When an architect vanishes in East London, her concerned fiancé asks journalist Shanna Regan to find her. The missing woman has been leading an interfaith Jewish-Muslim charity project that’s become the target of malicious damage and racist threats.
After Shanna witnesses a teenage girl fall to her death, she’s convinced the architect’s disappearance is also linked to a local youth outreach project. And then another woman is reported missing.
Amid rising local tensions, danger appears to be lurking around every corner. Even the safest sanctuaries seem to be hiding the darkest secrets. As Shanna uncovers a tangled web of lies, she puts her own life on the line. Will she find the missing architect before it’s too late?
The Associate is the compelling and thought-provoking sequel to The Redeemer. It can be read as a standalone.
I'm delighted to be sharing my review of The Associate today. Many thanks to Victoria Goldman for my advance digital copy.
I really enjoyed The Redeemer, the first book in Victoria Goldman's Shanna Regan series when I read it last year and she impressively builds on that excellent introduction in The Associate. It can easily be enjoyed as a standalone, although I highly recommend The Redeemer, if you haven't already read it.
Shanna is still living in Hillsbury, a fictional small town in Hertfordshire but she has moved on from Hillsbury Living magazine and is now sharing the London editor's role at NewsQuest, alongside her freelance work. The increased scope gives Victoria Goldman a wider canvas to illustrate various aspects of Jewish identity and beliefs while also exploring a number of contemporary topics. There are some hard-hitting issues depicted here, and the opening scenes find Shanna visiting a synagogue which is being targeted by a small but still repugnant crowd of protestors. She notes that she may have travelled the globe tracking down news stories but the worst of human nature can be right on her doorstep too. She has been invited to the Beth Chaverim synagogue in Emberley Green, a multicultural area of East London by Jack Harris who is concerned because his fiancée, Louisa Phillips has been missing for five days.
Louisa is an architect but she's also instrumental in the running of an interfaith charity project, Shalom-Salaam and supports a youth mentoring project. Throughout The Associate there's a thought-provoking juxtaposition between the people who encourage divisiveness and those who are seeking ways to improve relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities. Although the hostilities in Israel and Palestine are touched on here, this is actually an astute, and sometimes hopeful look at the commonalities shared by the two faiths, from their respective belief systems to the prejudice and racism directed towards their cultures and them as individuals. The Shalom-Salaam project has been collecting supplies for Syrian refugees and is planning to welcome a Syrian family to the specially adapted flat above Beth Chaverim. Of course, anybody who watches the news will know what a contentious topic immigration and asylum seeking has become and it's clear that some of the residents are vehemently opposed to the plans. The placards and protests are appalling enough, of course but it's obvious that tensions could easily escalate into violence.
Shanna is rather reluctant to take on a missing person case but she needs the money and perhaps more crucially, she has a journalist's instinct for a story. While she wonders whether Louisa has merely developed cold feet and is taking some time away to decide what she really wants, she realises she can combine the investigation with her research into a piece on the youth mentoring scheme for NewsQuest. As with many UK cities, knife and gun crime is on the rise and young people who have links to the charity have already lost their lives. Victoria Goldman doesn't attempt to suggest glib solutions to this complex situation but she sensitively acknowledges that the answers need to come from ground level as well as higher political circles.
The social commentary and realistic sense of place is superb then but The Associate isn't lacking in intrigue and tension either. The neo-Gothic synagogue makes for a wonderfully atmospheric setting but while this old building may have its secrets, it's the behaviour of the other characters which means both Shanna and the reader will have to question just who she can trust as the compulsive storyline progresses. She is undoubtedly principled and courageous – some might argue foolishly so – and consequently finds herself in a number of dangerous predicaments which had my heart racing. Meanwhile, this fascinating, likeable protagonist has an interesting backstory of her own; she has perhaps reached a time in her life where she can begin to put down roots, both professionally and personally, however, she clearly loves travelling and a more spontaneous existence. With decisions to be made regarding her romantic life too, I'm looking forward to discovering what comes next for her.
The Associate is a sterling example of what modern crime fiction can do best; it gives readers an authentic view of what it means to be Jewish in Britain today and is still a tense, multi-layered murder-mystery that twists and turns until it reaches its thrilling conclusion. If you enjoy intelligent, suspenseful novels which perceptively explore contemporary issues then look no further – highly recommended!
About the Author
She is also a crime-fiction author. The Redeemer, her murder-mystery debut, was shortlisted for Best Debut Crime Novel of 2022 in the Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2022. She was first runner up in the DHH Literary Agency New Voices Award 2019 with an Honourable Mention for The Redeemer. The Associate is the next book in her Shanna Regan Mysteries series.
Comments
Post a Comment