Labyrinth of the Dolls - Crime Fiction for the Casually Obsessed
Craig Wallwork is an author who writes great crime horror fiction. I had read Bad People very recently and was enthralled with the killer's modus operandi and could not wait to see what came next for Tom Nolan. This second installment in the Tom Nolan series did not disappoint! It is very much a continuation of the first book, so I highly recommend you read them both in order to pick up on the nuances and put the puzzle pieces together more completely.
We get to delve deeper into who Tom Nolan is in this installment, which I definitely enjoyed. Learning about Tom's insecurities and inner workings was delightful and brought me closer to him in a way that the first book only briefly touched upon. We got to follow Alex Palmer from one book to the next and that was also very gratifying. There was a humanity to this one that I found touching, memorable, and also painful in parts. The topic of the Minotaur's Labyrinth is a very fine reference point for both books and ties together the killer and the protagonist as fellow human beings. They are similar only in that they are both trapped and running within a labyrinth in their minds at all times. I find that theme deep and yet understated within the Tom Nolan books.
This story had an interesting concept of the killer turning the victims into (once) living dolls, which I found quite unsettling. I liked how everything tied together by the end and some of it wasn't neat and tidy, because that's just not the reality of how serial killers and people with mental illness work. There was a great deal of satisfaction in how the details merged into one solid piece and I was very pleased and attached to Tom Nolan by the end.
Again, I have nothing but good things to say about Craig Wallwork’s wordsmithing and ability to draw the reader in with vivid images and succinct wording. I saved a few quotes that I particularly appreciated:
"Maybe it was the wine, the long hours on the road, the realisation the killer had been to his home, but whatever it was, the truth of it was, he couldn't think. His mind was a snow globe, shaken violently by the hands of a lunatic."
"Though he tried to apologise, they did not listen, for the dead were dead, and acts of contrition were for the living."
"Bill settled into an armchair, its tanned leather arms cracked like scabs on a child's knee."
I feel like I am in Tom Nolan's world when I read Craig Wallwork's writing. I am fully immersed and eager to see what happens next. The books are small, manageable, and very rewarding. I highly recommend his work to those who enjoy crime fiction stories with flair.
A big thank you to Craig Wallwork who provided us with an ARC of Labyrinth of the Dolls for review.
You can find Craig’s website HERE
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