I was looking for the Canadian author Robert Wilson in the virtual branch of the Toronto Public Library. He wasn't listed, but this Wilson was. The blurb sounded interesting, and even more relevant, it was available to borrow right away. Most books in TPL are on hold!Instruments of Darkness describes a world I'm not familiar with at all: the grit of Africa, where violence roams next to pockets of people trying to earn a living, where booze and cigarettes are as ubiquitous as the heat, where money greases the shipping, and pale-skinned folk stand out. I wasn't sure at first if this was my kind of detective story, but I kept turning the pages. I took that as a sign that I was engaged enough to make reading it worthwhile.In places, I really noticed the short sentence structure, and the patois got a bit tedious at one point. As a young reader, I used to be a fan of writers using dialect in their dialogue. But now I often find it distracts when overused and adds a layer of artificiality or a feeling of trying too hard on the part of the author. As the book went on, the dialect lessened, and the story took ascendance.It's a simple story on the surface, of a man trying to puzzle out why two people died in the way they did and the truth of how they are tied together. But underneath seethes a plot that requires you to use your little grey cells. Even the personal back story of the protagonist requires one to do more than eyeball the words but to think about how men and women interact and what the woman in the protagonist's life really wants.The heat is unrelenting and is a metaphor for the heat of injustice weighing on the Englishman, the narrator and protagonist of Instruments of Darkness. But it's not done in an obvious way. Rather, though at first unpleasant to read seemingly endless descriptions of sweat and sticking, it became a compelling part of the milieu and gave me a peek into what it's like to live in another part of our shared planet where air conditioning is infrequent.The book ended when I was not ready. The story was complete; I just wanted more.
I've got my eyes open for (non-cozy) mysteries and thrillers that are located somewhere else and more exotic.When I saw this book, I couldn't just pass it since I had enjoyed A Small Death in Lisbon by the same author. But the books are completely different.Instruments of Darkness has Bruce Medway, a British expat, a "fixer" as its hero. Bruce makes Philip Marlowe look like Miss Marple. Take a thrilling mystery with a hero a bit like Philip Marlowe, but make him more hard-boiled, and add 10 % The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatisse and 10 % of The Maltese Falcon and a lot of other ingredients, place it in hot West Africa and you'll get there.Bruce Medway is a fixer, meaning he does odd (but legal) works for people who don't want to do something themselves, or who want to get him do something. When one of the gigs goes sour, he's asked to locate another British expat, Steve Kershaw. The rest is hunting down Kershaw, and then finding out who killed him. Despite being hard-boiled, Bruce has lots of verbal humor. West Africa gives an interesting atmosphere: very hot climate, lots of corruption everywhere taken into account. And there is a wonderful gallery of shady and interesting people in the book.
What do You think about Instruments Of Darkness (2003)?
This is really a 2.5. I almost stopped reading a third of the way in but kept on because I was trying to decide if it was ridiculously bad noir or deliciously bad noir. Turns out it's both, with a story that hooks you before you realize it. Diverting entertainment and a quick read. I'll definitely read the next one in the series. (Note:not at all the same tone or approach as A Small Death in Lisbon. If - like me -that is your only prior experience of Robert Wilson's writing, be prepared for something quite different.)
—Samantha
Back in the 90s I had to order Robert Wilson's Bruce Medway novels from the UK. (Now you can find them in the US, though probably still only online.) This is the first of the quartet, followed by The Big Killing; Blood is Dirt and A Darkening Stain. These four books are a lot more hardboiled than Wilson's more popular novels (starting with A Small Death in Lisbon, first published in 1999). Medway is a burned-out Brit living in Benin, working as a "fixer" for all sorts of unsavory clients who have to deal with the equally corrupt governments of West Africa.Medway makes Philip Marlowe look like lightweight. Wilson's prose is like Chandler on steroids, muscular and chiseled. I give these books 5 stars not because they're the best detective fiction ever written (though they're up there), but because there's nothing else quite like them. If you're weary of American psycho-killers or British cozies, give these a try.
—Jim Coughenour
Wilson writes in an assured style that is strong on description and insight, and Instruments of Darkness captures the complex social and political relations of West Africa and how a white trader and fixer operates within such conditions. Indeed, the book does a good job of evoking a strong sense of place and people. The characterisation is, for the most part, good, although sometimes there was a sense of caricature. I suspect that is because there are no weak characters, in the sense that they all have strong personalities. The story is probably best described as a thriller, rather than crime novel, and there is a good pace and page turning quality to the narrative. However, as the book progressed the plot got increasingly convoluted and less believable, and parts made little sense, such as why the main character was not just killed by his enemies as with the other troublesome characters. Regardless of this shortcoming, overall, an enjoyable thriller.
—Rob Kitchin
