This novel of Elizabeth George's is set in London, presumably in the "present", because of several incidents that happen , and the central themes of the novel.
The story itself is very good, but I have top say the dialogue left me cold. Usually when you read a book, and you get to dialogue, it is easier than long descriptive passages to take in. BUT not in this case, the main characters are Cockney/Jamaican origin, and George had chosen to write all the dialogue in Cockney/Jamaican slang. This makes it very hard to read, and at one point I considered not bothering finishing the book. The other thing that irked me somewhat is the length of the book, and the build up to the finale, obvious from the title.
So, I would have enjoyed it more it it was a) shorter and b) written in plain English with a note as to how each character spoke when they were introduced.
This is not a book for the fainthearted reader , due to those points.
However, I did finally enjoy it.
For more information follow this link;
http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/books/what_came_before_shot.htm
In the acknowledgements at the end of the book George does excuse any inaccuracies of London geography, due to her not living in the UK.
Labels: crime