Craven's Good Start is a Fluke!

A new author for me and this is a really decent start to a new series! I have always loved the Lake District and it's clear that Craven knows the area well as familiar names and places dominate this book. Obviously the key to any detective series is the lead and this one is a complete Fluke! In an interesting twist on the dysfunctional detective Avison Fluke has many of the typical characteristics of brilliant deduction, difficulties with authority figures, a tad on the anti-social side at times but his dysfunction is mainly his illness which never quite lets him out of his grip. It makes for an interesting dynamic and the chemistry between him and the other characters works well.

The story itself has lots of clever elements to it, the mystery of the 'crime' that Fluke has committed, the insect behavior elements but mostly the central mystery of the young woman which I thought was quite clever and original. If I had any kind of problem with the writing style though it was how Fluke went from being sharp as a razor on deductions one minute to being slower than a donkey in concrete overshoes the next. There was one not so subtle set of interactions with two hospital doctors where I was sighing and almost yelling at my headphones about how slow he was at taking the hint. In fairness having said that, with the clever central mystery a couple of times I was surprised at how slow he was being only to realise that I was actually completely wrong. That's a good detective story.

John Banks helps capture the local feel of the story with his excellent narration and really brings some of these characters to life with considerable warmth and personality. He also ramps up the tension nicely and is particularly strong at portraying the thoughtful side of Fluke.

So, this is a really good start, Avison Fluke and his fellow denizens of Cumbria are well worth spending time with. This is a fairly detailed police procedural with some nice touches like the bugs, medical knowledge and some very good interview scenes. I'll no doubt be getting the second book sometime soon because the central mystery was very skillfully unfolded in this one.

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20 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable book,

New author for me, won’t be the last of Craven’s book that I listen to. It was well paced with good narration. What’s not to like.

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Thoroughly enjoyed.

I have only just discovered this author and that was by accident.
Having grown up in different areas of Cumbria I really enjoyed hearing all the familiar place names and descriptions.
Apart from the familiarity the story itself kept me engrossed. Just got the second book in this series to listen to.
I hope it is just as good.

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A new character after the excellent Washington Poe

Great story though I thought giving him the same similarities as Poe....ie wanting to live in the middle of nowhere and being averse to rules was a bit lame. However I forgave the author and I'm looking forward to the next book!!!

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Great plot and characters

Plausible story with well thought out plot . Maybe all the main characters problems were addressed a bit abruptly

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Excellent

I fell for Washington Poe and Tilly so was reluctant to meet Avison. I want t disappointed and now am waiting for Mr Craven to write some more...

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6 people found this helpful

Excellent but...

Well plotted, original storyline, interesting characters, very well narrated, I would have given this 5 stars except for one thing. I found some scenes of violence unnecessarily and overly graphic. I cannot imagine any reader who was not a sadist enjoying them and they did not need to be so explicitly gruesome to make their point. Such a shame.

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Darker than Poe

Thoroughly enjoyed the Poe series so I thought I'd give the author and narrator another chance.
Thoroughly enjoyed this too! I believe this was written before Poe and it is a bit darker with less lite touches but equally engaging.

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Good story

Having not read or heard anything by this author I was pleasantly surprised by the good plot and characters. I would definitely read/listen to more by M. W. Craven.

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Big fan of Poe, and this doesn't disappoint!

I came to M W Craven via Washington Poe novels which I love. This Avison Fluke novel offers another brilliantly crafted story with the same humour as Cravens other novels. I thoroughly enjoy John Banks narration too, spot on. Enjoy!

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2 people found this helpful