Indeed, I did muse about what a great pity it is that the author K.
The dialogue, between women especially, is a joy to read, and the snippets of story within a story that make up Castillo the police inspector’s share of the novel are perhaps the best thing about this work. Putting that aside, Azzopardi’s writing often shows verve, and as always is the case, showcases her relaxed ease of narration and an excellent command of reported speech. This was not necessarily a disappointment – there is plenty in Azzopardi’s work here to enjoy – but it would be a disservice to this review to claim that this reader was not deflated by the end. Something to do with Gadaffi perhaps, or the parallel world of Castillo the police inspector, or with the fact Emma and Cathy are twins, or any number of other intriguing details of the story that ultimately turn out to be less than the sum of their parts. For a good part of Castillo this reader had the sneaking suspicion that there was a great reveal waiting just a few page turns around the corner.
Having to immerse oneself into the work and be led on by what may be an unreliable narrator, picking up clues page by page, led down blind alleys or fooled into chasing red herrings, these are all part and parcel of the experience. The novel as puzzle is a mouth watering prospect. This in essence is Castillo (Merlin), Clare Azzopardi’s first long-form work of fiction for adults in a decade long career that has seen her dominate the children and young adults categories at national book awards, as well as being a regular presence as one of Malta’s foremost writers of short stories and theatre. One day, years later, an adult Amanda knocks on her estranged mother’s door. Amanda’s mother Emma abandons her husband and young daughter under mysterious circumstances after her twin sister, a popular author of police procedural novels, is blown up by a homemade bomb.
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