Spoiler Discussion (Aug 2020) Value Read - The Dentist, by Tim Sullivan

[Bill]

George tells us that Leonard ‘was strangled with such force that his trachea was crushed. That’s a violent killing, with angry intent.’ Yet at the end we learn that Sheila, the homely foster mum, killed him. I suspect the author originally intended for her husband to do the deed, but changed his mind. Once we know that Sheila was a foster mother this mystery pretty much solves itself, though critical information like the Polish article on footprints is withheld.

[Shell]

There are so many books out at the moment where the main character suffers from Aspergers or something similar, that my heart sank a bit on starting this novel. My only criticism of the book was that George's problems were explained a bit too much. There were a lot of times when I wished the author had just left the reasons for his difficulties up to us, rather than explaining every time why he was having trouble. Just seemed to force it too much. That aside, I liked his character and also that of Raymond, Ottey and Alice. They were all interesting and I was left wanting to know more about them and can see there is a lot of room for some good personal stories amongst them for future books. I found the crime interesting and although I guessed that Malcolm was guilty, I had him down for both murders. The clues were released at a steady rate and I enjoyed the police work and especially the way the footprint evidence was introduced and fitted perfectly. Unlike others I wasn't disturbed by the writing style and found it easy to read. The author had obviously put a lot of thought into this book and it was a great story. I'm very much looking forward to following the series. I would rate it 4 1/2 out of 5.

[AngryGreyCat]

I liked this book but I agree that there are many books with the detective being on the autism spectru. Then those traits are being used to explain why he/she is some kind of crime solving savant. At some point I do wonder how people who are on the spectrum feel about this portrayal . I have read several of these novels and enjoyed them and actually have almost read two back to back. I read this novel, The Dentist and I also read which I quite enjoyed. It has a female lead character who is also on the autism spectrum and works in forensic crime restoration. After reading both of these, I feel that Some Choose Darkness was the stronger of the two simply because it did more showing and less telling. I felt The Dentist spent a lot of time telling us about George.

I did also feel drawn to looking up some articles about the portrayal of autism in mystery fiction and found some interesting reading.
https://bookriot.com/7-things-to-know...
https://crimereads.com/the-evolution-...

[Pat]

This read was a real slog for me; I didn't relate to the characters. I'm giving it a 3 of five stars.

[Chris]

Finally got around to this one as it is free on Kobo... and no 2 is £2.99 - but I shan't be buying.
Interesting to have a detective so obsessed with details who we are constantly reminded has been designated non-normal by the medical profession. It was good - no swearing, no beating up the hero - and resolved neatly.