Monday, November 29, 2021

At First Light by Barbara Nickless

 
First Line: Every murderer creates his own story.
 
The banks of the Calumet River yield a grisly find: the body of a man posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Detective in charge of the case, Addie Bisset, knows there is one man who can properly interpret the scene: brilliant forensic semiotician Dr. Evan Wilding, her close friend.
 
Wilding quickly sees that the glyphs are Viking runes which suggest either a human sacrifice or a righteous punishment. But which is it? And why? The only thing that's clear is that there are more deaths to come.
 
As Wilding races to find the identity of the media-named Viking Poet, he and Addie uncover the killer's motive. Time is definitely of the essence now because Dr. Evan Wilding is right in the killer's crosshairs.
 
~
 
Since I am a fan of Barbara Nickless' series featuring railroad detective Sydney Rose Parnell (the first two books in that series, Blood on the Tracks and Dead Stop, both made my Best Reads lists the year I read them), I wasn't about to pass up a chance to read the first in her new Dr. Evan Wilding series. At First Light is a very promising beginning, and I look forward to future books.
 
The strongest part of the book is the two main characters. Both are flawed, both are extremely intelligent, and I felt so at home with them, I would invite them here to the house. Addie Bisset is the more expected character: unhappy childhood, serial monogamist, and dealing with misogyny in the Chicago Police Department. At least her partner, Patrick, not only celebrates his Irish heritage, he's a good foil to Addie and has her back.
 
The character that really steps up to the plate is Dr. Evan Wilding, who not only has a brilliant mind perfectly suited to interpreting signs and symbols and their usage, he has dwarfism. This hero may have a bullet-proof mind, but he isn't exactly ten feet tall. Wilding has a perfect assistant whom I'm looking forward to seeing more of in future books, and I enjoyed learning more about him as his personal and professional lives unfolded. Evan and Addie are perfect for each other, but they're scared to death to show their true feelings. Why risk romance when they could lose this wonderful friendship if something goes wrong?
 
The mystery is a good one and kept me guessing. I wasn't fooled by some of the misdirection but I didn't have the killer's identity deduced before its reveal. That's always a plus. In fact, there's only one thing that dulled my enjoyment of At First Light: there's too much Viking lore! Don't get me wrong, I find Viking culture fascinating, but there was just too much of it, and the weight of all that research dragged the book down. I'm hoping that Nickless won't fall in love with her research again in the second book because-- with the characters of Addie and Evan, the author's talent in crafting strong mysteries, and the setting of Chicago-- I'm definitely going to read it.

At First Light by Barbara Nickless
eISBN: 9781542026413
Thomas & Mercer © 2021
eBook, 395 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Dr. Evan Wilding mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

14 comments:

  1. You make an interesting point, Cathy, about how much background information (in this case, about Viking lore) is helpful, and how much is too much. I think it's a delicate balance, really, and different for each reader. Still, this does sound interesting, and I like the setting. Glad to hear the characters are strong and interesting, too.

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    1. If there's one thing that I've learned about writing book reviews over the years, it's that when I mention something that I didn't like, chances are excellent that someone is going to read it and think, "Fantastic, I have to read this book!" It is a fine balance, Margot, and one of the many things that makes that make me glad I'm a reader and not a writer.

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  2. It's funny, but I felt almost the opposite on this one. Although I liked Evan and Addie, I didn't feel they were quite as "real" to me as I hoped and the plot didn't work as well for me, either. But the Viking, Beowulf elements were interesting to me. As I read your review, I had to rethink my opinion somewhat. Maybe if Nickless had spent more time on the characters and less on the research, I would have actually liked the book better. I do want more of Addie and Evan, either way.

    I'd love to love this series as much as I do the Sydney Rose Parnell books!

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    1. Yes, I'm hoping that this series becomes as good as Sydney's, too.

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  3. I'm sold and I'll try this one and also the Sydney Rose Parnell books. I do understand about too much of the research topics in certain books, but I also suspect that for some readers that would be ok. One never knows. Our reactions are really personal aren't they? In any case, sign me up - ha!

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    1. Like I said to Margot, getting the right balance of research to story is one line that I'm glad I don't have to walk. It's one of the many tricky things about writing.

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  4. The characters sound fascinating. Some folklore is good, but I can see how too much would slow the pace.

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  5. I've heard good things about this book...and about this series. It's on my TBR list. :)

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  6. Chicago and the Vikings. Very interesting. I may try this one.

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    1. I thought Chicago might make you perk up a bit. :-)

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  7. I just added this to my to-read list over the weekend, based on her earlier books. What serendipity to find a good review here, adding to my anticipation!

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    1. I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy it, FR.

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