Talking to the Dead

Sep 14, 2012 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fiona Griffiths, known as Fi, is a young woman in a Wales police department, a detective with good intuition and analytical skills. She is also harboring a dark past, which periodically clouds her sleep, emotional clarity, and her thoughts. Told in the first person, she states that her social skills are a bit off (but I don’t see that, only that she tells us), and that she struggles mightily with a challenging mental illness, which is revealed in gradual doses.

Fi is currently investigation a ca...more Fiona Griffiths, known as Fi, is a young woman in a Wales police department, a detective with good intuition and analytical skills. She is also harboring a dark past, which periodically clouds her sleep, emotional clarity, and her thoughts. Told in the first person, she states that her social skills are a bit off (but I don’t see that, only that she tells us), and that she struggles mightily with a challenging mental illness, which is revealed in gradual doses.

Fi is currently investigation a case involving the heinous murder of a woman and her young daughter. The bodies were found in a dicey part of town, where they were living, but the mother possessed a credit card of a wealthy businessman who died in a plane crash. Thrown in the mix are prostitutes, a dirty cop, and other typical tropes from the world of crime/police procedurals. Fi is also grappling with reaching out to others, opening up to new friendships and romance.

As a crime thriller, this didn’t keep me interested. The events were too expository, and only occurred through Fi’s second-hand communication, but I didn’t feel inside of the action, and, to be honest, the action that did happen was derivative of hundreds of other police thrillers. The events were banal, and had a shopworn feel to it. The pace also crawled. I never felt one compelling moment in the book. Moreover, Fi’s predilection for talking to the dead, rather than stir my interest, came off as rather flat.

What did keep me reading was Fi’s voice, which was warm and intimate and sounded as if it were in the room with me. She enticed me at intervals to continue reading, if for no other reason than to learn more about her emotional history and breakdown. What I didn’t believe was how she got a job in the police department as a detective! Perhaps Wales is more lax than the US, where psychological testing is mandatory for all incoming officers to the police academy.

This is the first book in a series that will feature Fi Griffiths as the main character. Although the writing was competent and serviceable, and Fi is quite comely and, even arresting at times, I am not persuaded to continue on with the series. I wasn’t impressed by the payoff of this one, and only partially rewarded with the unveiling of Fi’s past.(less)

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Sep 26, 2012 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/09/...

Fiona Griffiths is bored of the case she’s working on, going over the financial records of an ex-cop turned thief, when another case comes up, and it’s about much more than theft. A prostitute and her young daughter are found in a squalid house, and the manner of murder of the little girl is horrendous. Something about the case captures Fi’s attention, and she begins to insert herself into the investigation any way she can...more You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/09/...

Fiona Griffiths is bored of the case she’s working on, going over the financial records of an ex-cop turned thief, when another case comes up, and it’s about much more than theft. A prostitute and her young daughter are found in a squalid house, and the manner of murder of the little girl is horrendous. Something about the case captures Fi’s attention, and she begins to insert herself into the investigation any way she can. Focused, intense, and a little strange, Fi is determined to find out who killed this little girl, and the killer may be connected to her current case. A credit card belonging to a very wealthy man, who supposedly died in a plane crash, is found at the crime scene and it turns out Fiona’s thief may have more to do with this case than she initially thought, but he’s keeping things close to the vest. Unfortunately, Fi has a tendency to go off on her own, at the consternation of her boss. As she follows the clues and turns up evidence of abuse and victimization of the most horrifying kind, she also has to confront her own mysterious past.

Talking to the Dead is told in Fiona’s voice, and what a voice! Brilliant, odd, and very self-aware, Fiona is as fascinating, maybe even more so, then the actual case she’s working. Yes, this has all the hallmarks of a procedural, and the desire to see justice done for these women, and especially for the little girl, April, is strong. However, it’s also a study of a young woman still finding her way after a horrible experience with mental illness as a teenager. For Fiona, every emotion, every feeling is a gift, because she went so long without feeling anything. Her struggle to live a normal life (or be a part of Planet Normal, as she puts it) is poignant and bittersweet, and the author keeps you guessing about the origins of her illness until the end. The author navigates Fiona and her world with a deft touch, and yet doesn’t shy away from her willingness to see justice done and go to nearly any lengths to do just that. Talking to the Dead reminded me quite a bit of Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, mainly because of the protagonists, but also in how Harry Bingham uses the Welsh setting to contribute much of the mood and heft to the story, while brilliantly profiling a driven woman that is so often at odds with herself and her world. I’m officially a Bingham fan, and will eagerly look forward to his next novel.(less)

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Apr 17, 2013 Sharon Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wasn't sure what to think about this book. The main character, Fi, is a young DS, and right from the word go you realise there is something a bit unusual about her. She almost has to keep reminding herself that she is normal, and how she is supposed to act, during the investigation into the horrific deaths of a mother and daughter.
At one point, I found myself getting distracted from the story because of the focus on the apparent breakdown that Fi was suffering...but on reaching the end...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Joop Liefaard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

Fiona Griffiths, Fi voor vrienden en collega's, afgestudeerd in de filosofie aan de universiteit van Cambridge, werkt als rechercheur bij de politie in Cardiff. Terwijl zij bezig is met een nogal saai onderzoek naar een corrupte collega, wordt Cardiff opgeschrikt door de gruwelijke moord op Janet Mancini en haar zesjarig dochtertje April. Als op de plaats delict de creditcard van een rijke en verdwenen industrieel wordt gevonden, die ook nog eens in verband kan worden gebracht met de corrupte po...more Fiona Griffiths, Fi voor vrienden en collega's, afgestudeerd in de filosofie aan de universiteit van Cambridge, werkt als rechercheur bij de politie in Cardiff. Terwijl zij bezig is met een nogal saai onderzoek naar een corrupte collega, wordt Cardiff opgeschrikt door de gruwelijke moord op Janet Mancini en haar zesjarig dochtertje April. Als op de plaats delict de creditcard van een rijke en verdwenen industrieel wordt gevonden, die ook nog eens in verband kan worden gebracht met de corrupte politieman, wordt Fiona bij het onderzoek naar de moorden betrokken.

Hierna ontwikkelt zich een verhaal dat geweld tegen vrouwen als thema heeft met de bekende bijkomende elementen als rijke en heel erg foute mannen, de Russische maffia, drugs, autoriteiten die een oogje dicht doen en natuurlijk de politie die de zaak onderzoekt. Fiona is een van hen. Een jonge politievrouw die zaken goed kan analyseren en een goede intuitie heeft. Zij draagt echter ook een duister geheim met zich mee dat grote invloed op haar dagelijkse doen en laten heeft. Hoe dieper zij in de zaak duikt hoe duidelijker het wordt dat er iets met haar helemaal niet in orde is. Zij probeert zich normaal te gedragen maar dat lukt haar niet zo goed en dat maakt haar intrigerend en sympatiek.

Harry Bingham hanteert een strak omkaderde schrijfstijl die, denk ik, bedoeld is om snelheid aan het verhaal te geven. Daarin is hij goed geslaagd. Er is ook een bepaalde luchtigheid die het gruwelijke en het macabere relativeert. Want gruwelijk en macaber is het. Het verhaal zit goed in elkaar, kent de nodige wendingen en is redelijk spannend. Dat een jonge politievrouw ongestraft de regels aan haar laars ka lappen is echter ongeloofwaardig.

Het verhaal heeft een heel hoog Fiona-gehalte. Dat is begrijpelijk want zij is nu eenmaal de hoofdpersoon van het boek en daarbij is het ook nog eens in de ik-vorm en de tegenwoordige tijd geschreven waardoor je heel nauw bij Fiona betrokken wordt. Het hoge Fiona-gehalte wordt nog versterkt door de titel van het boek. Ik begrijp overigens niet waarom de uitgever niet gewoon de Engelse titel (Talking to the dead) heeft vertaald. Die doet veel meer recht aan het verhaal.

Fiona is een goede misdaadroman met een itrigerende Fiona die mijn hart gestolen heeft, zeker nadat duidelijk werd wat er met haar gebeurd is. Fiona's verhaal is echter nog niet af en het biedt genoeg mogelijkheden om verder te groeien en er een boeiend vervolg aan te geven. Vergelijkingen met bv. Liesbeth Salander, Paddy Meehan en Lacey Flint slaan nergens op.
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Mar 24, 2013 D rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: British Procedural Fans

Recommended to D by: No one- found on Audible

Shelves: british-mystery, british-police-procedural, wales

This is a new-to-me author and narrator. I had this on my Wish List for about six months before I decided to pull the trigger. The narrator was good enough with a competent style and nothing in her delivery that really annoyed me. The book, for at least the first two thirds was a solid four stars. Then it took a weird turn that left me scratching my head.

Fiona Griffith is a young Detective Constable. She has a degree in philosophy, a mystery in her past, and a family background which makes her c...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Talking to the Dead (e-book ARC from Net Galley) is the first in a new series about DC Fiona Griffiths, a young woman who has difficulty naming her emotions. Or feeling them, perhaps, emotionally, although intellectually Fiona can process them.

The technical term for this syndrome is Alexithymia: Alexithymia is the inability to talk about feelings due to a lack of emotional awareness. Alexithymics are typically unable to identify, understand or describe their own emotions. (from Anxiety, Panic, &...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cinco estrellas son muchas estrellas, así que tengo que explicar qué quieren decir. En este caso significan que no echo nada de menos en la novela ni me falta nada.

Se trata de una trama criminal que se desarrolla en Cardiff. Está narrada en primera persona por una detective del cuerpo de policía. Una mujer eficiente con problemas para relacionarse con los demás y una extraña forma de afrontar la autoridad. Una mujer que desconfía profundamente de sí misma pero que que sigue su instinto hasta las...more Cinco estrellas son muchas estrellas, así que tengo que explicar qué quieren decir. En este caso significan que no echo nada de menos en la novela ni me falta nada.

Se trata de una trama criminal que se desarrolla en Cardiff. Está narrada en primera persona por una detective del cuerpo de policía. Una mujer eficiente con problemas para relacionarse con los demás y una extraña forma de afrontar la autoridad. Una mujer que desconfía profundamente de sí misma pero que que sigue su instinto hasta las últimas consecuencias.

No puedo juzgar la calidad de la trama policíaca en sí porque no tengo mucha experiencia como lectora de suspense; sin embargo, en mi opinión se sostiene sin mucho problema. A mí me ha mantenido intrigada desde el principio hasta el final. El desenlace me ha pillado un poco por sorpresa, pero creo que es porque leí el último 20% del libro a velocidad supersónica y es posible que me perdiera alguna cosa.

En cualquier caso, esa trama se desarrolla al mismo ritmo que conocemos la personalidad de la protagonista y ocupa una mitad de nuestro cerebro porque la otra está liada desentrañando los motivos que la llevan a comportarse como lo hace y a hablar de sí misma como lo hace.

Es una mujer fuerte cuya fortaleza radica en un conocimiento profundo de su debilidad. Es eficiente e ineficiente a partes iguales, se esfuerza, yerra, acierta... Un personaje muy humano rodeado de secundarios cuyas características principales están apenas apuntadas pero que sin embargo funcionan no solo como personajes sino como personas.

El único villano con cara evoluciona de tal manera que no puedes dejar de tener más de una impresión de él. Y el resto están tan bien tratados que, a pesar de ser piezas de rompecabezas,encajan con tanta precisión en el puzzle que no se ve el tejido salvo que estudies mientras lees. Es mi caso :)

Una novela parca en descripciones pero con la fuerza suficiente para plantar imágenes indelebles en tu cabeza. La escena del crimen, el piso de ella, la casa del malo, el interrogatorio de la prostituta del este de Europa... Lo recuerdo todo como si lo hubiera vivido. Incluso tonos de voz. De hecho, si debo escoger mi escena favorita, la mejor resuelta, creo que es precisamente la del interrogatorio. Ahí se nos muestra la profundidad con la que un personaje deshumanizado es caapz de comprender a una persona hasta las últimas consecuencias.

Con historia de amor incluida. Leves pinceladas de nuevo y de nuevo suficientes.

Mi impresión es que toda la obra está construida para explicar a su personaje principal y que los ladrillos que conforman el edificio del personaje están unidos con una masa tan compacta que la sola muestra de parte de ellos basta para dar una idea muy exacta del conjunto. Lo que viene a ser buen hacer literario, vaya. Mucho que aprender ahí.

Drama familiar tratado del mismo modo: sucintamente, sin histrionismo. A lo largo de la historia el personaje repite varias veces una estructura de pensamiento: No tenía nada que decir, así que no dije nada. No había nada que hacer allí así que me fui. La Novela está escrita así: me sobran todas estas palabras, luego no las escribo. Necesito que sepas esto, luego te lo cuento. Un ejercicio de esqueleto arropado con lo justo y con nada más.

Lenguaje seco, sin florituras, preciso. Fina ironía que contribuye también a crear al personaje. Tonalidad gris que lo tiñe todo y deja muy claro que todas las procesiones van por dentro...

Una novela cinco entrellas.
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Feb 04, 2013 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

Police procedurals aren't usually my thing. I tend to find them dry and dull and by the time they catch the criminal I'm just glad the book is finished. Harry Bingham, however, has found the secret to making police procedurals interesting...at least for those like me who aren't usually fans. He's put a truly fascinating character at the center and as the narrator of his novel. D C Fiona Griffiths is far from your usual crime novel protagonist. First off, she's odd. Not in any criminal, gritty, m...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Hallie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With Detective Constable Fiona “Fi” Grffiths, Harry Bingham, author of “Talking to the Dead,” finds a sweet spot in crime fiction — a female protagonist with stunted emotions, a passion for protecting women (think Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander), outsider status (think Denise Mina’s “Paddy” Meehan), sheer guts, and an unstoppable drive to follow her own instincts even when it means breaking every rule in the book (think Lee Childs’s Jack Reacher).

Fi has no idea what it feels like to cry, and w...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Ronald Roseborough rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, mystery-adventure-thriller, mystery, murder

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of first year Detective Constable Fiona Griffith of the South Wales Police Force. At barely over five feet tall she is not an imposing figure, but more than makes up for it in determination. She is not one to take readily to orders and often thinks outside the box. She does however want to keep her newly won position, so she is burying her head in financial figures trying to uncover the embezzlement trail of an ex-police officer. She finds some relief from this dr...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Susan Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars
Fiona Griffiths is not your usual run of the mill policewoman. She lives in Wales, is quite short and is "not good with feelings." She doesn't get the clues people give when speaking and doesn't really know boundaries. She interviews the wife of a drowning victim and asks her if they were into "rough sex". She's just a half step off from everyone else. She reminds me of Barbara Havers in Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series. They are always watching others to try and figure out ho...more 4.5 stars
Fiona Griffiths is not your usual run of the mill policewoman. She lives in Wales, is quite short and is "not good with feelings." She doesn't get the clues people give when speaking and doesn't really know boundaries. She interviews the wife of a drowning victim and asks her if they were into "rough sex". She's just a half step off from everyone else. She reminds me of Barbara Havers in Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series. They are always watching others to try and figure out how to fit in.

Fiona is smart and gives great observations. Assigned to do the paperwork in a case of a former policeman who has embezzled money from a school, she meets with accountants to go over the missing funds. She says, "Accountants come in pairs these days. The woman who looks like her hobbies are arranging things in rows and making right angles." Great line. It's during thiss investigation that a prostitute and her six year old daughter are murdered. Fiona wants to work on that case and does everything she can to get assigned.

She gets assigned but has trouble following the rules. As a teen-ager she has had a breakdown and is just now recovering from it. She makes pictures of the daughter and hangs them in her house. It's only later that she realizes all the shots of her are when she is dead. Fiona has a morbid fascination with death and there was a scene in the mortuary near the end of the book that is truly creepy to me.

The ending ties up loose ends well but it was slightly improbable to me. That's why I took half a star off. But Fiona is a great character that I can't wait to get to know her better. She is a woman trying to make her way. She knows she's quite different and tries to fit in. She wants to live in Planet Normal but she is stumbling on her way there. It's these differences that make her so interesting and I did love to read about Wales.

I highly recommend this book. The writing is good, the story is action packed and it leaves you wanting more. What could be better than that?

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Oct 24, 2012 Pete Loveday rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite

Talking To The Dead
By
Harry Bingham

Welcome to Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths. A rookie DC in the South Wales CID with a 2 year gap in her CV on her first big case.

Fiona, Fi to her friends – Griffiths to her boss, Detective Chief Inspector Derek Jackson. Fi is working with the CID team on a particularly nasty murder – a young woman and her 6 year old daughter have been found murdered and amongst the detritus of the crime scene is a Platinum Credit Card belonging to a prominent Cardiff millio...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

What an astonishing book. I absolutely loved it. Fiona Griffiths is a complex, amazing character. Her voice, characterized by her dry, and irreverent humor, is also removed. I guess what I mean by that is that the author tells us this story through Fi's voice, but although it is told in first person, and there is still a distinct feeling of separation. Bingham has done an utterly brilliant job of immersing the reader into a character almost impossible for average people to immerse in. What feels...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started this on impulse after reading a scathing review, so I almost expected to dislike it. I found myself loving it. Talking to the Dead takes a while to get going but when it does it sure as hell hits the ground running and just keeps getting better and better. Harry Bingham takes a slightly stodgy, overwritten genre of what can be dull procedural crime and turns it on its head using a character that about as far from dull as you can get. Fi Griffiths is the novel's narrator and unlikely st...more I started this on impulse after reading a scathing review, so I almost expected to dislike it. I found myself loving it. Talking to the Dead takes a while to get going but when it does it sure as hell hits the ground running and just keeps getting better and better. Harry Bingham takes a slightly stodgy, overwritten genre of what can be dull procedural crime and turns it on its head using a character that about as far from dull as you can get. Fi Griffiths is the novel's narrator and unlikely star, her interpersonal skills are sketchy, she has some alarmingly illegal habits and her actions are rash and unbalanced, I loved her! There are a few moments early on that paint her as a bit tricky to navigate and in my opinion irrelevant to both the plot and Fi's personal development, but I found her clumsy references to vanity and a brief lesbian phase in her college years easy to overlook once the plot took off. I can happily attribute these little quips to a male author forming a female narrator with some pesky, masculine traits seeping in. Fi's personality was revealed gradually and by the time the story's conclusion is drawn we know more about the illness from which she suffers and the mental breakdown she had in her teens, I found this fascinating as I had never heard of the condition that Bingham explores through his narrator. He even goes so far as to add a brief write up of it at the end of the paperback edition that I read, expanding upon Fi's own description in the novel.

So, alongside sharp dialogue, a rapid yet somehow convoluted plot, an awkward and endearing romance, some very scary pimps and a lot of dead or beaten prostitutes, Fi Griffiths is an excellent guide and I will no doubt continue with the series. This novel is a far fetched, chilling read worth persevering with. Bingham cleverly wraps up the main plot but leaves a big question unanswered about Fi's past and I am getting twitchy already, roll on Love Story, With Murders and let's see some big reveals!(less)

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Oct 04, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though not the sort of book I usually go for, I gave it a try on the basis of a review and found it readable, reasonably suspenseful and well constructed. I recommend it to readers who enjoy murder mysteries with the following standard elements: murdered prostitutes, drugs, money, international sex trafficking, a cop protagonist (Welsh, in this case, and female), detailed procedural investigations, subtle clues, gruesome violence, outbursts of kindness, just deserts, flawed but generally sympath...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Evelyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, thriller, netgalley

DC Fiona "Fi" Griffiths is far from your ordinary rookie cop. She's Cambridge educated, book smart, has a hard time following the rules, and trouble interpreting other people's feelings. Early on we learn that she had some type of incident during her teen years that she blames for her oddities.

When a young mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in Cardiff, Fiona wants on the case and tries linking her current assignment--a routine embezzlement case--to the murder. Fi feels a connection...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-suspense

Oh, WOW. Fiona Griffiths, I think I love you.

I was at the library picking up a hold (Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham--which would make about 5 Robotham books I've read in the last 6 months, goodness) and I was scanning the new book shelf for no good reason (I have so many half-read books and required to-read books on my shelves that there is NO excuse for picking up something I've never heard of before) and the cover and title of this book just caught my eye. So I did what is now my defaul...more Oh, WOW. Fiona Griffiths, I think I love you.

I was at the library picking up a hold (Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham--which would make about 5 Robotham books I've read in the last 6 months, goodness) and I was scanning the new book shelf for no good reason (I have so many half-read books and required to-read books on my shelves that there is NO excuse for picking up something I've never heard of before) and the cover and title of this book just caught my eye. So I did what is now my default behavior for books I've never read, and I scanned the barcode into my Goodreads app to see if it was worth reading or not. ...what? I don't have time for crap, and if the universe of brilliant Goodreads reviewers gives you less than a 3.5, I'm not going to bother. I respect the wisdom of groups. This book's rating, combined with its interesting premise (young female Welsh detective investigates the murder of a prostitute mother and her 6-year old daughter) made me think "Why not?" and check it out.

It turns out, Harry Bingham is a damn genius. I'm always fascinated by male authors who write female protagonists and really get under their skin (although I often remember the Jack Nicholson line in As Good As It Gets:
Woman: How do you write women so well?
Nicholson: I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability.)

Fortunately, Bingham created an absolutely fascinating character with Fiona Griffiths who has reason (but not as much accountability) and followed her down her dark path as she tries to figure out not only how these 2 people were killed...but why she cares so much. Bingham doles out bits of information in a tantalizingly careful way. You won't be faulted for wondering if you missed his explanations of who Lev is, why Fi was in the mental institution for 2 years as a teenager or what exactly where her father's shady business dealings. But you won't really care. Bingham just INHABITS Fi, he empathizes with her oddness, her disaffection, her longing to be a real girl on "Planet Normal." And as the book goes on, I understood why she was so broken, and I loved her anyway. She's young and still discovering herself, and her feelings and reactions are utterly foreign to her. Because Bingham writes in 1st person, I felt like he was channeling Fi (unlike Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander--equally complex but not someone you want to take under your wing). And she seemed like a complete person, and not just a series of quirks. SHE is the star of this book, not the plot, and I just want to read more and more stories involving her (thankfully Bingham is promising more in her series). I was surprised at how attached I was to her at-times shaky mental health. I wanted her to be well. I wanted her to be successful. I wanted her to feel normal. It's been a long time since I've felt this connected to a character's well-being, and I thank Bingham for having the creativity and the gift of making her real to me. I felt his craft in Fi's portrayal. She jumps off the page, as I think she did to her writer as well: http://harrybingham.com/1/post/2012/0...

An impressive feat, that. Fi will stick with me for a while, I'm sure of it. So very highly recommended.(less)

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Mar 31, 2012 CuteBadger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths becomes deeply involved in a horrific murder case involving a woman and a six-year-old girl. She is very perceptive and feels an affinity with the victims, but doesn't know why. The further she progresses with the case the more she learns about the darker side of life, and about herself.

Some of the usual elements of the crime genre can be found in this book - maverick detective, difficult personal life etc, but there's enough that's new to make it a real page...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Bonnie Brody rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fi Griffiths is a new detective with the Wales police department. Something about her is different than others but it is fairly subtle. It is obvious enough, however, so that her colleagues wonder what makes Fi tick. Fi is very smart, a Cambridge philosophy graduate. However, there are two years on her resume that are unaccounted for. Fi's answer to questions about this two year blank in her history is that she was sick.

Fi is hired as a detective constable which is the lowest rank in the Wales p...more Fi Griffiths is a new detective with the Wales police department. Something about her is different than others but it is fairly subtle. It is obvious enough, however, so that her colleagues wonder what makes Fi tick. Fi is very smart, a Cambridge philosophy graduate. However, there are two years on her resume that are unaccounted for. Fi's answer to questions about this two year blank in her history is that she was sick.

Fi is hired as a detective constable which is the lowest rank in the Wales police department. Her first case involves a murdered woman, Janet Mancini, and her daughter, April. Janet is dead of a heroin overdose and six year-old April has had a sink drop on her head. The murder is gruesome and Fi becomes obsessed with the dead victims, especially April, the little girl.

Interestingly, the ATM card of a very rich citizen is found in the dead woman's room. He was supposed to have been killed in a plane accident quite a while ago and Fi wonders why this card is there. Is he really dead? Did the victim have a relationship with Rattigan, the rich man? Was she a prostitute? These questions go round and round Fi's brain.

The case is called 'Lohan' after Linsay Lohan, the American actress who has had a drug-filled background. It is possible that Janet died from an overdose but it is also possible that she was killed. Though Fi is supposed to be working on an embezzlement case, she can't get her mind off of the Lohan case and she spends every free moment on it.

Another prostitute is murdered and the case goes into full gear. Fi is busy investigating this case without the permission of her superior. Her obsession won't let her do anything else.

Fi gradually starts talking about the two years that were missing on her resume and how they relate to her current behaviors. Her behaviors are similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but with a greater dimension of depersonalization. Fi finds it very difficult to sleep and often goes on 3-4 hours sleep a night. She also can not cry tears. Gradually, the mystery of her illness comes to light.

The ambiance of Wales is interesting. Wales is doing well financially and inflation has hit the country. We go through cities and towns called Trecenydd, Llanrumney, Ceft Mawr, Ffos Has, Blaenclydach Plae and Ebbw Vale - names very different than ones I've ever heard previously.

This is not so much a mystery as it is a character study of Fi. Her goal is to be on 'Planet Normal', to mix with others as though she were one of them, and to throw off her cloak of differentness. It is a fascinating book when it is about Fi but the mystery is on the weak side. I loved the character study and would enjoy reading more about Fi.
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Apr 29, 2013 Affodil rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

Begin maart kregen een aantal forumleden van Ezzulia de kans om een preview publicatie te lezen en te bespreken. Ik stelde me ook kandidaat en viel in de prijzen. Een nog niet gepubliceerd boek lezen en bespreken zorgt er sowieso voor dat je het op een andere, bewustere manier leest. Zo ook bij Fiona, dat voor auteur Harry Bingham zijn thrillerdebuut moet zijn.

De discussie rond de keuze van de cover is in mijn ogen minder relevant, omdat een cover voor mij toch nooit een doorslaggevend element i...more Begin maart kregen een aantal forumleden van Ezzulia de kans om een preview publicatie te lezen en te bespreken. Ik stelde me ook kandidaat en viel in de prijzen. Een nog niet gepubliceerd boek lezen en bespreken zorgt er sowieso voor dat je het op een andere, bewustere manier leest. Zo ook bij Fiona, dat voor auteur Harry Bingham zijn thrillerdebuut moet zijn.

De discussie rond de keuze van de cover is in mijn ogen minder relevant, omdat een cover voor mij toch nooit een doorslaggevend element is. Wat wel al snel een issue werd, is het feit dat de uitgeverij rond de publicatie een hele campagne opgezet had met – godbetert – een Facebook account voor niemand minder dan deze Fiona zelf. Dat deed bij mij al een rood lichtje flikkeren, want als men zoveel moeite doet om een hype te doen ontstaan rond een boek…

Bovendien werden al meteen (te) hoge verwachtingen gecreëerd door het centrale personage in de voetsporen te laten lopen van Lisbeth Salander uit de trilogie van Stieg Larsson. Naar mijn gevoel een kapitale fout.

Om maar meteen een zeer belangrijk element te noemen waardoor deze vergelijking zo mank loopt als een paard op 2 poten: Salander is een charismatische, sterke persoonlijkheid die een groot deel van haar leven doorgebracht heeft aan de verkeerde kant van de wet. Dat zij dus bepaalde stappen kan zetten en er mee wegkomen is straf, maar niet tegennatuurlijk. Als je een politierechercheur een zelfde soort trucjes laat opvoeren en haar er even goed laat vanaf komen met een halfbakken uitbrander, is dat zelfs te onwaarschijnlijk voor woorden. Het idee alleen al dat een labiele persoon wordt aangeworven voor moordonderzoek is te ver van de realiteit. Om er dan een heel boek aan op te hangen, was meer dan mijn geduld kon verdragen.

Een andere hindernis wordt gevormd door het grote geheim waar doorheen het hele boek om de anderhalve bladzijde naar wordt verwezen. Het gegeven op zich zou een stevige cliff hanger geweest zijn als het goed uitgewerkt werd. De mogelijkheden waren er, maar werden op een schaamteloze manier ongebruikt gelaten. In plaats van de lezer er mee te prikkelen en spanning op te bouwen, kreeg ik het ervan op de zenuwen en begon ik te gokken waar weer een verwijzing zou komen en waar ik dus een sprong moest maken om er overheen te kijken. Op het einde wordt er één of ander (blijkbaar echt bestaand) syndroom bij gesleept, maar de schrijver had duidelijk geen zin om zich daarin te verdiepen om er ook nog iets zinnigs mee te doen, behalve de naam noemen.

Op zijn website beschrijft Bingham dat hem door een bekend iemand werd gevraagd als ghostwriter op te treden voor dit boek. Als voorbereiding op het schrijven van een thriller heeft hij zich naar eigen zeggen een paar dozijn boeken uit dit genre aangeschaft en gelezen. Wel, ik kan het goed geloven. Het resultaat is er dan ook naar. Op een paar bladzijden na wist het verhaal mij nooit te boeien en als het engagement voor het meedoen met de discussie mij niet verplicht had het boek uit te lezen, dan was het na pakweg 50 pagina’s in de vergeethoek beland.

Ik geef nooit 0 sterren aan een boek omdat dat in mijn ogen de toelating is om er de haard mee aan te maken en ik ben principieel tegen boekverbrandingen. Eén ster dus, voor het papier en de inkt.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Cathy Cole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First Line: Beyond the window, I can see three kites hanging in the air over Bute Park.

The crime scene is a sad one: a woman killed after a short life ruined by drugs and prostitution... and her small six-year-old daughter lying dead beside her. The only thing that marks this crime scene as unusual is one small piece of evidence. Why would a drug addicted prostitute have the debit card of a very wealthy man who's been dead for months?

Police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, has more important case...more First Line: Beyond the window, I can see three kites hanging in the air over Bute Park.

The crime scene is a sad one: a woman killed after a short life ruined by drugs and prostitution... and her small six-year-old daughter lying dead beside her. The only thing that marks this crime scene as unusual is one small piece of evidence. Why would a drug addicted prostitute have the debit card of a very wealthy man who's been dead for months?

Police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, has more important cases to focus on, but there's one person who can't let this one go: young Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, who's got a reputation for being odd. She can become intensely focused on certain aspects of an investigation, and she doesn't always pick up on social cues. And everyone has heard about that two-year gap in her past.... (Psst! She had a breakdown. Mind-- you never heard it from me!)

Even though she has to get called on the carpet by her superior officer and told that she must do as she's told (no ignoring bits of the investigation that bore her, no haring off on some wild idea that she's gotten), Fi Griffiths has all the hallmarks of a brilliant, intuitive investigator. Told to check out the dead man's credit card and nothing more, Fi rapidly heads off on her own investigation because she's positive that dead little six-year-old has something important to tell her.

From the very beginning, Fiona Griffiths grabbed my attention and my sympathy. Throughout most of the book, her mental state is dealt with mostly by hints and innuendo, but the deeper she dives into this investigation, the more obvious it is that something is very wrong with her. From her flashes of insight and her way of putting clues together, to the way she counts the backwards and forwards "if's" in her name, to the way she tries to begin a relationship with a fellow officer, Fiona is an endearing-- and sometimes maddening-- creature.

She tries so hard to come down to Planet Normal-- to know when to laugh and how to smile at the right times-- that I couldn't help but want to get to know her and help her. So many times throughout the book, Fiona's thoughts would sing across the page and make me smile in recognition... or make my heart break. This is one incredibly memorable character, and I have to know more about her.

The fact that she's involved in a complex and dangerous investigation doesn't hurt one bit either. I couldn't put the pieces of it together and had to rely on Fiona's intuition to get us through. On his website the author states that he's working on more books in the series, and that is very welcome news. One thing that I would hope for in the future is that Fiona learns a bit of caution. The way she plows ahead into danger without waiting for backup-- although it fit the situation-- would mean that she would have a short life expectancy in the real world. Since she's a compelling character who's grabbed my interest in both hands, I want her to live for a good, long time.
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May 02, 2013 Ingrid Fasquelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

La mort pour seule compagne est le premier volet d'une série de romans mettant en scène Fiona Griffith. Paru le 4 avril 2013 aux éditions Presses de la Cité, ce thriller à la plume glaciale offre une belle alternative aux polars nordiques.

Fiona Griffith est une jeune recrue qui travaille au sein de la brigade criminelle du commissariat central de Cardiff. Rebelle, à fleur de peau, celle-ci n'est pas particulièrement bien vue de ses collègues ni de sa hiérarchie, qui lui reproche son manque de co...more La mort pour seule compagne est le premier volet d'une série de romans mettant en scène Fiona Griffith. Paru le 4 avril 2013 aux éditions Presses de la Cité, ce thriller à la plume glaciale offre une belle alternative aux polars nordiques.

Fiona Griffith est une jeune recrue qui travaille au sein de la brigade criminelle du commissariat central de Cardiff. Rebelle, à fleur de peau, celle-ci n'est pas particulièrement bien vue de ses collègues ni de sa hiérarchie, qui lui reproche son manque de communication. Si Fiona a bel et bien des difficultés à communiquer avec les autres, elle possède également un solide esprit d'analyse et un sixième sens qui lui seront bien utiles pour résoudre le meurtre d'une prostituée et sa fille, toutes deux retrouvées dans un squat de Cardiff.

Autant l'avouer de suite, l'enquête criminelle du roman de Harry Bingham ne m'a pas passionnée. Les milieux de la drogue et de la prostitution que l'auteur a choisis de mettre en scène ne m'ont, en rien, tenue en haleine. En revanche, j'ai tout de suite accroché au personnage étrange et dérangeant de Fiona ! Ses phobies sociales, sa fascination morbide en font une héroïne à mille lieues des super flics auxquels le genre m'a habituée ! De par son handicap social, Fiona Griffith m'a souvent fait penser à Lisbeth Salander. Tout comme l'héroïne de Stieg Larsson, elle n'hésite pas à contourner, voire à s'affranchir des procédures légales pour arriver à ses fins. Son sens du compromis à la limite de la légalité m'a souvent fait sourire, de même que ses méthodes musclées et efficaces ! Oui, j'ai aimé son culot, son côté rebelle et sa détermination ! Son combat pour que justice soit faite m'a paru humain et touchant. J'ai particulièrement aimé cet aspect du roman.

"Qu'elles reposent en paix."

"Ces fleurs sont là pour célébrer la mémoire de ces femmes qui sont mortes."

"Janet, April et Stacey ont eu des vies tellement anonymes. Je voudrais qu'elles partent dans une apothéose."

L'écriture percutante de Harry Bingham m'a également séduite. C'est, à mon avis, l'autre point fort du roman. Sans fioriture ni temps mort, l'auteur va droit au but. On progresse dans l'enquête de manière efficace. Pas de digressions ni de descriptions inutiles, La mort pour seule compagne est un roman d'investigation pur jus !

Ne vous attendez toutefois pas à lire un remake de Sixième Sens. L'héroïne de Harry Bingham n'est pas dotée de pouvoirs paranormaux. Ses intuitions et ses pressentiments n'ont rien de surnaturel. Au fil des pages, le lecteur comprend que Fiona est atteinte d'un étrange syndrome dont elle a souffert pendant plusieurs années, au sortir de l'adolescence. Syndrome qui pèse encore aujourd'hui sur sa vie sociale et affecte ses émotions. En parallèle de l'enquête criminelle, c'est surtout le passé de Fiona que l'auteur exhume et c'est tout ce qui fait le charme de son roman !

Mais quitte à lire un thriller psychologique (au sens premier du terme), j'aurais aimé que l'auteur donne davantage de détails sur le syndrome dont souffre Fiona ! Malheureusement, Harry Bingham, dont le but ici n'est pas la précision clinique, reste plutôt évasif sur l'état mental de son personnage ainsi que sur l'origine de son traumatisme. Soucieux de préserver au maximum le suspense, il distille quelques bribes, de-ci de-là, mais c'est peu, trop peu ! Certes, le procédé ne manque pas de piquer la curiosité du lecteur mais je regrette que l'auteur n'ait pas davantage exploité ce sujet ! Voilà qui pour le coup aurait donné une tout autre envergure au récit ! Voilà qui aurait bousculé efficacement les codes du genre ! Voilà précisément ce que j'aurais aimé lire !

Malgré un bel effort, Harry Bingham ne m'aura pas emportée bien loin. Parce qu'il se montre trop avare de détails, parce qu'il ne se contente que d'une version romanesque de la pathologie dont souffre Fiona, son histoire perd de son originalité ! Son intrigue ne décolle pas et le lecteur reste sur sa faim ! Il faut attendre les toutes dernières pages du roman pour enfin en savoir plus sur l'étrange mal qui ronge Fiona. Mais les révélations arrivent trop tard et l'effet escompté ne se produit pas. De plus (et je répugne à l'avouer), les thèmes abordés (drogue, prostitution, trafic humain, violence...) n'ont malheureusement rien d'original ! J'ai souvent eu l'impression de lire un fait divers... C'est bien dommage ! L'auteur avait pourtant toutes les cartes en main pour faire d'un banal thriller un roman sordide et tout à fait captivant !

Si La mort pour seule compagne n'est pas le polar exceptionnel et absolument passionnant que je m'attendais à lire, je reconnais qu'il s'agit toutefois d'un cru honorable, qui mérite d'être découvert, ne serait-ce que pour faire connaissance avec son étrange personnage principal.(less)

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Nov 07, 2012 Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Crime fiction starring D.C. Fiona Griffiths as a junior officer who has been with the Cardiff police headquarters in Wales for four years. She's not psychic. This is not fantasy fiction. While she does 'talk to the dead' the only feedback she gets is intuitive. The book has been compared to Stieg Larsson's trilogy and there are similarities. Violence against women is a topic in this book. Both of the heroines are diminutive, dysfunctional and somewhat dangerous. Fi gets through the day by logica...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Karen Eades rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was looking forward to reading this book set in Wales after it was recommended by a major US newspaper. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed. I've read many police procedurals and crime novels set in that part of the world, most of which manage to transport the reader to that location. For example, read a few Bartholomew Gill books and you feel like you've practically visited Dublin. Colin Dexter takes you to Oxford. Ian Rankin takes you to parts of Edinburgh you never want to visit. I d...more I was looking forward to reading this book set in Wales after it was recommended by a major US newspaper. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed. I've read many police procedurals and crime novels set in that part of the world, most of which manage to transport the reader to that location. For example, read a few Bartholomew Gill books and you feel like you've practically visited Dublin. Colin Dexter takes you to Oxford. Ian Rankin takes you to parts of Edinburgh you never want to visit. I did not see, hear, smell, or feel Wales in this book. I attribute this to a lack of descriptive language, but this could have been intentional due to the severe emotional disturbance and detachment of the main character. Which brings me to another thing that bothered me - the notion that a person so severely mentally ill (with a disorder that is almost never curable per the authors end note) could recover within 2 years, graduate from Cambridge (with A levels no less) and hold down a very stressful and demanding job is just a little bit too much magical thinking for me. On a more personal note, as a mother of 4, I could have done with fewer references to a small child having a sink dropped on her head.

In my opinion, the comparisons to Liz Salander and the Dragon Tattoo books are way off. The Salander character was, again in my opinion, very meticulously developed, complex, and quite a bit more fascinating and intriguing than Fiona. Remember how you could practically feel the cold of Sweden when you read those books? How many times did your heart pound while reading them? What did you feel when you read this book? Revulsion and enough mild curiosity to make me finish it, for my part. Fiona came across to me as basically just weird, disconnected, and distressed - but I didn't dislike her. I felt sad for her. I also disagree with the comparisons to Tana French's books - I've read them all and they are head and shoulders above this one - in every possible literary way.

With that being said, I will probably read at least one more book in this series when available. It wasn't awful, and I have a lot of time on my hands. I will give him another chance.(less)

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Dec 17, 2012 Mathilde rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Wales, a woman and her cold are found murdered in a squalid squat. The platinum card of a dead millionaire is found in the hovel. Young detective Fiona Griffiths is on the team that is put together to solve the case.

As a police procedural, this was average. But i feel that more than being about the working of a Wales police department or even about solving a crime that centered around prostitution and drugs, this was a story about Fiona. Fiona suffers from a mental illness, the full extent o...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Shelley Fearn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspense

The book was very good once I got into it. Reading it was similar to my waking up in the morning. I'm stiff but as the day goes on and I warm up, I become more flexible. Reading this was kind of similar.

The book starts out with the murder of a young mother and her daughter. D.C. Fiona Griffiths wants to work on the case but she is assigned to tracking down the credit card found at the scene. It belongs to a dead millionaire. Griffiths is convinced there is a connection.

Griffiths is odd. It took...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Lora rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths keeps to herself on the Cardiff police force. In her teens, she had a breakdown, the specifics of which she hides from both her colleagues and the reader. Right now, she is working on the case of a retired cop named Brian Penry (who stole money from a school he was working for), yet she finds herself drawn to an investigation into the murders of a prostitute, Janet Mancini, and her young daughter, April. Given the task of tracing why wealthy, missing (and pres...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Alisha-Dear Constant Reader rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, netgalley

Talking to the Dead is such a boring and slow book, that reviewing it is boring. I actually feel badly for anyone reading this, for surely they must be bored.

Fiona Griffiths is a "copper" in Wales. Yup. You read that right. A COPPER. Every time copper appeared in the text I heard, "YEAH SEE! CAN'T CATCH ME NOW COPPER!"

Side note:

Apparently Wales doesn't do a whole lot of psychological profiling before hiring detectives because Fiona!

Fiona has issues, some of which involve talking to the dead and...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-stands-for-a-readers-xmas, x-2012s, did-not-finish-or-skimmed, first-reads

I would like to address a problem that's been somewhat prevalent in fiction. The problem is an apparent discrepancy over the definition of 'feminism.' Let's pop over to the dictionary and take a looksie.

fem·i·nism

"1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
2. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.
3. feminine character" (from dictionary.com)
(my italics)

Okay, so far so good. Now...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Rosina Lippi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, reviewed-here

Here's a truism: crime thrillers are only as good as the primary character. Lisbeth Salander, Jack Reacher, Elvis Cole, Dave Robichoux, these characters are all bigger than the authors who created them. I would bet that many avid readers of these series might forget the author's name, but they will buy the newest Jack Reacher or Elvis Cole without hesitation.

So a strong primary character -- important in any genre -- is doubly important for thrillers. This novel is set in Wales, and revolves arou...more

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title link	preview: Talking to the Dead
avg rating	preview: Talking to the Dead Goodreads rating: 3.65 (470 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13067005-talking-to-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340853603l/13067005.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13067005-talking-to-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham[/url]

Talking to the Dead (Fiona Griffith #1)

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