better but this is Sweet's debut novel so the comparison is probably not entirely fair.
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