Review of Little Fingers by Tim Roux.

Tim Roux writes with imagination, style and aplomb. The characters who people his books do so as if they were real men and women, sharing their intimate secrets, their darkest desires, their deepest emotions, their dreams and hopes and thoughts. In Little Fingers, the story unfolds mostly through the words of Julia, a character unique in fiction. Clever, manipulative, hedonistic, obtuse, consistently inconsistent, courageous, beautiful and elusive, Julia lies, exposes injustices, avenges, loves and hates as she takes the reader through the series of events that lead to a series of murders. Accused of murder by the world weary and sympathetic Inspector John Frampton, she sets about discovering and explaining what really happened. But the twists and turns of the plot, fascinating and intriguing as they are, take secondary place to the fascinating characters revealed by her enquiries. This is not a crime novel, though it deals with murder, rape and paedophilia. This is not a romance, though love, sex, seduction and fancy play their parts. It is a literary novel, but not in the inaccessible way of so many such labelled works.

There is courage in this writing. Ideas are aired. Emotions are explored and justice is examined. Some of the characters are wicked, some basically good, some indifferent and others passionate but all have their flaws and all have their reasons for who and what they are. There are no stereotypes here, no cardboard cut-outs. Flesh and blood populate these pages and will make the attentive reader smile, laugh and cry, agree and deny, gasp and hope, and turn the pages till the end is reached.

I heartily recommend this novel. A damned good read.

For other reviews and information visit Tim Roux at Nightpublishing.

You can buy Little Fingers here.

Word of the Day is divorced from the post that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.

Word of the Day; zambuk – an Australian member of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, a first aider attending an event. ‘After Sheila and Bruce collided on an urgent run for the dunny, they had to call a zambuk to sort out their various injuries and slight concussion.’