Title:
Murder in Manchester
“Slur”
by Heather Burnside
Reviewed
by A. Anthony
06/20/2015
7:47
p.m.
There
are events faced by everyone eventually that are traumatic enough to brand
themselves on the mind indelibly. For Julie Quinley, this event is the death of
Amanda Morris; because a deadly mix of drugs and alcohol were found in Amanda’s
system, and Julie was with her shortly before it happened, Julie is arrested as
suspect for her murder. Entirely innocent, Julie is ultimately released due to
a lack of evidence, but is punished mentally and socially through intense chastisement
by her peers (though she tells them of her innocence), who do their best to
make Julie feel alienated.
Luckily,
Julie is not alone in Heather Burnside’s Slur,
for she has Rita, who also is under suspicion for being there with Amanda that
fateful night, and was thankfully released from arrest like Julie. In time,
they concern themselves not only with proving their own innocence, but with
finding out who the real murderer is—enlisting the help of Julie’s boyfriend
Vinny—to finally gain some peace. Burnside takes us on this travailed quest for
justice while demonstrating her ability to expertly depict psychological
turmoil along the way.
Throughout,
the reader is provided with a thrilling and well-written contribution to the
popular murder mystery genre; the characters are also of depth, and interact
with each other so finely. The multiple perspectives that are presented tell us
of the flaws and interiors of the characters, helping to push the narrative into
the third dimension.
There
was only one thing that was lacking slightly—descriptions of the novel’s
setting, Manchester, England. The use of local dialect helped to establish it
somewhat, but the novel would have felt more complete if greater detail about
the city itself was provided, so that the reader could get to know it.
I
give “Slur” 4 out of 5 stars.
Until
Next Time,
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