Series: Detective Alana Mack #1
Publication Date: 17th Oct 2023
Genre: Small Town Mystery, Police Procedural
3.7 Stars
One Liner: A good start to a new series
A two-year-old Casey is abandoned in the supermarket with a slip of note in her pocket to not find her family. A retired newspaper journalist has disappeared from his home without a trace. Someone found human organs in a trash bin.
Detective Alana Mack is already overworking overtime. Her recent transfer to the Clonabee police station seemed like a good move to restart her life in a wheelchair. However, she’s dealing with fewer resources, excess pressure, and a misogynistic chief. Finding little Casey howling her lungs out adds to her list of concerns, but Alana cannot help but want to safeguard the child at all costs.
Are the crimes independent, or is there a connecting factor the police are yet to see? With Alana still struggling to come to terms with her current situation, is she strong enough to control her emotions and do what needs to be done?
The story comes in the third-person POV of multiple characters.
My Thoughts:
This is a slow-burn mystery and a police procedural (not a thriller) set in a fictional seaside Irish town. The setting stays true to the dark theme of the genre and deals more with social issues like poverty, etc., rather than focusing on the beauty of the location (of course, there a couple of references to sunrises and sunsets).
Alana Mack is a disabled police officer bound to her wheelchair after an accident/ incident in her recent past. So, we get the narrative of someone who had to get used to this new way of life. This works well to present the internal conflict.
While Alana is confident, capable, and efficient, it does take time to warm up to her. As a woman in a male-dominated field, she has to be tough and relentless. However, this sometimes doesn’t show her in good light. She is also dealing with past trauma (we get a lot of references but not enough details in this book).
The side characters, Paddy, Rusty, Tatty, etc., are well-etched and manage to make an impression within the set limitations. As the series progresses, we are likely to see better character development for the recurring characters.
Despite the specific mention of Alana’s ex-husband in the blurb, he has only a minor role in the plot. I like this as it retains the focus on the case (Alana has enough internal thoughts to mention this guy multiple times. I don’t need more at this stage).
The cases have enough twists to keep the reader engaged. There isn’t a lot to guess, though. With multiple narratives in parallel, we get enough snippets to connect the dots to a good extent. There are some triggers and graphic content, so proceed with caution.
However, this is a slow burn. I expected the book to have a steady pace after the initial setup, but it continued to be slow throughout. Also, there isn’t enough tension in the investigation. They seem to be doing their thing while the usual useless chief tries to boss around. The police station doesn’t have the personality it should (maybe it’ll get better in the next books).
Also, we could do without so many POV jumps at random. Reading a chapter or half from a side character’s POV is confusing. This should be better structured to prevent confusion.
Alana goes by Alan, which seems odd throughout. Why would you need a man’s name if you want to exert yourself as a capable policewoman? The author’s note provides the reason, but I prefer a logical explanation rooted in the MC’s backstory. Let’s see.
Today, I got to know that this has been corrected in the final version. Alana continues to be Alana. I appreciate the author and publishers taking reader feedback seriously and implementing it. I know it’s unfair to compare characters, but I do love Eve Dallas (from In Death Series). Alana doesn’t have to be Eve but should have a distinct personality. We’ll see how it goes. I like this enough to read book two.
To summarize, The Puppet Maker is a decent police procedural dealing with dark themes and a dangerous killer. It does the job of creating an interest in the series.
Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #ThePuppetMaker
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TW: Physical abuse by family, mentions of pedophilia, mutilation, and death of parents.
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