Judge not the man
Charles Balcombe cannot control his alter ego.
BlackJack is killing for fun and DI Munro knows his partnership with Balcombe can’t continue.
While Balcombe seeks help, Munro is asked to work for the Hong Kong governor’s aide-de-camp. He seems to be sidelined as Garrett resumes his hunt for the Squeezed-heart murderer.
But people have secrets and the more Munro investigates, the murkier they seem. When people start dying and with Balcombe’s help, Munro tries to get to the bottom of a conspiracy of silence.
Will he find the truth?
Will Garrett catch his killer?
Will Balcombe learn the truth about himself?
As the psychoanalyst told him: a third of the mind is darkness. If you dig too deep, be prepared. You won’t like what you find there.
It's such a pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for A Third is Darkness today. Many thanks to Murray Bailey for inviting me and for sending me an advance copy of the book.
A Third is Darkness is the third book in Murray Bailey's excellent Blackjack series and while each novel features a standalone investigation, the ongoing storyline which really lies at the heart of these books means I strongly recommend doing yourself a favour by reading the series in order.
The title of this instalment is so apt and although it's taken from an explanation given to Charles Balcombe from his psychoanalyst, it's also a fitting description of the novel itself. The contrast between Balcombe the apparent playboy and Blackjack, his sadistic alter-ego has always been stark but the Mr Hyde side of his personality is increasingly coming to the forefront here and there's a sense of dark foreboding throughout the book. The tense opening scene immediately reveals a tormented, confused Balcombe before the novel takes us back over the preceding days to explain how he ends up in this state. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Munro is beginning to realise the cost of making deals with, if not the devil, then at least an unpredictable, dangerously out-of-control killer.
Despite his well-founded fears, he still turns to Balcombe again, this time for help with an off-the-books investigation into the disappearance of the seventeen-year-old daughter of the governor of Hong Kong's personal assistant. However, unlike in previous cases, it's Balcombe's keen mind he seeks assistance from here, rather than Balcombe's savagery. He also admits to hoping to distract him from becoming Blackjack, and throughout the book, the dilemma haunting Munro, both personally and professionally is obvious. He has used Blackjack and fears what he is capable of but he has grown to care for Balcombe, in spite of their differences, and consequently attempts to find help for him.
The scenes with Georgina Swift, the psychoanalyst Balcombe turns to are particularly intriguing and while he is never fully honest with her, the sessions do result in us learning more about who he is and how he was shaped into the monster he sees himself as. This is the darkest of the Blackjack books but it's also the most poignant and the balance struck between fearing and pitying the protagonist-cum-anti-hero is superb throughout.
The sense of time and place is first-rate as always; Murray Bailey adroitly captures the disparity between social classes and racial attitudes as well as the vivid comparisons of the affluent areas of Hong Kong and the sinister, barbaric parts of the island; the darkly menacing scenes in Kowloon are a particularly striking juxtaposition to the glamour brought by the Hollywood crew filming the Clark Gable movie, Soldier of Fortune. The investigation into Patricia Albright's disappearance also cleverly explores the dichotomy between what is seen and what is kept hidden as the body count rises. The action briefly moves away from Hong Kong too, and the atmospheric scenes which take place in Macau are utterly nailbiting.
Exciting, suspenseful and really quite moving, A Third is Darkness is another compulsive, polished thriller in a series which keeps getting better; I sincerely hope there is still more to come. Very highly recommended indeed.
A Third is Darkness will be published on 3rd November, it can be purchased from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
His first work of fiction, I Dare You, was published in 2016. His books include his ancient Egypt series (starting with Map of the Dead). the Ash Carter series set in 1950s Singapore and the prequel Near East series also featuring Ash Carter, and the Blackjack series set in Hong Kong which overlaps the end of the Singapore series.
Born in Manchester, England, Murray now lives on the South Coast with his wife and family.
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