Spoiler-Friendly Discussion on The Evil Beneath

[A.J.]

This thread is designed to include any spoilers on The Evil Beneath (such as details of the ending and the killers involved). Be sure you have read the book if you're reading posts in this thread!

[Marie-Laure]

Hello again :)

This part of my musings is better situated in the spoiler-friendly thread.

So here we go, with a silly annecdote first : being a geek myself, I couldn't help googling away some of the things Juliet googles during her research.
I couldn't help but notice that "Edward VII London" gives me Kew bridge as the 1st result. Since the wikipedia page for Kew bridge was changed only recently (November 20th), I was wondering if it was changed by someone who read your book ... :)

And now to the part that has been bugging me ever since reading the book :
I actually found out about Bill and his mother at the end of chapter 25 (aroun 81% in the book) when Juliet questions William at the police station. Making the link from William to Bill was easy enough and him talking about bad things happenning to him previously on those dates nailed it for me.
With that information I went back in the book and realized that the babysitter's name was Mrs Jones ... just like Juliet's patient. So here's my concern : I have a hard time believing that Juliet would not recognize her at all from the photo. And I also am puzzled by the fact that she does not react on the Jones name ... OK I did not at first, but I'm not having weekly unpleasant meetings with her either ;)

Lastly, maybe it's cynical of me, but I really liked that Luke's image was tarnished in the end, that he was not this idealistic perfect boy who everyone seemed to think he was : nobody's that perfect. I felt like it transformed him from a 2D poster to an actual 3D person (if that makes sense ;) )

[Bill]

It's amusing that the cover illustration depicts Tower Bridge, a bridge which does not figure in any of the murders in this book. Apparently, like Big Ben, it is simply an easily recognized iconographic symbol for London.

As I've confessed before, I don't read mysteries to find out who did it, but for the characters, relationships & spiritual values. I fear I found Juliet a bit of a weakling who's carried along by events. Her going to Norwich to find out more about the fire was an exception necessary to the plot. I enjoyed the visit to the underground Fleet Ditch (familiar to me as a setting in Alexander Pope's The Dunciad), altho' I thought it quite out of character for Juliet and unlikely to happen in real life - surely in such cases the authorities are careful about just who's down there! (Haven't I recently read a mystery with a similar setting too?) But I didn't find her convincing as a caregiver. Tho' I believe British caregivers do not have quite the same legal obligations to report abuse that we do in America, it's hard to imagine she would have heard a tale of a boy being bullied without doing something to try & stop it.

Again I noticed that instead of solving the mystery, we have an ending where the villain attacks the hero & when the villain fails everybody knows who did it. This kind of ending is extremely common even with very fine authors but frankly I sort of miss good old-fashioned detection where we follow clues to the villain's identity.

All in all, I found this book a pleasant read with a likable narrator, tho' I honestly found both the identity & the motives of the villain too opaque & contrived for even an alert reader to divine & was a bit miffed that the author was jerking me about. I went back & read the part where Juliet sees the babysitter's picture & still didn't feel I'd missed something, especially as Juliet doesn't recognise her. The relationship between Bud & Juliet seemed too close to be appropriate for a policeman but too inconclusive for a romantic hero. So no fifth star, but not a bad effort.

[A.J.]

Marie-Laure wrote: "Hello again :)

This part of my musings is better situated in the spoiler-friendly thread.

So here we go, with a silly annecdote first : being a geek myself, I couldn't help googling away some of ..."


Interesting, your discovery about Kew bridge – when I wrote the book, Kew Bridge didn’t appear to have an obvious link with Edward VII – so I don’t know if the pages you found have been updated or not (not by me!) At the time of writing the novel, it seemed sufficiently obscure in the story to make it work!

You clearly made the right links to track down the killer! Not too many of my readers worked it out! Although, to be honest, I see the book more as a ‘why dun it?’ than a ‘who dun it?’.

My response about the name ‘Jones’, (of the babysitter) - is that it is revealed only once by Mr Knightly, who is vague and says it was either ‘Mrs Smith or Mrs Jones…’ and with it being such a common name, Juliet doesn’t make the connection, especially as Lynn’s current name is Jessop. Juliet clearly didn’t recognise her – I suppose you could change quite a lot in over 20 years. I’m not sure I’d recognise my babysitters from when I was nine… Lynn is talking about a boy of thirteen or fourteen, so an older man isn’t really on Juliet’s radar in connection with her – Juliet is more concerned about whether the boy actually exists and how she can cope as a therapist with Lynn’s level of anxiety around him.

Anyway, that was my thinking about it – you must have a sharp eye for detail!

[A.J.]

Marie-Laure wrote: "Hello again :)

This part of my musings is better situated in the spoiler-friendly thread.

So here we go, with a silly annecdote first : being a geek myself, I couldn't help googling away some of ..."

Bill wrote: "It's amusing that the cover illustration depicts Tower Bridge, a bridge which does not figure in any of the murders in this book. Apparently, like Big Ben, it is simply an easily recognized iconogr..."

Bill wrote: "It's amusing that the cover illustration depicts Tower Bridge, a bridge which does not figure in any of the murders in this book. Apparently, like Big Ben, it is simply an easily recognized iconogr..."

Marie-Laure wrote: "Hello again :)

This part of my musings is better situated in the spoiler-friendly thread.

So here we go, with a silly annecdote first : being a geek myself, I couldn't help googling away some of ..."


Interesting, your discovery about Kew bridge – when I wrote the book, Kew Bridge didn’t appear to have an obvious link with Edward VII – so I don’t know if the pages you found have been updated or not (not by me!) At the time of writing the novel, it seemed sufficiently obscure in the story to make it work!

You clearly made the right links to track down the killer! Not too many of my readers worked it out! Although, to be honest, I see the book more as a ‘why dun it?’ than a ‘who dun it?’.

My response about the name ‘Jones’, (of the babysitter) - is that it is revealed only once by Mr Knightly, who is vague and says it was either ‘Mrs Smith or Mrs Jones…’ and with it being such a common name, Juliet doesn’t make the connection, especially as Lynn’s current name is Jessop. Juliet clearly didn’t recognise her – I suppose you could change quite a lot in over 20 years. I’m not sure I’d recognise my babysitters from when I was nine… Lynn is talking about a boy of thirteen or fourteen, so an older man isn’t really on Juliet’s radar in connection with her – Juliet is more concerned about whether the boy actually exists and how she can cope as a therapist with Lynn’s level of anxiety around him.

Anyway, that was my thinking about it – you must have a sharp eye for detail!

Alison

[A.J.]

Bill wrote: "It's amusing that the cover illustration depicts Tower Bridge, a bridge which does not figure in any of the murders in this book. Apparently, like Big Ben, it is simply an easily recognized iconogr..."

Thanks for your comments, Bill

I would have loved to have the right bridge on the front cover, but it seems even the publishers in France and Germany have chosen covers with Tower Bridge - as it's recognisable.

Glad you liked the part in the London sewers - obviously a lot of the rest of the book didn't appeal to you!

What's interesting for me as a writer is the range of opinions on the book - I suppose we're all just different and like different things.

Best wishes
AJ

[A.J.]

Signing off now - back tomorrow to answer any extra questions!