Diligently working my way through all the unread books on my shelf, I finished Disordered Minds by Minette Walters a couple of weeks ago. Taking place in the early 2000s, the plot of the mystery unfolds against the backdrop of the British / American offensive in Iraq back in 2003. The main protagonists, Jonathan and George, set out to exonerate a convicted murderer, Howard Stamp, posthumously.
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| Disordered Minds - Minette Walters |
Mentally disabled Stamp was convicted of his grandmother's murder some twenty years ago. With Stamp having committed suicide in prison, Jonathan and George form an initially uneasy alliance to investigate the circumstances of Grace Jeffries's murder based on circumstantial evidence and end up establishing a link to the disappearance of a teenage girl, Cill Trevelyan, who remains missing to the present day. Cill was both raped and subsequently vanished from her working class neighbourhood just days before the discovery of Grace's body. Jonathan and George proceed to examine a possible connection between the two seemingly unconnected events, unearthing a series of (at times far-fetched) twists and turns in the process.
As in most of her novels, Walters intersperses her narrative with factual - looking snippets of newspaper clippings, witness statements and file extracts. Even though I feel that these generally interrupt the flow of her story telling, I found them incredibly helpful on this occasion. As I was slightly overwhelmed by the huge cast of characters the author manages to introduce, the insertion of the factual material served well to summarise the plot for readers, who - like myself - might have stopped paying attention along the way. And I felt my attention drifting. A lot.
Alongside the main protagonists, who set out to investigate the murder of Grace Jeffries some twenty years ago, the book features a massive cast of characters, which in itself is not a problem. Yet, at the same time, Walters dedicates a substantial part of the novel to Jonathan's life story - an Oxford academic of mixed ethnic background, with a troubled childhood and more than one chip on his shoulder. The accounts of Jonathan's personal struggles thus permeate the book and, to be honest, constitute unnecessary baggage. As Jonathan's travails are largely unconnected to the remainder of the plot, the additional (and totally unnecessary) focus on his personal life detracts attention from the murder investigations. As if this wasn't enough, his character development is simply unconvincing and ends up being downright annoying in the end. I wouldn't have minded an in-depth look into the psyche of the main protagonists, but sadly these characters remain remote and are ultimately not believable. As a result, I ended up not caring much, neither for them nor for the dynamics in their personal relationships.
In the end I slogged my way through the book, wanting to find out who committed the murder(s). For all other readers who are tempted to do the same: Be warned! Walters leaves her readers to make up their own minds following the presentation of a number of competing scenarios. More likely than not, you will be feeling rather unsatisfied at the end of the novel. At least, that's how I felt.
Other than that, Disordered Minds is typical Walters fare, albeit definitely not one of her better books (especially when compared to The Sculptress or The Ice House). Whilst it is carefully crafted, the characters failed to draw me into the story, their actions and motives often appeared unbelievable and, all in all, I felt that Walters attempted to cram too many things into the book, from laughable pseudo-psychological analysis to her attempts at social and political commentary, thereby failing to produce a convincing mystery overall.
My verdict: I would only recommend Disordered Minds to die-hard Walters fans and completist collectors of her books. My paperback copy went into the charity shop donations pile.
