What Book to Read?

This is Michael Robotham’s second crime thriller, published in 2005. It takes a secondary character, Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz, from the previous book, The Suspect, and makes him the narrator. The psychologist from the earlier book, Joe O’Loughlin, plays a secondary role.

The book begins with Ruiz being rescued from near drowning in the Thames. A boat has been found adrift nearby, with blood on the deck and bullet holes in it. Ruiz has a bullet wound in his leg, and no memory of what happened to him. But others know some of it, and he is soon being threatened by senior police, who deny he was on police business, and by a smooth crook who wants his diamonds back. What diamonds? Ruiz is convinced it all has something to do with the case of a young girl who disappeared without trace three years earlier. Ruiz headed an investigation into her disappearance that resulted in a conviction for the crime, but he believes, despite the lack of evidence, that the girl is still alive. He enlists Joe O’Loughlin and Detective Constable Ali Barba to help him find out whether it is something to do with that case that nearly got him killed.

Robotham is the master of the clever plot. Ruiz cannot run a normal investigation; his superiors are unsympathetic and even suspicious of him. All he can try and do is ‘gather the pieces’ – to work backwards from shooting on the river. The story moves between his recollections of the earlier investigation, and the tentative steps he can make now – each one of which seems to lead him into further danger. There is a high level of suspense right from the beginning, as his memory loss makes him vulnerable to perils he can’t anticipate. And as his memory gradually returns, things get even scarier. Then finally all the pieces fit together. I do like a good plot.

But this book is much more than a clever story. There is also a subtle interplay between theme and character. Ruiz, a self-confessed ‘dinosaur’, is nearing retirement. His three marriages have all failed, he has lost contact with his children and his mother lives unhappily in a retirement home, her memory starting to fail. Memory and loss are central themes in the story. His amnesia aside, Ruiz has an excellent memory: ‘It throws away things like people’s birthdays, anniversaries and song lyrics’, he says, ‘but give me eighty witness statements and I can remember every detail.’ But can remembering turn into obsessing? Ruiz’s boss thinks Ruiz has crossed the line in the case of the lost child (‘I know she’s alive. I know it deep down inside, where my guts are tied in knots.’) And there is a childhood memory of loss that Ruiz has suppressed; Joe, the psychologist, wants him to dredge it up. Will it help if he remembers? It’s because of the lost children and lost memories that I prefer the original title ‘Lost’ to the American title ‘The Drowning Man’.

Robotham again skilfully handles the first person present tense narration. He performs with apparent ease the technically difficult trick of having all the action seen through Luiz’s eyes; a story structured around remembering is perfect for this. I wonder which came first – the present tense narrator or the plot. He also gives Ruiz a distinctive voice: ‘You’re going to have trouble answering questions with your jaw wired shut,’ he says when Joe pushes him too far.

Is there anything about the book I didn’t like? Well, Ruiz seems remarkably resilient physically for a man of almost 60. We know from the story that he was born in 1946, yet everything about him sounds younger. (Maybe I’m judging him by my own low standards.) And there is one element of the resolution I think is a bit too neat. But these are mere quibbles. Lost thoroughly deserved the Ned Kelly Award for the best crime story of the year which it won in 2005.

You can find out more about Michael Robotham here.