I had been wading slowly and somewhat joylessly through a complex and dense novel (more about that later) when I decided I needed something different to read. Something lighter and more accessible, something that felt less like duty.  Nicci French (the husband and wife team responsible for, among other things, the Frieda Klein series of mystery novels) had just published a standalone story called The Lying Room.  That would do nicely, I thought, and I was right.

Neve Connolly shows up at her lover’s apartment in London only to find him brutally and recently murdered. She sets about cleaning and tidying the place with no other thought than to remove evidence of the affair, fearing what it would do to her family if it’s exposed. But Neve isn’t the only one with something to hide ….

Good mystery writers are no different from good writers working in any other genre. The best share a fascination with human behavior and motivation and are skilled at creating a fictional world in which to study such things.  Nicci French is especially good at ordinary relationships – spouses, partners, friends, siblings, and colleagues – and at understanding the tensions, complexities, loyalties and falsehoods that hold them together, whether out in the open or hidden below the surface. S/he is also exceptionally good at domestic detail; the family dinners and outings, the work meetings, and the college reunions. In other words, the commonplace. Parts of the plot of The Lying Room might stretch credulity, but never the characters.  They’re very well drawn and are entirely believable. The novel overall was a delight. Now it’s time to get back to the other one.