[Review] Paula Lennon: 'Murder in Montego Bay'

On the north coast of Jamaica lies Montego Bay. For tourists, it's paradise, for some inhabitants it resembles hell. Detective Preddy and his team are forced to accept the assistance of Detective Sean Harris, a red-haired and fair-skinned Scottish detective - yes, he is a caricature - who is seconded to Jamaica. Then, the scion – yes, Paula Lennon uses a lot of archaic words where simpler ones would have sufficed – of iced desserts empire Chinchillerz gets himself murdered.

A cloud hangs over Preddy, the result of a botched raid where several young men were killed by a hail of police bullets. Not only do they haunt his dreams, but his superiors lost faith in him. Early retirement looms for Preddy if he does not manage to find the killer quickly.

Working out of Pelican Walk police station, Preddy and his now expanded team must find the answers to the elusive Five Seven W's of policing: Who, What, When, Where, Why, With What, and (by) What Means.

So, what to make of it?

Some reviewers grumble about the use of Jamaican Patois, the local dialect, that is used throughout the Caribbean. It's not a problem, because it adds to the couleur locale of the story and I've seen it used to great effect before by Jacob Ross in 'The Bone Readers' and 'Black Rain Falling'.

Other things did bother me, though. That an overworked Preddy seems to be able to free himself for an entire morning every week to feed the poor via the charity kitchen is ludicrous. Lennon probably wanted to give Preddy a 'human face'.

And I cannot imagine why the Jamaican police would want to add a lowly Scottish detective to one of its squads. A feels like a gimmick that was copied from 'Death in Paradise'. If Jamaica would need assistance, I think that the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would be their agency of choice. Jamaica is swamped with drugs and serves as a stepping stone for import into the US. Harris even gets to command the team and I wonder if that is even possible under Jamaican law.

The writing seems just that. Writing. I thought about it for quite some time and reached the conclusion that it misses 'soul'. The sentences do not 'dance'.

The moment Paula Lennon became aware of this review, she blocked me on social media. A bit immature, if you ask me.

Buy the book here.