Poe 1-4

An inkling too far

My Resume for the Washington Poe books 1-4

Intelligent crime novels have a psychological interplay of the main characters, have clever conversations, and reflect on the shortcomings and problems of society and politics- Craven's books don't.

Anyhow, I must say that I like Craven's way of storytelling as his stories don't lack suspense, have a compelling narrative and have a reasonable enough composition that they pass an assessment for a good story at a second thought, otherwise he would not have won several Golden Daggers....

Having said this, I must say that the stories have their flaws and some caveats. They are compelling as the typical "regional (that is, cumbrian) crime fiction" can be and serve the lust for escapism and sensationalism, but are neither outstanding nor very educating on a wider scale. The facts mentioned in the stories have not been vetted exactly, but are more ventilated than anything else. Despite beeing entertaining enough, the stories are pulled out of too thin air for my taste, and by applying the rule of "The Butler did it" I could often guess who the killer would be, strictly be picking the most innocent looking guy that was introduced into the story.

And the engrossing and exaggerated descriptions of death and "overkill" do not add anything new or original, yet by contrast they evoke the feeling that they are made to serve the appetite for the particular part of the readers who crave for sensation and vengeance. And what does this say about the author? :(

Besides, these crimes work out more because the author decided they would, not because they are very realistic once thought through.

The main characters, Poe and Tilly, have the plain and supperficial features of a decal pictures and remain quite static in terms of their character development.

Washington Poe, bears to many similarities with Craven's other detective, DI Fluke. (Both face eviction from their respective, allegedly wrongfully erected homes, and are ex-military.) Poe, is again more an archetypical hard-boiled copper, than the profiler he allegedly is. While his
military background keeps on coming up, his profiling skills are hardly ever mentioned or are relvant. (which is not necessarily a bad thing, as profiling in crime fiction is mostly depicted falsely pathetically ans embarrassingly as a near magical power). Poe actually solves his crime be "Sherlock-like" possibility to notice important details or because of a hunch. I often just don't buy the line of Poe's argumentation when coersing a statement: e.g. if a rich man deals with the Iranians, and if the US secretly allows him to do so, provided he delivers intelligence, the man who involuntary blows this operation by killing the rich man's son can hardly be charged with terrorism, am I right?

Tilly Bradshore on the other side, serves as the nerdy wingwoman for the technical part to Poe. Portrayed as a "Sheldon-like" autistic genius, she is as the both the source of knowledge and humor by her unconventional demeanor.
Despite her understated appearance of "coolness" (like geeky T-shirts or hints she is engaging in pen and paper role playing), she remains not a very credible character and as such annoying

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