Revenge is a dish best served cold
The Art of Drowning
Frances Fyfield
Little Brown, 2006, 372 pp.
Sue Neale
Described by A. N. Wilson as ‘the best female crime writer in this
country” Frances Fyfield, a criminal lawyer by trade, explores revenge
and justice in her latest novel, The Art of Drowning.
When a judge receives threats to his life he assumes that they come
from clients he has failed to keep from prison. The truth however
is far closer to home. The latest novel from Fyfield is taut thriller
with menacing tones which reverberate through the text from the outset.
It is only when you re-read it that you see how cleverly Fyfield
builds up the tension by scattering tiny references to behaviour
or the past that could easily be missed. From the outset the reader
understands that danger and evil are lurking in the dark shadows
at the edge of your vision. Some characters are revealed in the first
person, others in the third and you are never quite certain about
the motives of individuals or how they can possibly relate to each
other.
Carl, the judge, is based in London with his 19 year old son as
is the policeman, Donald Cousins, who rather unenthusiastically is
investigating the death threats. Rachel, a dull accountant working
in the city, discovers the joys of her friend, Ivy's family in the
countryside. In her enthusiasm to belong, Rachel ignores the mounting
indications that appearances can be deceptive. She honestly believes
that she is helping when she makes contact with Carl, Ivy's ex husband.
In fact she is behaving precisely as Ivy and her parents wish and
innocently acting as a tool to help them to wreak revenge for the
accidental death of her daughter (and their granddaughter) ten years
before. Unfortunately they have acted as judge and jury and are meting
out punishment to Carl (his death by strangulation and drowning)
purely for his lack of care. Ultimately they also try to kill Rachel
in a way which would leave no evidence but she survives and helps
to wreck their plans. In a final twist Ivy's father, a farmer who
has never killed anything other than a sick animal shoots his daughter
to end her killing spree.
Focussing on strange characters that live on a farm and appear normal,
Fyfield has created a situation that makes the countryside feel threatening
and dangerous particularly to the majority of readers who live in
urban settings. The smiling earth-mother providing warmth and succour
is in reality the wicked witch from the gingerbread house. Death
is ever-present in the country; here it comes from an unexpected
quarter. By inverting the country idyll, Fyfield is challenging preconceptions
about the warmth and generosity of rural families.
