BOOK REVIEW: ‘Insidious Intent’ by Val McDermid

OPINION:

INSIDIOUS INTENT

By Val McDermid

Atlantic Monthly Press, $26, 400 pages

It is somewhat unusual for a mystery writer to urge a reader not to prematurely disclose the denouement of a book.

In this case, Val McDermid is right. What is revealed in the final pages of this psychological puzzle might not surprise you, but it deprives you of what the author has sought to explain and explore in lengthy terms.

The plot is not that complicated, telling in chilling detail how a serial killer’s mind works and the care with which he plans each slaying. There is nothing secret about the killer who is identified almost from the beginning and whose psychology is studied in meticulous detail. He licks his chops over each victim and their death and leaves no doubt that he is motivated by an almost adolescent revenge because of personal rejection hat drives him beyond any normal reaction.

His behavior is especially chilling because the target of his rage is unaware of what he has in store for her and even worse, never took his emotional chaos anything but lightly. She is proceeding with her life in another direction without giving a thought to the doom in her future. The key to the book lies elsewhere.

The task of finding the killer is that of Carol Jordan, leader of a new crime squad who is struggling with a severe drinking problem and bloody memories of a previous crime that almost destroyed her personally. She is deeply involved with Tony Hill, a criminal psychologist who is burdened with almost as many personal problems as she is. They depend on each other, yet cannot accept the depth of the emotional ties that bind them. Carol in many respects is more comfortable with her devoted dog Flash than with the devotion of Tony and she is often driven by guilt and anger at herself.

Unfortunately so is Tony, who is haunted by personal problems dating from his childhood and his cruel mother. He and Carol cling to each other to the point that they live in the same premises without any admission of how much they care for each other or need each other. They are both nearing the point of despair and Carol in particular is aware that failure with the current killer case is likely to destroy herself and her team. She is in no state psychologically to cope with severe personal problems.

Ms. McDermid delves deeply into the misery and pain of Carol and Tony. She has written before of Carol in previous cases that remain to darkly haunt her and question her own belief in her skill and capacity as a veteran police officer. She loves her job, but the question is whether she can cope with its demands without self-destruction. It is almost as if the dog offers her only comfort and understanding because she consistently rejects Tony.

This is Ms. McDermkd’s most complex study of personal desperation and it is made more of a puzzle by the difficulty encountered by a new and experimental crime team struggling with a boss whom many consider a failure in the job because of her own vulnerability and tendency toward personal torture. Tony Hill is by far the more sympathetic character and he pays a high price for his personal devotion.

The author offers good advice not to resort to the mystery reader’s frequent temptation to find out who and what did it and why. There is the strong belief that the killer will be caught as he usually is. This time it is different, and that is why the climax is worth waiting for.

• Muriel Dobbin is a former White House and national political reporter for McClatchy newspapers and the Baltimore Sun.