.jpg)
A novel recommended to me.
As I've probably told already, crime novels aren't my first pick. I can see the plot coming a mile ahead and I don't like that in a novel.
The Calling was something else, though.
It's centers around Hazel Micallef, a 61 year old woman leading a police force in a small, happy place in Canada, until a grisly murders takes place. Or seems to anyway, because the deeper they dig, the more it seems as if the victim had agreed upon the murder.
Hazel acts like a dog with a bone, not letting go, breaking rules as she goes ahead searching the killer that shook up her little jurisdiction. As she unravels the mystery little by little, the truth behind the crime is chilling and in the end she herself is being dragged down in its spiral.
The Calling is written quite well, using decent english which sometimes treads the line of becoming a little to literary, but not so much it becomes annoying.
The police force seems like a good place to be, if you don't mind breaking the law. Hazel calls upon her staff to sometimes act unprofessionally which ends in new friends and enemies where she hadn't thought to look.
The plot keeps you awake. You'll want to read further, to get an answer to the questions they pose, but unlike in a movie, you can only hold your reader's attention for so long, so in the end it got a little tedious.
I liked the character of Hazel. She's an uncommon choice of protagonist and with all her faults and dreams she fills in the role perfectly. You might expect a tough granny, but you get a weatherworn, aching, true to life female who's stronger than all the men in her life combined.
The Calling is one I'd recommend as well. I'm handing out a 7,5 out of 10 which is quite a good score for a crime novel, if I say so myself.
