Jeffery Deaver - The Vanished Man

Review by Malcolm Martland 21 May 2009
Illusionists, magicians, conjurers and especially a murderer feature in this detective story in which a deranged conjurer sets out to make his point – playing to his revered audience - by murdering random victims in the manner of a Houdini Routine. And just when the police arrive on the scene the murderer apparently disappears into thin air – hence the Vanished Man – or does he? The police are usually admitted to the crime scene by an elderly janitor or a little old lady – the murderer is also an expert in quick change and disguise.

The mysteries of detection fall to the resources of Lincoln Rhyme – ex NYPD – oh and he just happens to be quadriplegic – apparently a must for solving crimes using the mind only. He and his girlfriend – an NYPD officer enlist the help of Kara a trainee illusionist to guide their weary way! I’ve not come across the character Lincoln Rhyme before but apparently this is his 5th appearance in Jeffrey Deaver’s detective novels – so there must be a fan base of kinds out there somewhere.

I found myself comparing mental notes with our own British detective cum magical mystery solver – Jonathan Creek – in our own benign East Anglian setting and at least with a smirk of humour about his investigations. Sadly this book isn’t set in Norfolk but New York – eventually ending with a dramatic Circus event in Central Park. But the plot weakens in places because the illusions obsess the author – the “perp” Erick Wier – turn out not to be himself at all – but some one else – and he escapes capture and captivity with monotonous regularity. The murderer intent on his finale of burning down the whole circus and half of Central Park too is then in a quick turn of events misdirected by the Lincoln Rhyme and the NYPD who fake the inferno and the cries of the hapless audience – it is a good read but I found my credibility stretched a bit too far. AND the end of the book is gratuitously extended into more illusions and misdirection long after the “perp” has been banged up for good!