The Waiting Game

This is Sheila Bugler’s second book featuring DI Ellen Kelly. Her first - Hunting Shadows - concerned the abduction of a young girl. This one begins with the stalking of a young woman, already reported to the police, but now regarded by them as potentially dangerous since she is able to produce convincing evidence that the stalker had been in her house overnight.

Arising naturally out of the theme of abduction in the first book is the question of parental and social responsibility towards children. This same concern with children and the devastating effect on them of an abusive or uncaring upbringing is also present here.  However, it is necessary to stress that this is not in any way a social tract. What the author does is to use her considerable understanding of child psychology to add an extra dimension to the conventional thriller.

Chloe Dunbar knows for certain that somebody is violating her privacy and entering her house while she sleeps. She finds difficulty in understanding why the authorities are reluctant to believe her, in spite of the intruder’s habit of leaving a flower and a cup of tea in her kitchen. Eventually they do take her seriously and it is immediately obvious that there are plenty of suspects.

Her abusive ex-husband, Ricky, is a fairly obvious one, though he appears to have an alibi for the specific night in question. Nathan Collier is the owner of an estate agency in which she and Carl Jenkins are employed. Nathan believes her story and is very protective and sympathetic. Carl is clearly very taken by her. A complication arises when Monica, a successful artist, comes to the police with a story almost identical to Chloe’s, including details that didn’t appear in the press reports. Unfortunately, there appears to be no connection between Chloe and Monica, who deny knowing each other. The case becomes even more complicated when another suspect is named – one whom Ellen knows very well.

Throughout the book there are italicised passages showing the thought processes of a stalker/intruder, though when they are compared with the actual narrative there appear to be some discrepancies and it is not until the end that we can see that everything in them makes sense. There is never enough detail for the reader to be able to establish who this person is and he/she remains a mystery until the last few pages.

Viewed as a police procedural, The Waiting Game can be regarded as fairly conventional, but it is much more than that. The tension is maintained throughout and gradually we learn the truth about certain key characters. Overall, the plotting is excellent, not too intricate and taken at a pace that allows the suspense to build. The reader is shown the main suspects and can’t resist guessing, long before the end, which one is responsible.

But however well constructed a plot may be, it relies for its effectiveness on the author’s ability to people it with believable characters. On the side of law and order both Ellen and Raj come alive, particularly as we notice their natural human instinct to jump occasionally to the wrong conclusion. However, unlike their immediate superior, they are not looking merely for a result. Ellen is a particularly admirable character as she strives - not always successfully - to come to terms with what is happening. The ending may not be the one she would have wished but it is one that her bosses regard as satisfactory for political purposes.

Perhaps the most impressive character and the one the reader remembers best is the enigmatic Monica. She has a very unsettling manner and – at least from the male point of view – is hugely attractive, even if she clearly delights in her sexual power. The minor characters are well drawn. Martine Reynolds, the obnoxious journalist, will do anything for a story and there is no reason why it need be true provided it can’t be shown to be untrue. Ger Cox, the DCI, is more concerned with appearing to get the job done than with actually doing it.

This is a very good second book, at least the equal of Hunting Shadows, with which it shares the same psychological insights and chilling climax.