Reviewed: The Wolf in Winter

Private investigator Charlie Parker - and his ‘associates’ Angel and Louis - are hard on the trail of the righteous killer known as The Collector, but every time they get close he seems to have slipped through their grasp.   In the meantime, Parker is tempted to look into the death of a homeless man that occasionally helped him in his investigations. Jude is found hanged and alone, apparently the victim of a suicide and likely to be simply another statistic from the lonely streets of Portland. But  he was also looking for his daughter and apparently was calling in old debts in an effort to hire Parker to assist him. Would Jude, even with a difficult and turbulent history really have taken his own life if he was determined to reunite his family?

His daughter had last spoken of heading to work for an old couple in the town of Prosperous, just outside Maine. But the  town’s police chief swears she never arrived.  He’s lying. Not only did she arrive but her  life ended in the town as part of an ancient deal  the town once made to maintain the benefits of its name.  Now the town is circling to protect their own by any means necessary and Parker is in their sights…

Despite the fact this is labelled a ‘Charlie Parker’ thriller there’s a strong argument to be made that while hugely significant to the character’s personal story and trajectory, The Wolf in Winter is not so much about the private detective himself, rather the raft of supporting players who orbit around his decisions and his unique, specific gravity.  Those waiting for the story to tighten its perspective around Parker’s investigation will slowly start to realise that  though half the book is the first-person perspective of the case, Connolly’s attention has clearly, if momentarily, shifted elsewhere: that, as the book continues, it is the town of Prosperous - the weight of its dark history and conflicted inhabitants - that truly dominates the tale. A little like a television series that may occasionally produce a singular episode or ‘special’ that bucks the usual format, this seems to be Connolly’s  idea of a dark  sabbatical, an intermission,  but still full of pagan punctuation and deep dread.

Tonally, imagine a modern touchstone on The Wicker Man - not the Nicolas Cage remake (which is a different kind of horror altogether) but one that  honours the organic tension of the original, transferring it to rural-edged suburbia rather than Summerisle isolation.  (Town matriach Hayley Conyer is ever bit as important and subversive as Christopher Lee’s character). 

Gloriously rich in language and texture as Connolly’s other tales, this is arguably not  quite as accessible to those unfamiliar with some of the previous key events in the Parker stories.  They will be able to grasp  the agendas of the various characters, but the weight of such baggage is best served by experiencing them  directly rather than hints or exposition.  I’ve read some (but not all) of the Parker stories, but even I know I’m missing some back-story elements that would make things clearer. (However, that’s not something that can be held as too much of a criticism of the author - one could hardly hold a show-runner accountable if a viewer chose to watch the episodes out of order).

Clearly impeccably researched, some readers may find the  amount of factual, historical information included in the book, both in Parker’s investigation and Connolly’s own descriptions can get in the way of the pacing of the story - occasionally turning parts of some chapters into what resembles reference material for the elements included.  While interesting, some are more necessary than others. The only other quibble is that the gloriously painted covers of recent releases have been replaced here by a disappointingly generic photo montage of a moon reflected a river surrounded by vines - which doesn't convey a fraction of the much better imagery and descriptive choice that Connolly includes within the text of the story itself.  

But if The Wolf in Winter is not what some will expect, it’s still a hugely rewarding experience for those who like Connolly’s  accomplished mix of  police procedural tinged (sometimes deliciously smothered) in the more nuanced bittersweet, unforgiving battles between true good and evil. It also manages to be insightful and pointed about the pragmatic difficulties and tragedies of the homeless... and on both counts should be applauded. 

The Wolf in Winter, by John Connolly is published by Hodder & Stoughton  and is out now in hardback in the UK . The US edition follows later in the year. 

9/10