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Jumping the cracks
Book by REBECCA O'ROURKE
153 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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June 19, 2020As far as I can determine, this is the first lesbian mystery published by the very reputable feminist publisher, Virago Press. It is not the best. In fact, it took an uncomfortably long time before I was able to actually label it a mystery.
Gerry Flannagan, called Rats, for a reason that doesn’t really seem to make much sense, has moved to London from Hull to escape from a relationship gone sour. Good for her. But not so good when she becomes an alcoholic and runs out of money to pay her rent. One evening as she staggers home, she finds a dead body in a Rolls Royce automobile and that event shakes her out of her depression and, at least temporarily, turns her life around. She immediately she gets a job with what Americans might call a real estate agency or a property manager. It is kind of a sleazy operation, but it pays the rent. But the finding of the body haunts her. She tells no one—even the police—about the body and, naturally, it disappears. The newspapers have no stories about it, either. Then she finds out that the owner of the company she works for owns the Rolls. Uh, oh.
But this book isn’t about the mystery. Not really. It is about life and death and choices. As Rats, now living alone and without any good friends, goes from job to boring job, she thinks that “it should have been a good life, and it wasn’t.” The borough of Hackney, where Rats has her small apartment, is just a small section of London, but its boundaries seem to enclose its inhabitants as securely as a wall. Still, it is more than a bit or a contrivance that Rats’ employer owns the vehicle in which she had seen the dead man. Aside from that though (regardless how large that ‘aside” might be) Jumping the Cracks is a story of a normal woman trying to find meaning in her depressing surroundings. A woman who can only be jolted into action by death.
Rats comes to see herself as a detective. “She was piling up fragments, hoping that they would eventually form a whole.” Her ex, Helen, who she reunites with, says, “We’re like Miss Marple or Jemima Shore. All set to ferret out the truth, bring wrongdoers to justice. “
But only by discovering the truth can Rats move on. “Finding out who had killed the body in the car was no longer about settling scores with the past, it was for the future.”
And of course the solution—which she searches for in good faith—comes in a manner not really believable, but it is strong enough that it gives Rats a new belief in herself and a new direction in which to stride toward her own growth.
Jumping the Cracks is not an important book, nor is the title or the cover art compelling, but it does give more than just a slice of life in a smallish London borough. It is about people striving hard for very little and taking their pleasure wherever they can find it. I’ll give this one a 3-star rating without guilt either way.
Note: I read what appears to be the first printing of the Virago Press edition of this novel.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
Gerry Flannagan, called Rats, for a reason that doesn’t really seem to make much sense, has moved to London from Hull to escape from a relationship gone sour. Good for her. But not so good when she becomes an alcoholic and runs out of money to pay her rent. One evening as she staggers home, she finds a dead body in a Rolls Royce automobile and that event shakes her out of her depression and, at least temporarily, turns her life around. She immediately she gets a job with what Americans might call a real estate agency or a property manager. It is kind of a sleazy operation, but it pays the rent. But the finding of the body haunts her. She tells no one—even the police—about the body and, naturally, it disappears. The newspapers have no stories about it, either. Then she finds out that the owner of the company she works for owns the Rolls. Uh, oh.
But this book isn’t about the mystery. Not really. It is about life and death and choices. As Rats, now living alone and without any good friends, goes from job to boring job, she thinks that “it should have been a good life, and it wasn’t.” The borough of Hackney, where Rats has her small apartment, is just a small section of London, but its boundaries seem to enclose its inhabitants as securely as a wall. Still, it is more than a bit or a contrivance that Rats’ employer owns the vehicle in which she had seen the dead man. Aside from that though (regardless how large that ‘aside” might be) Jumping the Cracks is a story of a normal woman trying to find meaning in her depressing surroundings. A woman who can only be jolted into action by death.
Rats comes to see herself as a detective. “She was piling up fragments, hoping that they would eventually form a whole.” Her ex, Helen, who she reunites with, says, “We’re like Miss Marple or Jemima Shore. All set to ferret out the truth, bring wrongdoers to justice. “
But only by discovering the truth can Rats move on. “Finding out who had killed the body in the car was no longer about settling scores with the past, it was for the future.”
And of course the solution—which she searches for in good faith—comes in a manner not really believable, but it is strong enough that it gives Rats a new belief in herself and a new direction in which to stride toward her own growth.
Jumping the Cracks is not an important book, nor is the title or the cover art compelling, but it does give more than just a slice of life in a smallish London borough. It is about people striving hard for very little and taking their pleasure wherever they can find it. I’ll give this one a 3-star rating without guilt either way.
Note: I read what appears to be the first printing of the Virago Press edition of this novel.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
June 24, 2020
This book gave me no reason to doubt my theory that I'll enjoy any book published by Virago. A quick, easy read but with depth, using its plot and characters to give insights into social and political life of the time. I loved O'Rourke's ability to set the scene. Her descriptive writing made me feel like I was seeing the streets as Rats saw them, almost as a memory.
December 4, 2017
1987 notebook: good thriller with lesbian protagonists
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews