Finished: Val McDermid, A Darker Domain

[Francis A. Miniter]

As one approaches the climax of this book, it seems that the reader has
outpaced the police characters in coming to the correct solution. But
one thinks that at the risk of hubristic folly, a tragic trait that
encircles the leading players in this drama. Greek tragedy is the
structural paradigm here, as the reader shifts between analogies to the
Orestia trilogy of Aeschylus and the Oedipus trilogy of Sophocles. In
all of these cases, it seems an evil curse works its way genetically
through the generations of some families.

No, there are no direct allusions to these dark dramas. Direct
allusions are limited to only slightly lighter fare, such as "and miles
to go before I sleep" from Frost's poem _Stopping By Woods on a Snowy
Evening_ , a poem dealing with the contemplation of death and suicide
("the woods are lovely, dark and deep") and the burden of carrying on.
Another grim allusion is effected with the words "We are all citizens of
Europe now", bringing to mind the painful knowledge gained by the actors
at the end of the musical _Man of La Mancha_ , where Don Miguel
Cervantes is sent off to the inquisition by his fellow prisoners and
actors in the drama with the words "We are all men of La Mancha now."

Lest one think, though, that this novel is an erudite work of high
tragedy and literary pretension, it is not. The plot is driving and
multi-threaded. The reader cannot wait to pick up the book to
continue. The deeper levels of the story are there to be found but do
not intrude into the plot in an obvious or unpolished way.

Yes, I enjoyed it very much.


Francis A. Miniter