Interesting book. The blurb on the cover claims its "one of the most gripping crime novels of the past few years" but its not really a "crime novel" at all. It does involve "crime" but not in the down trodden detective with a chip on his shoulder sort of way. Wilfred "Wolf" Hadda is the woodcutter like his father before him. Brought up in a tied cottage on a country estate, Wolf falls in love with the master's daughter. She laughs at his ideas of marriage but says she might think about it if he does something about his manners and his bank account.
The book zigzags through time a bit, sometimes with the help of written narratives to a prison psychologist after Wolf is arrested and convicted of financial fraud and child pornography; neither of which is he actually guilty of. But his only way out of gaol and thereby getting revenge on those that put him there, is to lie about his guilt and come out on probation.
Quite convoluted and the loose ends are not really tied up at the end but its a nice ending all the same. Slightly melodramatic in the penny dreadful vein but a good and exciting read all the same.
The Woodcutter - Reginald Hill (G)
- Little John
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Re: The Woodcutter - Reginald Hill (G)
One of my early audio books, I loved it. The narration was excellent.