My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Only Ben Cooper appears in this nicely short story. I like the interplay befween Cooper and Uddal; the mystery itself is Intriguing; and the ending satisfies. But this is a mystery with a message. And that message is hammered home in Cooper’s thoughts, a policeman’s dialogue, a character’s spouting. It was a bit Law & Order like in its preachiness. Booth made an effort to make the dialogue and thoughts natural, but it was the sheer overwhelming amount of it that ruined that effort. I would’ve preferred more of the usual Cooper mystery tone and less of the message being so obvious.
