Review by Frank Plowright
Al Adley is an insular young man whose life has been thrown into chaos. He was in the same underground carriage when the London mayor was murdered, and a bloody knife later turned up in his coat pocket. Many police detectives wouldn’t believe that was coincidence, but Inspector Ellis does, to the point of permitting Al to stay with him for protective purposes. As Shima Shinya has also shown in Lost Lad London 1 that Al is an innocent party, and that Ellis has more than instinct to go on, this isn’t as strange as it would ordinarily seem.
Shinya’s opening chapter here explains Ellis’ protective attitude, after which, any doubts about sinister events taking place and setting up Al for murder are erased. A few passing remarks about racism occurred last time, but with a police interrogation Shinya makes racial profiling a primary issue, and it finally makes sense that he’s set his series in London’s multicultural society. It becomes the primary background issue, with Ellis’ experiences as a Black officer, and that of his commanding officer Yuki Howard becoming part of the story. By the time Shinya’s devoted the middle two chapters to police attitudes that aspect becomes as fascinating as the main mystery.
As before, Shinya’s presentation of personalities is emotionally strong, their characters shining from the art. It’s not easy to convey complex instincts such as trustworthiness or introspection in portraits, yet Shinya achieves that. As before, having chosen London as a setting there’s a wish more had been made of the visual possibilities, but at least the choice is now clear.
The nearest there is to an obvious villain is another police officer, Grant, arrogant and pushing towards racism, although such are the shades employed that it could just be attributed to ambition and a rush for results. Either way, he’s an officer who makes up his mind, then tries to fit the facts around his suppositions. The tension over the final two chapters is due to his having Al in the frame for murdering the mayor.
Shinya’s storytelling method is selective. The murder of a major city’s mayor would in reality have consequences affecting so much about life in that city, yet Shinya keeps the focus laser thin, barely moving beyond half a dozen people. Among those with more than a couple of lines of dialogue only Al isn’t employed by the police. It’s admirably disciplined when the original temptation must have been to broaden the spotlight.
Introducing racial issues has made Lost Lad London a far more nuanced puzzle, and combined with a ratcheting up of tension results in an even better read. The conclusion awaits in Lost Lad London 3.
