When one hears the word “detective” several images immediately come to mind.
There’s, of course, the immediate reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, literature’s most famous detective (made popular again in recent times thanks to Robert Downey-starring film adaptations, and a couple of TV series produced on two sides of the Atlantic). One is also reminded of Clint Eastwood in his role as Inspector Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry series of films. Moving onto comics, there’s of course Batman, who, for all the gadgetry and action, is a detective. Comedic and bumbling detectives also come into mind, most notably, Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther franchise or the late Leslie Nielsen’s character Detective Frank Drebin from the Naked Gun films.
Graham Edward’s Talus and the Frozen King however conjures none of these images. Personally, I thought that the book gives readers glimpses of the Sherlock Holmes type of detective, more akin to BBC’s wildly popular Sherlock TV series, BUT set in some 3,000 years earlier, even way, way older than the Robert Downey-film version of Sherlock Holmes that was set during Victorian times.
With Talus and the Frozen King, Edwards is presenting readers with a new flavor, a new sub-genre – a detective story set during the Bronze Age. And with his protagonist Talus the Detective, what we have is not a wizard who can magically solve the mystery but a bard who’s very background in travel, storytelling, and a keen sense for detail and observation are key assets in determining the “who” in this maze of a story.
In a nutshell the story is that Talus and his companion, Bran, arrive in a snow-covered village just in time that a murder was committed. Not just any ordinary murder but the murder of the village’s king. How the king was killed and whodunit is what Talus has set himself to find out. But, as detective stories go, everyone is suspect, even the one solving the murder himself. Edwards masterfully weaves a tale of intrigue and suspicion that’ll make you finish the novel to find out who really carried out the crime. Up until the very end of the tale, the pinpointing keeps on shifting from one possible suspect to the other. The author manages to cleverly deceive his readers, passing on the blame on almost all characters but in the end, we learn that the murder of the king was more complex than it initially seemed. The twists and turns that the storytelling undertook, however, makes you wonder though if such a thing – a very complicated murder – could’ve really happened in the past.
The use of flashbacks to flesh out the main character’s back-stories and what motivates them but still left readers with a sense that there’s more history to Talus and Bran and that the fact the present story happens two years after the duo initially met tells readers that there are more cases from the bronze age detective to solve in the future.
Similar to TV detective shows somehow, the initial chapters of the book were rather slow, owing to the fact that all the elements of a detective story had to be laid out first. Then the detective and his assistant had to have time to gather more clues and examine the compiled evidence before the conclusion can be achieved. By the time however, we come close to the big reveal, Edwards took his readers through a bloody rampage.
The book however is refreshing in a way. Instead of the usual unraveling of political intrigue like many in today’s recent fantasy fare, Talus and the Frozen King presents a murder procedural with enough action and mystery to satisfy those whose leanings are towards such genre. Of course, Edwards has meticulously adapted his detective's devices and methods to fit the period so no magnifying glasses or DNA machines or fingerprint scanners. What we have is Talus who's training as a bard, as an individual who has an eye for detail, is the weapon or gadget itself.
In all, Talus and the Frozen King is an enjoyable read with an interesting premise. It maybe however, not everyone's cup of tea. To some, the idea of a bronze age detective might be too far-fetched and hard to believe. Edwards however is telling us to suspend our skepticism and toy with the idea -- what if a detective did exist neary 3,000 years ago, how would he or she be solving a murder mystery without the aid of modern forensic methods or equipment. That's what this book is all about: imagining what if.
Talus and the Frozen King is now available in the U.S. while it’s release date in the U.K. and Ireland is on April 10.
