Review: Shooter in the Shadows

Shooter in the Shadows by David Hewson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like David Hewson’s writing. His prose is clear and straightforward yet descriptive and evocative. Some years ago I picked up THE LIZARD’S BITE, the fourth in Hewson’s Italian set series about Detective Nick Costa, and I have enjoyed periodic visits to catch up with Costa and to share the author’s love of Italy.  SHOOTER IN THE SHADOWS, set on a small island in the Venetian lagoon, coincidentally the location for that earlier novel, is a stand-alone but no less exciting and gripping than the series. 

SHOOTER IN THE SHADOWS is a thriller about an American journalist turned true-crime author, Tom Honeyman who, having had a huge success with his first book, about a grisly murder in upstate New York, has struggled to follow it up. Every year Honeyman comes to Maledetto, the small Venetian island which his success allowed him to buy, to start a new book in the hope of returning to the bestseller lists. But that initial success has proved a millstone, Honeyman’s life a mess, his wife having committed suicide, his daughter estranged and Maledetto a drain on his dwindling finances. When Laura, his daughter makes contact and him on the island, things appear to be improving, but soon both find themselves held prisoner by someone who believes that Honeyman got it wrong in his book and wants him to right a sequel to correct that error, to reveal the truth about who really burned two people to death, or die themselves. Honeyman has 4 days...

David Hewson’s characters are really well-formed. As the novel alternates Honeyman’s predicament with chapters of the new book, we find that he is not really a very nice guy, a talented writer but a poor reporter who substitutes vivid imagination for facts when necessary. But it is not only Honeyman who comes alive - the small town American cop; the wild, bohemian, sexually free teacher who died in the fire with her student lover; Honeyman’s wife, who gave up her own journalistic career to bring up their daughter - despite being drawn in relatively few scenes, jump off the page fully-formed. The joy of SHOOTER IN THE SHADOWS is the inherent unreliability of the narrator as we only have Honeyman’s version of what he think happened. And, even when I guessed the true events about three quarters in, seeing the truth play out was really satisfying. Except, I only thought I had solved it. There are events that even Honeyman doesn’t know, leading to a great twist. 

Hewson captures the essence of the lagoon, the sounds, the smells. The setting is excellent, Maledetto simultaneously within sight of Venice’s main islands yet as remote from civilisation as it is possible to be in the lagoon.

SHOOTER IN THE SHADOWS is highly recommended.

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