Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer - a crime novel set in Cardiff

Title: Rubbernecker
Author: Belinda Bauer
Publication: Atlantic Monthly Press, hardcover, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Wales

Description: Patrick Fort is an 18-year-old anatomy student who never recovered from the death of his father when he was a child. As his mother dealt with alcoholism, he tried to figure out how life can be so fleeting and his dissection and examination of animals provides no answers, just freaks out his mother, who does not understand the single-mindedness resulting from his Asperger’s Syndrome. In addition, Patrick has a hard time interacting with people, so when he persuades his mother that he wants to study anatomy at Cardiff University, she is apprehensive. The university told her they were admitting Patrick on a disability quota, ignoring his high-scoring biology and zoology A- levels. When Patrick’s group of students is assigned a cadaver to study, Patrick’s examination makes him suspect the man was murdered and, despite the ridicule he gets from others, is determined to discover the truth.

My Impression: Patrick and his mother are actually on their way to Cardiff for his interview to study anatomy when they pass a serious accident – someone heading that way went over the guard rail, and the traffic is now backed up due to rubbernecking. Off in Cardiff, the story follows Tracy Evans, a nurse in a neurological unit that deals with patients in a coma, although she is more interested in flirting with the affluent-looking husband of one of the patients, so doesn’t notice that one of her charges is starting to emerge from his coma. As Patrick begins his anatomy studies with a group of quirky medical students, Bauer deftly brings the different elements of this intricately plotted suspense novel together.

Although it started off slow and undeniably peculiar, I was soon drawn into the story and championing Patrick who is misunderstood by everyone, including his mother, although he is very literal and always says what he means:

Patrick pursed his lips. ‘But I want to start with the dead and work forwards.’

Professor Madoc gave a small laugh. ‘The dead can’t speak to us, Patrick, although our lives would be immeasurably simpler if they could. While doctors might discover the mechanics of how someone died, they are privy to neither why they died nor to what happens to them after they die. To solve those puzzles I think you’d need to consult a detective . . . and a priest.’

He smiled, but Patrick didn’t.

The inevitable comparison is to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which I enjoyed years ago with my book group, but this was faster-paced and much more suspenseful – and there were clues if I hadn’t been reading too quickly to pick up on them. It seems very sporting of the author to give the reader a chance to solve the various mysteries in the book; some books I have read recently are just written to have improbable twist after improbable twist towards the end, which may be dramatic but is not what every reader wants (although this did have a few good twists). Perhaps that is why I am weary of psychological suspense: if a book exhausts instead of entertains you, then surely the writer is not doing her job?

I had intended to read this for the Wales Readathon sponsored by Paula at Book Jotter but I had too many grad school assignments to get to it that month.  I am glad I made time for it before it was due and I appreciated its sense of place, particularly because I have been to Cardiff – the book even mentions Penarth where we spent a memorable afternoon.  This is my thirteenth book for the Cloak and Dagger Challenge and I recommend it.

Source: Library