Well-rounded, sympathetic characters have always been a hallmark of Harvey’s work, and he’s at his best here. Katherine’s mood swings are uncomfortably real, as she’s desperately in love one minute and the next just plain desperate. Cad though he is, her feckless lover, the painter Anthony Winter, is still recognizably human. But the richest character of all is Elder himself, tough on the job but stopped in his tracks by a song.
John Harvey...wraps up another first-class series with Body & Soul ... Harvey’s taut, fast-paced plotting and lean prose lead to a heartbreaking climax. Body and Soul is both a top-notch procedural and a powerful tale of a gulf between a father and daughter—and the ties that can bind them together.
Harvey’s lean prose and fast pace keep the pages turning, and even if you haven’t read the first three books in the series, it’s quite easy to become fully invested in these characters without feeling like you’re missing something. A few terrifying twists up the stakes and a shocking finale will have readers reeling. Procedural fans with a soft spot for P.I. tales will love this, but a father’s love and a young woman trying desperately to crawl out of the darkness and into the light are at the heart of this crackling tale.
From the start, mood dominates in this tale, which is both a conventional detective story and a tale of unquenchable fatherly love ... Harvey...weaves a story of deep emotional truth, with good people seeking to restore lost things and regretting their memories ... There's enough tension in this book to please any lover of a good detective story and quality writing that will satisfy general fiction fans.
Harvey writes with great power about the disappointments and tragedies of living, and he always digs deep into the emotional recesses of his characters—all of which makes the devastating ending of this remarkable novel all the more powerful.
At the start of British author Harvey’s darkly atmospheric fourth and final novel featuring former Nottingham detective inspector Frank Elder ... Only some predictable action leading to the intense climax mars Harvey’s heart-wrenching send-off.
