Molly Foust reviewed The Fiend by Margaret Millar
Review of 'The Fiend' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Such intense, vivid characters and excellent writing is so unusual in a mystery that I was taken aback. The little girls, the cheaters, the pedophile, his brother and the librarian. That is what the title would be if it were a french movie. The little girls and the pedophile: guileless but sinister. The adults: troubled. The librarian and the brother: devoted and deluded. The pedophile calls his crush a fiend, meaning friend, which is a funny reversal. While Charlie is supposed to be the predator of children, in a sense the real predators are the children, but then the children are also innocent victims, which is also true of Charlie.
What makes this novel so exceptional is that the characters are all loathsome yet likable or pitiable, humor shows up in the oddest places, the tension is tight and the plotting unpredictable. While the end seemed a little far-fetched to …
Such intense, vivid characters and excellent writing is so unusual in a mystery that I was taken aback. The little girls, the cheaters, the pedophile, his brother and the librarian. That is what the title would be if it were a french movie. The little girls and the pedophile: guileless but sinister. The adults: troubled. The librarian and the brother: devoted and deluded. The pedophile calls his crush a fiend, meaning friend, which is a funny reversal. While Charlie is supposed to be the predator of children, in a sense the real predators are the children, but then the children are also innocent victims, which is also true of Charlie.
What makes this novel so exceptional is that the characters are all loathsome yet likable or pitiable, humor shows up in the oddest places, the tension is tight and the plotting unpredictable. While the end seemed a little far-fetched to me, I was astounded overall.