Book Review: The Failsafe Query by Michael Jenkins

The Failsafe Query by Michael Jenkins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story. The political and international background is authentic. The characters are interesting and I particularly liked Natasha. The book could have done with a heavier dose of her and her sadistic ruthlessness. She is certainly not somebody who you would want to cross, even if you were battling for the same side.

For the most part, the pace is good, although it stumbles in places and I found some of the dialogue a bit forced and stilted.

What spoiled it for me, and brought it down to three stars from what could have easily been a five star review, were the number of inconsistencies and areas of procedure and crime scene investigation that were just not credible. If I were to start listing them all, I would be giving too many spoilers, but here are a few that happen in the first couple of chapters so there are no real spoilers..

• Although it is absolutely authentic that a cadaver dog will indicate a find by freezing and pointing with their head (knocking), it is ridiculous that the same dog would subsequently go crazy when he picks up a scent.

• An independent expert is brought in who is an expert in fibres, hair, soil AND pollen. Too amazing to be believable. Furthermore, she is brought in after the scene has been trampled all over by the other character and the dogs. Probably too late to find anything significant.

• There are no such things as forensic gloves or forensic bags. There are tamper evident bags and the gloves are typical nitrile disposable.

• I also found it difficult to believe that even the most brilliant “air dog” in the world could track the route taken by a car containing a body, in the windy Pyrenees, several days after the car had passed that way.

• Then there’s the successful search for the buried body by four people across seven identified sites in the peat bogs of the mountains. Surely, that would take months?

• Sean collects Alfie’s clothes from the washing machine but only bags two items. Why just those two? Then he puts that bag inside another bag. Why two bags?

• Sean believes that forensic evidence will tell him where Alfie had been taken or disposed of even though it was impossible, at this stage, to know if Alfie had been abducted or killed. Forensic evidence would not tell him this.

• Before it can get any worse, the totally ill-disciplined Billy Phish turns up and the first thing that he does is stamp out a cigarette. How careless is that kind of action in a scene which is still awaiting the arrival of the brilliant forensic expert?

I think that I have said enough for now. My problem was that these discrepancies continued throughout the story and there was one total impossibility toward the end. They became like itching powder for me.

However, having said all of this, the underlying story is great and is well worth reading. I just wish that the author had read The Real CSI by Kate Bendelow or attended one of the available masterclasses on writing authentic crime fiction before embarking upon his debut novel. It is not too late to write a second edition which would be bound to score five stars out of five.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

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