All that rich green turned parts of the road claustrophobic. It was never searing hot here, not in the cool darkness of the shadows cast by the forest giants. This was a quiet place, a place that whispered that humanity was an intrusion that would be swiftly forgotten once we were gone.
You should feel safe in a gated community, shouldn't you?
Kiwi author Nalini Singh tips the lives of the privileged on the edge in her second gripping crime novel, Quiet in Her Bones.
Cleverly set in a hidden cul-de-sac on Scenic Drive in the dense, dark Waitakere Ranges north of Auckland City, Singh creates another great mystery novel in which, like A Madness of Sunshine, the scenery is a prominent character.
Aarav's mother, Nina Rai, was last seen driving her Jag drunkenly off down the forest road. Ten years later her car, with her still inside, is found by a DOC worker; swallowed up by the bush not far from their home.
' "I'll take you to the cleaners... I've already talked to a lawyer and guess what? That old prenup is invalid now. Too one-sided. Too mean."
"I'll kill you first!" my father had shouted that night, to the accompaniment of shattering glass.'
Until now, his father Ishaan has always claimed that she ran off with his money - their arranged marriage a constant battle ground. Could he have killed Nina?
What of the scream Aarav heard that night? Why is his mother in the passenger seat? And where is the money?
Aarav, who was sixteen when his mother disappeared, narrates the story. After a recent accident, he has a head injury that has left his memory full of holes. Yet he is determined to remember what happened that night.
Now a crime writer himself, Aarav begins his own investigation, interrogating every one of his neighbours, many who could have had a motive. Perhaps even him?
Aarav's inquiries unearth a lot of secrets: affairs, swinging, domestic violence, - the cul-de-sac is a regular Melrose Place.
Singh's story operates on two levels - the story of Nina's disappearance runs parallel to Aarav's story. Now twenty-five, he's had an accident of his own that mirrors one he had when Nina went missing. His recollections of both are patchy, details unremembered, possibly false.
Aarav's head is messed up. He's hallucinating. He's sleepwalking and taking a cocktail of pain meds, sugar and coke (Coca Cola, that is). He has a history of violent outbursts. At least he's not drinking...
Singh doesn't just suggest that her narrator is unreliable, she insists on it:
"I'd have to think harder, be smarter, in order to stay on top of the investigation."
Singh spices things up with a large cast of characters, flinging red herrings to the reader as if she was feeding the dolphins at Marineland.
Quiet in Her Bones shouts talent to me. I loved A Madness of Sunshine. I look forward to seeing Singh's second offering in the lineup for the Ngaio Marsh Awards this year. Singh is also still expanding her empire of romance and psy-changeling novels. #Yeahnoir
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