barbara fister reviewed Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer
Review of 'Man in the Woods' on 'LibraryThing'
I'm mostly a crime fiction reader. This book has a crime in it, and it's fiction, but it's sort of a mystery turned inside-out. The man of the title is a gambler whose debt has sent him on the run in a paranoid frenzy. Paul sees him at a park in upstate New York, abusing his dog. Paul tells him to stop hitting the dog, but the man's paranoia distorts his understanding; Paul steps in and can't control a sudden burst of temper, 'like a runner who cannot stop his legs from churning.' He's shocked to find the man is dead. He takes the dog home with him and tries to avoid the consequences, though burdened with a sense of doom. As an overweight and seemingly inept (but actually quite professional) detective picks away at the case (who is this man? why was he killed?) Paul first keeps the murder …
I'm mostly a crime fiction reader. This book has a crime in it, and it's fiction, but it's sort of a mystery turned inside-out. The man of the title is a gambler whose debt has sent him on the run in a paranoid frenzy. Paul sees him at a park in upstate New York, abusing his dog. Paul tells him to stop hitting the dog, but the man's paranoia distorts his understanding; Paul steps in and can't control a sudden burst of temper, 'like a runner who cannot stop his legs from churning.' He's shocked to find the man is dead. He takes the dog home with him and tries to avoid the consequences, though burdened with a sense of doom. As an overweight and seemingly inept (but actually quite professional) detective picks away at the case (who is this man? why was he killed?) Paul first keeps the murder from the woman he has formed a family with, Kate Ellis (of A Boat Made of Paper), but eventually they share the secret. It's a good novel, but don't let the crime mislead you into thinking it's a mystery. The suspense isn't in who did it, but in the aftermath: how will a person who committed murder in a moment of unexpected rage cope with the knowledge he's ended another person's life and could be sent to prison. The novel is really about Paul, Kate, and her daughter hovering in that space between a sudden act of violence and its possible consequences.