My introduction to Rupert Thomson was The Insult, which is really a quite brilliant book - compelling, unique and memorable, unlike anything else that I have read before. I've been wanting to read another book by him for quite a while - he's one of the few writers from whom I'd like to read their whole body of work.Death of a Murderer is set in Suffolk in 2002, and focuses on one November night in the life of Billy Tyler, a policeman and an every-man whom none of us would be able to single out from a crowd. By all accounts Billy is an ordinary copper living an ordinary life, without any special adventures on the job, until one evening he's called to perform an unusual duty - he's to guard the body of a notorious serial killer until it is cremated, and prevent any possible attempts at vengeful vandalism or scavengers seeking souvenirs. although the serial killer in question is never named, Thomson doesn't really try to make a big secret of her identity - Britain's most hated woman is Myra Hindley. Working together with Ian Brady she kidnapped, tortured and killed four children in what became known as the Moors murders. Hindley's instantly recognizable mugshot is the cover illustration of the original British hardback.Those seeking a thriller will likely end up disappointed, as not only the killer has already been caught, identified and prosecuted, but has also since died from natural causes. Billy has to spent twelve hours with her dead body - but the killer continues to affect those around her even after death. People believe that even the presence of her body can bring about bad omens; Billy's wife Sue begs him to stay home and call in sick, believing that he puts himself at a real risk. But Billy refuses her pleads, insisting that it's his job and duty to follow. The mortuary is empty except the most basic staff, and Billy will be alone with the dead body on a graveyard shift.Although he initially planned to use the time to catch-up on amassed paperwork, Billy soon finds himself swept by other thoughts. The loneliness and isolation of the morgue pressed against him, forcing him to confront his own personal demons, griefs and regrets - he thinks of how he courted Sue before they got married, and how their marriage never developed the way they both would like to. He thinks of the lost opportunities and arguments that begun to characterize their marriage, how they never traveled to India, or Thailand. He thinks of their baby girl, Emmma, born with the Down syndrome, and worries about her - who will take care of her when they won't be able to? Throughout the night Billy remembers his past, and people who populate it - the beautiful but cold Venetia, for whom that pure lustful love which he never felt again in his life; his once best friend, Raymond, who played a cruel game with him under the guise of friendship; another former friend, Trevor, whom he met again after many years and who confessed an intimate secret to him - and his own reaction continued to haunt Billy for all these years. The presence of the killer's dead body in a locker just meters away from him begins to be overwhelming, and forces Billy to wonder about the woman's nature and character, and challenges his convictions about life which he thought were solid.This is a very quiet and subdued novel, not very similar to The Insultand its outlandish plot and hallucinogenic narrative. It focuses entirely on one man in a room with a single dead body, but manages to present entire lives through retrospection; it might not work for every reader, but it did work for me. I might not return to it soon or at all, but I'm glad that I read it and look forward to reading the rest of Thomson's oeuvre.
This story, of a fictitious cop who is given the task of guarding Moors Murderer Myra Hindley's body in the immediate aftermath of her death, is a brave effort which manages to hold the attention well for most of its 250-page span. I'm not sure that it totally comes off, however.Not that Hindley is ever mentioned by name: the author always seems to find a way of avoiding having to name her. Not that she needs to be named: the biographical details provided in the course of the novel couldn't very well apply to anybody else, and there's always the cover of the paperback and that legendary image to draw upon if you still haven't worked it out.Billy Tyler, the protagonist, already has a personal history that links him to the crime scenes - the housing estates and moorland to the east of Manchester - as well as the East Anglian hospital where Hindley's story ends. Gradually, Tyler's job for the night becomes intermingled with his predictably less-than-perfect personal circumstances, creating plenty of dranatic tension and blurring the distinction between fantasy and reality.This is best illustrated in a section when Tyler has a chance encounter - the kind you only have in fiction - with an old friend from the North West who claims he was an intended victim of Hindley and Ian Brady, and in the allegation by Tyler's paramour that she was sexually abused by her father, leading Tyler to uncharacteristically take matters into his own hands. Both these events have sad but almost inevitable outcomes.Where I think the book is less successful is in the "glue" that holds it all together: the recycled police canteen culture, the conflict between Tyler's humble lifestyle and that of his wheeler-dealer father-in-law, the description of boring cross-country road journeys, hotel stays and overpriced booze.Even the conversations between Tyler and Hindley seem to owe too much to zombie movie cliche to be truly menacing, and the sex scenes contain too much gratuitous detail for all but the deviant or the medical student. That said, the book is a page-turner and you'll want to stick with it. Its relative compactness is definitely a plus.
Do You like book Death Of A Murderer (2007)?
Ok, so this book intrigues me. The premise: a woman jailed for torturing and murdering children dies, and a police officer has to guard her body for 12 hours. The entire book takes place during this time period, with his wife freaking out about his assignment and his general exhaustion with her making him accept. The plot: during his stint at the morgue, he revisits a life of love and pain (some of which is highly troubling). The author draws vivid portraits, and I wish I could revisit the main character and his daughter. The writing is simple yet intricate--I found myself yawning at the description of a yawn. The resolution: how can there be one, with a set-up like this? Much like McEwan's Saturday, it's more a day in the life, or, in this case, a memory in the life. Also like McEwan, I can't wait to read more from this author, of whom I'd never previously heard.Pick this up. It's not a difficult read, although the sliding in from past to present continually startled me. It's part ghost story, part treatise on the vulgarities of human behavior, part meditation on what it means to love. I like the story, and would give three stars, but I'm happy to have a new author to explore, thus the fourth.
—Jen
This review was first posted on Northern Plunder, if you want to see more reviews please click here.What started off as a book that had a bit of promise, turned into a drab story of any ordinary man who's marriage is going down the drain a little.I couldn't finish this book as it was boring and couldn't keep my attention but I have skimmed through everything after reading half of it hoping something would stand out and make an impression on me, unfortunately nothing did and my life would have been much better if I'd never picked this book up.
—Lauren (Northern Plunder)
We all know who the murderer is. There's a photo of her on the cover. That photo. It's November 2002 and she's died in prison. Unlucky career constable Billy Tyler draws what is literally the graveyard shift, guarding the body in the hospital morgue, protecting the infamous woman from the press, souvenir hunters, the kind of vulnerable people who get worked up into a lather over crimes committed forty years ago. Billy's wife Sue, who's going through a difficult time, doesn't want him to do it. But Billy's former protege, now his superior, has asked him as a personal favour. And besides, where's the harm? The body's locked away in a drawer; he can't even look on the face.Inevitably, the the hours round midnight, Billy's mind starts to wander. He comes from the same area as the murderers, he is the same generation as their victims. There are connections, parallels. Billy confronts his past, his life now.Death of a Murderer is the only Rupert Thomson novel I have read. It won't be the last. The stunning premise, compressing so much emotional resonance into a twelve-hour shift; the central conceit, which I won't reveal here, leaving you to experience the jaw-dropping moment for yourself; and above all the prose - nothing elaborate, nothing overwrought, just simple, steady, everyday language transcribing the experience of life.Superb and highly recommended.
—Roger Wood
