Reviews for Fatlands (A Hannah Wolfe Mystery)

The average rating for Fatlands (A Hannah Wolfe Mystery) based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-05-17 00:00:00 Michael Yu A second in the series of three crime novels penned by Sarah Dunant sees her heroine, London based private investigator, Hannah Wolfe, the wrong side of thirty and with too many morals to make for an easy life in the security business, once again in the thick of another rather complicated mess. But steering clear of trouble is never an option for hardened cynic Hannah, an idealistic PI with a subversive bent, feisty attitude and a willingness to ask the questions that others have more sense for their safety than to pursue. Despite being originally published in 1993 when the novel was awarded the CWA Silver Dagger Award and the obvious cultural references there is little to mark it out as dated beyond the focus on the animal-testing activist movement of the era. Admittedly with the campaign of action now far less prominent in the prevailing era the novel arguably loses some of its bite. Hannah's latest job starts with a spot of bodyguarding, acting as a chaperone-companion for fourteen-year-old public schoolgirl, Mattie Shepherd, on her big day out in London in place of her workaholic father, scientist Tom. And the only possible concern as far as Hannah is aware? A custody snatch according to her boss, Frank Comfort, but the "great kid" that he tells Hannah not to lose "on the way to the little girl's room' turns out to be a stroppy and petulant little madam caught slap bang between her parents divorce and paying the price. However, Mattie isn't keen to let on to Hannah just how hurt she clearly feels, with just enough bitterness about her father's role as head of a department searching for a cure for cancer at the pharmaceutical multinational, Vandamed. What Frank failed to mention was Tom's prominence on the hit list of the Animal Liberation Front and the death threats he had received and when a petrol bomb obviously intended to target him takes the life of innocent Mattie on Hannah's watch matters become very personal. But with Tom researching for a cure for cancer rather than testing for cosmetics the reason why he has attracted such vociferous hostility unsettles Hannah and she starts to dig into what could possibly have made Tom Shepherd such a target? For Hannah, what Mattie did say is enough to delve into the matter and her unwarranted guilty conscience and obsession with the truth leads her into a dangerous encounter between a chemical giant and some very impassioned animal rights campaigners.. however, identifying where the true threat is coming from and just why Tom Shepherd was targeted proves far harder as Hannah hits a wall of silence. Recalling the exact events of the day and Mattie rooting through her father's study, her interrupted phone call, a reported burglary and the sexy lingerie that she purchased from Harrod's are enough to send Hannah back to her posh boarding school in Wiltshire, a hitherto unknown boyfriend in the shape of a school gardener and a sealed brown envelope in Mattie's locker. As an intrepid Hannah ventures into a web of betrayal, lies and deceit she starts to realise that there isn't too much difference between the animal rights dissidents and the well-heeled executives who are simply better at disguising their motives and tidying up their loose ends. As Hannah is lured further into the lucrative race for a patent and a landscape where money means more than endangering lives she starts to wonder if there was more to Tom Shepherd than Mattie knew or led her to believe. Introspective and insightful, Dunant addresses the reader directly at key moments through the voice of Hannah and involves her audience making the action feel so much more personal and relevant. Hannah's musing on relationships, loneliness, private healthcare and overstuffed pigs are as pointed and dryly amusing as those in her first outing, Birth Marks. And with any attempt at going undercover off the agenda after taking a thorough beating and a face like puff pastry, no one could say Hannah Wolfe takes the easy way out.. with a high comedy dance with death denouement, Fatlands is a fast, gritty and very droll return for Hannah. Fatlands reads well as a stand-alone and the combination of a pacy yet stimulating three-dimensional plot adds depth to the investigation. Hannah sparkles throughout with her intrepid quest, colourful wise-cracks and barbed asides that belie her fierce intelligence and determination. After a superb opening with Hannah finally gaining the respect of fourteen going on twenty-four-year-old Mattie, the pause for reflection and lull after her death sees the story stall a little before inroads are made into a slew of unanswered questions. Top quality crime fiction with a robust plot comprehensively unravelled and a search for answers that is as satisfying as it is realistic, all within just over two hundred pages.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-01-13 00:00:00 Kurt Leeper 3.25 stars Hannah Wolfe is a private investigator, but usually her jobs are pretty mundane. She is hired to "protect" a 14-year old girl, Mattie, for one day. She has been told that Mattie's mother may try to kidnap her. Mattie's father is a scientist who, in trying to find a cure for cancer, tests on animals. Things go very wrong, and Hannah is left to figure out how it all happened. It was all right, although if I put it down, I wasn't really all that compelled to pick it up again real soon. I was afraid there might be parts that would be difficult for me to read, depending how much detail she went into in describing some of the animal testing, but it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it might be.