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3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Trick of the Dark Oct 17 2010
By Ted Feit TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
As the book opens, Dr. Charlotte [Charlie] Flint finds her professional life as a forensic psychiatrist in tatters, her reputation destroyed, and awaiting a hearing by the General Medical Council to will decide whether or not she can be reinstated as an expert in her field.

Magdalene [Magda] Newsam, a pediatric oncologist, is a 28-year-old woman whose husband was killed on their wedding night, attending the trial of her husband's partners for his murder. One of the two hubs of this book is Magda's mother, Corinna Newsam, who was Charlie's tutor while an undergraduate at St. Scholastika's College, Oxford University, which is the other point around which all else revolves. Each of the characters' ties to Corinna and Oxford have shaped their lives to this point. As is the case also with Jay Stewart, wildly successful businesswoman in the throes of writing her second memoir following her first bestseller, the point of view throughout the book variously that of the three younger women.

Corinna asks Charlie to investigate whether, as she suspects, Jay Stewart had something to do with her son-in-law's death, mostly due to the fact that Jay is now romantically involved with Magda. Seeking redemption, Charlie agrees. As the solution drew near, the feeling that I knew what lay ahead didn't diminish the suspense or the intricacy of the plot. And, of course, I was completely wrong in my expectations.

Few of the characters in the book are male; few of the romantic relationships/entanglements are heterosexual, a fact noteworthy only in the prejudices thereby aroused in others which are essential to the plot. The novel, though somewhat lengthy, is an absorbing and worthy addition to Ms. McDermid's ast novels, and is recommended.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Erwartungen nicht erfüllt Feb 3 2012
Format:Paperback
'Alle Ewigkeit will Rache' ist ein weiteres Buch der berühmten Krimiautorin Val McDermid. Leider kannte ich zuvor weder die Autorin, noch ihre bisher erschienenen Werke. Das liegt einfach daran, dass ich normalerweise keine Krimis lese. Mit gefällt das Genre nicht sonderlich, obwohl ich mich des Öfteren daran versucht habe. Somit habe ich mich vorerst einmal darüber informiert und bin auf viele positive Reaktionen auf ihre Kriminalromane gestoßen. Zusammenfassend bin ich also zweigeteilter Meinung an das Buch herangegangen.
Die Story handelt hauptsächlich von Charlie Flint ' nicht vom Namen ablenken lassen, wie es mir passiert ist, es handelt sich hierbei um eine Frau. Sie arbeitet als 'Spezialistin' für psychologisches Profiling mit der Polizei zusammen. Aufgrund einer folgenschweren Entscheidung in der Vergangenheit ist sie nun vom Dienst suspendiert und hat damit schwer zu kämpfen. Gerade in dieser Zeit erhält sie Post von einer unbekannten Person. Inhalt sind Zeitungsausschnitte über einen Mord, der vor längerer Zeit an ihrem alten College in Oxford geschehen ist. Also begibt sich Charlie auf eine Spurensuche in die Vergangenheit.
Meiner Meinung nach hat sich die Geschichte recht vielversprechend angehört. Eine Ermittlerin in einer ihrer schwersten Zeiten verstrickt in einen mysteriösen Fall. Leider habe ich schnell feststellen müssen, dass sich die ganze Geschichte recht schleppend abspielt. Zusätzlich muss man ja betonen, dass Charlie ein Diplom in Psychologie, Philosophie und Physiologie hat und keinen Abschluss an einer Akademie des FBI oder was weiß ich. Was bedeutet, dass sie im Grunde genommen keine polizeiliche Ermittlerin ist, sondern eher Gutachten und Ähnliches erstellt. Falls man nun also auf eine spannende Hetzjagd mit Schießerei und so weiter hofft, so hofft man vergebens. Charlie ist Psychiaterin und daher besteht ihre Ermittlungsarbeit auch hauptsächlich darin, mit Leuten zu reden. Das ist nun leider genau die Art von Krimi, die ich gar nicht mag, weshalb ich wohl auch mit einer relativ negativen Einstellung an die Sache rangegangen bin. Aber weiter im Text:
Ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt des Buches ist die Homosexualität der meisten Protagonisten. Sie ist in der ganzen Geschichte recht präsent. Die meisten Hauptdarsteller sind weiblich und lesbisch. Ich habe nichts gegen Homosexualität und fand diesen Aspekt deshalb recht interessant. Zumal ich noch nie ein Buch über dieses Thema bzw. in dem dieses Thema eine Rolle spielte gelesen. Dennoch hat es mich teilweise ein wenig verwirrt. Vermutlich lag das auch daran, dass viele Darsteller männlich Namen besitzen, sich dann aber als Frau entpuppen.
Ein weiterer wichtiger Punkt, den man hier behandeln sollte, ist der Schreibstil. Mir persönlich gefällt er nicht. Einfach deshalb, meiner Meinung nach, zu wenig beschrieben wird. Ich mag es, wenn ich mir die Situationen vorstellen kann. Das funktioniert aber nur, wenn der Autor alles so beschreibt, dass man glaubt, man wäre selbst dabei. Das bedeutet nicht, dass man jedes einzelne Haar einer Person beschreiben muss. Man sollte 'nur' das richtige Verhältnis finden.
Fazit: Interessante Idee, schade, dass die Umsetzung nicht ebenso interessant ist. Ich hätte mir von der Autorin, aufgrund meiner Recherche, mehr erhofft.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.1 out of 5 stars  20 reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun Mar 17 2011
By Bett Norris - Published on Amazon.com
I love McDermid's work, the entire body of work, that is. There's the Kate Brannigan series, the great Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series, the Lindsay Gordon series, and if you haven't yet read them you should. There are some wonderful stand-alones like The Grave Tattoo.

And there's this newest one, A Trick of the Dark. For some reason, this novel harked back to the old crime novels of Josephine Tey and Dorothy L. Sayers for me, and I can't decide quite why that is. Maybe the academic setting? Maybe the use of red herrings?

What I really greatly enjoyed about this novel was the ambiguous nature of each of the characters in it. No one comes off the hero, most are closer to being the goat. I think it is a major achievement and a demonstration of skill to have a protagonist who is slightly disturbing, as I found this one to be.

It is hardly a great lesson that no one is either all good or all bad, but it is certainly rare in fiction to find characters so precarioulsy balanced between good and evil. Unsettling in a murder mystery, when one expects a heroic crime solver and a black-as-night villain.

I thoroughly appreciated the urge to get out the tweeds and sturdy walking shoes for a spot of detection.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This book deserves a higher average star rating Dec 29 2011
By Mark Fleischmann - Published on Amazon.com
This book deserves way more than the (current) average of 2.5 stars. While readers might reasonably disagree about whether any book is any author's best work, the fact that two different one-star reviews employ the term "lesbian agenda" indicates how much of the negative reaction is based on sexual prejudice. Yes, this book has several lesbian characters. If that's a problem for you, don't read it. But don't come into this forum and vent your personal hatred on the author or on other readers. For my own part, as someone who's read all of McDermid's previous work, I find this book up to her usual standard. In fact, it's stronger than any installment in the Lindsay Gordon series, indicating that the author has become more adept at writing compellingly about characters whose life experience is similar to her own. A very fine book, glad I read it and decided for myself.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Trick of the Dark Aug 29 2011
By Gloria Feit - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
As the book opens, Dr. Charlotte ["Charlie"] Flint finds her professional life as a forensic psychiatrist in tatters, her reputation destroyed, and awaiting a hearing by the General Medical Council to decide whether or not she can be reinstated as an expert in her field.

Magdalene ["Magda"] Newsam, a pediatric oncologist, is a 28-year-old woman whose husband was killed on their wedding night, attending the trial of her husband's partners for his murder. One of the two hubs of this book is Magda's mother, Corinna Newsam, who was Charlie's tutor while an undergraduate at St. Scholastika's College, Oxford University, which is the other point around which all else revolves. Each of the characters' ties to Corinna and Oxford have shaped their lives to this point. As is the case also with Jay Stewart, wildly successful businesswoman in the throes of writing her second memoir following her first bestseller, the point of view throughout the book variously that of the three younger women.

Corinna asks Charlie to investigate whether, as she suspects, Jay Stewart had something to do with her son-in-law's death, mostly due to the fact that Jay is now romantically involved with Magda. Seeking redemption, Charlie agrees. As the solution drew near, the feeling that I knew what lay ahead didn't diminish the suspense or the intricacy of the plot. And, of course, I was completely wrong in my expectations.

Few of the characters in the book are male; few of the romantic relationships/entanglements are heterosexual, a fact noteworthy only in the prejudices thereby aroused in others which are essential to the plot. The novel, though somewhat lengthy, is an absorbing and worthy addition to Ms. McDermid's past novels, and is recommended.
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