In the last novel in the British crime writer's series about Frank Elder, the titular private eye grapples with his 23-year-old daughter's abuse by an older artist who ends up dead—with Katherine the main suspect in his murder.
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.
