Disordered Minds

November 8, 2004
Correction:
The author cited in the review of Jan DeSmedt's Singularity
(Forecasts, Oct. 25) is Greg Bear, not Craig Bear.
Mass Market
DISORDERED MINDS
Minette Walters
. Berkley
, $10 (544p) ISBN 0-425-19935-5

Bestseller Walters (Fox Evil
, etc.) delivers another complex tale of murder and deception. In 1970, 20-year-old Howard Stamp is convicted of brutally killing his 57-year-old grandmother with a carving knife; three years later, he commits suicide in prison. In 2002, London anthropologist Jonathan Hughes includes the Stamp case in his book, Disordered Minds
, which examines infamous miscarriages of justice. The mentally slow Stamp may have been coerced into confessing to the murder. George (Georgina) Gardener, an elderly councilor living in Stamp's hometown of Bournemouth, has come to believe in Stamp's innocence herself and asks Jonathan for help in clearing the young man's name. The two get off to a rocky start, but they form an uneasy alliance that gradually grows into a deep friendship. Watching this relationship develop is one of the novel's more entertaining aspects. Walters uses to good effect the multiple viewpoints of her numerous characters, as well as flashbacks, letters, newspaper articles and e-mails to reveal the truth behind the decades-old murder. However, as in life, there are no easy answers, and although the ending may disappoint some, it caps perfectly all that has come before it. Agent, Jane Gregory at Gregory and Company.

December 1, 2004
Murder will out, even after decades, in the hands of award-winning author Walters. A 1970 case, in which retarded Howard Stamp was convicted of the brutal killing of his grandmother Grace Jefferies, is brought to the attention of the public in general-and Councillor George (for Georgina) Gardener in particular-by London anthropologist Jonathan Hughes's book, Disordered Minds, about miscarriages of justice. Stamp committed suicide in prison, but George wants to clear his name and pursue the possible connection to the disappearance of 13-year-old Priscilla Trevelyan in the same neighborhood just days before Grace was killed. Jon and George make an unlikely pair, but the prickly, black, 34-year-old anthropologist and the ailing white 60-year-old councillor decide to ferret out the truth together. With its probing of a decades-old case involving issues of prejudice and abuse, this novel is reminiscent of Walters's The Shape of Snakes; while it uncovers less absolute evil, it is hardly less gripping in revealing and illuminating not only what happened but also why. A masterly tale of psychological suspense; for most fiction collections. [This mass-market Berkley Special Event paperback is a direct reprint of the British hardcover edition.-Ed.]-Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

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