Carver's Quest by Nick Rennison

Carver's Quest by Nick Rennison
Buy Carver's Quest by Nick Rennison at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Louise Jones
Summary: Carver and Quint travel to Greece in search of ancient treasure and the solution to a puzzling murder.
Buy? No	Borrow? Maybe
Pages: 448	Date: June 2013
Publisher: Corvus
ISBN: 9781848871793
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The year is 1870 and Adam Carver is at home in his lodgings in London’s Doughty Street when he is interrupted by an unexpected caller. This distraught and enigmatic young woman, Miss Emily Maitland, requests Carver’s help but disappears mysteriously before he can ascertain the details of her predicament. The days and weeks that follow her visit prove to be most eventful, pitching Carver and his assistant Quint into an investigation involving murder, a missing manuscript and a hidden treasure.

Does it all sound slightly familiar? Well, perhaps it is no coincidence that Nick Rennison also wrote Sherlock Holmes: An Unauthorised Biography and is a regular reviewer of historical fiction for newspapers and magazines. The comparison to Holmes is perhaps, inevitable and this particular plot does not stray too far from the tried and tested formula that readers are so familiar with. Indeed, perhaps this is what initially attracted me to the book, as I do enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Rennison has a particular skill for creating interesting characters, and our eponymous hero, Carver, is no exception. Cambridge educated, with a passion for archaeology, his studies are cruelly cut short when his father commits suicide and Carver is forced to fend for himself. His surly manservant Quint is the polar opposite of Carver in every respect; sullen, worldy wise and handy with his fists. They have a sort of symbiotic relationship which works well and they make a good team. Some of the most entertaining passages in the book involve Carver and Quint’s conversations, which usually culminate in an amusing deadpan one-liner from Quint.

I also loved that way that Rennison plays with words. He uses the full spectrum of our beautiful language, resulting in a wonderfully rich text, littered with little-known adjectives and phrases. My new favourite word is oleagenous, which describes one particular character in the book perfectly.

Sadly, the book has one major flaw. The plot is painfully slow. Much of the narrative is devoted to lengthy conversations and investigations, with very little in the way of action. I had to wade through pages and pages of superfluous conversations, which contributed very little to the actual plot. The shocking final denoument promised in the blurb, was rather an anticlimax and there was nothing in the book that had me on the edge of my seat or frantically turning the pages to see what happened next. As Elvis so eloquently put it, I would have preferred a little less conversation, a little more action please.

In conclusion, despite a promising premise and well drawn characters, this book had very little in the way of substance. I would like to read more adventures featuring Carver and Quint, because I genuinely liked the characters, but I hope that any future stories contain a little more peril, action and adventure.

For those who enjoy this genre, Encounters of Sherlock Holmes by George Mann (Editor) is an entertaining anthology of stories set in Victorian London.

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