The Goldenacre features a dense cast of vivid characters, not least Tallis, a tortured pilgrim worthy of a Graham Greene tale...The book—which explores through prose the interplay between light and darkness in the physical and moral worlds—is an ambitious and wonderfully realized work.
There are a few concessions to the spirit of the times – a lady, for instance, who intends to remove her family collection from the gallery because the paintings were bought with money made from slave plantations in the West Indies – but this is tolerable...What is unusual, if credible, is the author’s readiness to leave some crimes unresolved...There is, however, a nice and by no means unlikely twist to the tale, although the final chapter strains credulity...That said, not every question is answered...So some may feel unsatisfied...Nevertheless, this is for the most part a more convincing novel than the common run of Tartan Noir....This is Miller’s third novel, unusual and elegant...I haven’t read his previous ones, but I shall look out for them now, and look forward to his next one.
While Sandison investigates the murder of a local artist and then a city councilman, the Post’s spiraling demise threatens to make her expendable...Tallis digs deeper into the provenance of The Goldenacre, his path ultimately intersecting with Sandison’s...Together they unearth layers of lies, corruption, and deceit...In a style recalling the brutal dreariness of le Carré, Miller describes a pivotal character as 'sharp and severe as a snapped bone'...It’s also an apt description of this biting tale of society in decline...Noir fans won’t want to miss it.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
