Narrated by Tim Gilbert
Note: There are spoilers for earlier books in the Tyack & Frayne series in this review.
Since reviewing Once Upon a Haunted Moor and Tinsel Fish, books one and two in Harper Fox’s series of romantic paranormal mysteries featuring Cornish bobby Gideon Frayne and TV psychic Lee Tyack, I’ve been gradually making my way through the rest of the series. Seven of the nine titles are available in audio (at time of writing), and having now reached book seven – Preacher, Prophet, Beast – I thought it was time to catch you all up on what’s been going on in that particularly mystical corner of Cornwall. Lee and Gideon have been together for three years, married for over two of them and are the parents of a little girl – Lee’s niece – whom they adopted more than a year earlier. They’ve continued to encounter threats both spiritual and mundane; it’s become clear that Lee’s gifts carry a heavy price and more recently, that the strong bond he and Gideon share, their psychic link, if you will, is not just one-sided. Gideon is sceptical, but it seems the Tyacks aren’t the only family to have been blessed with psychic abilities. And speaking of family, it’s been clear since her birth that little Tamsyn has inherited the Tyack family trait – although her gifts seem to be manifesting themselves in a different way.
Still, for the most part, life in the Tyack-Frayne household is good. Anyone who’s lived with a toddler will recognise the organised chaos Lee and Gideon are experiencing on a daily basis, and much to the surprise and delight of both of them, Gideon’s fractured relationship with his older brother Ezekiel (Zeke) – a stern Methodist minister – has mended over the years. Zeke has recently become the father of twin boys, Ma Frayne has gone from supressed minister’s wife to Rainbow warrior (!), Lee and Gideon’s relationship has gone from strength to strength and they are utterly devoted to their little girl. The only clouds on their horizon come with the occasional and unexpected appearances of Lee’s sister, Elowen – Tamsyn’s birth mother – who caused Lee and Gid such heartache a couple of books back when she tried to change her mind about the adoption, something for which neither Lee nor Gid has ever forgiven her.
When Preacher, Prophet, Beast opens, Gideon is still adjusting to his recent move into CID, meaning he is based in Falmouth and no longer has overall responsibility for keeping the peace in his home village of Dark. As the books have progressed, it’s become clear that Gideon’s ties to the village go deep; somehow he’s integral to the well-being of the place and its denizens, and without his constant focus, there is no-one to protect Dark from the evils which threaten it. And as well as feeling somewhat adrift as a result of the cutting of those ties, Gideon is also struggling with the fact that he can no longer talk to Lee about his work, while Lee is experiencing strange, disturbing visions of faceless monsters that he is unwilling to discuss while Gideon is so unsettled. This disconnect between these two characters who have always been so in-tune with one another is an immediate signal that all is not well, and this sense of disquiet pervades the early part of the story, even as Lee and Gideon go about their normal daily lives, Gideon commuting to Falmouth, Lee doing private readings as they renovate their new home.
This is one of those books where it’s quite difficult to discuss the plot – not only because it has elements I don’t want to spoil, but also because there’s an unexpected twist near the end which I found really confusing. For the most part, it’s fairly straightforward, though, so don’t let that put you off. One storyline revolves around an upcoming Pride march which is under threat from a local right-wing organisation, and another around a dangerous and depraved individual we met in a previous book. Many of the characters we’ve become familiar with – Elowen Tyack, Sarah and Lorna Kemp, Darren Prowse (scion of the local petty crime family), Rufus Pendower (dubbed “Sergeant Weirdshit” in a previous book owing to his fascination with anything vaguely mystical!), Granny Ragwen, Gwillim Kitto and others all have parts to play in the overarching story – which comes to a truly disquieting and heart-rending climax following a horrific tragedy.
But here’s where things go off the rails a bit and the Big Twist comes into play; and then, just as I’d resigned myself to the use of an unlikely plot device, the author throws in another twist right at the end which told me that what I’d thought happened … hadn’t. Or not quite, anyway. I’ve since spoken with a handful of friends who’ve also read the book, and it seems that we all have slightly different interpretations of the final chapters – which is, perhaps, what the author intended. And as I said at the beginning, Ms. Fox has since published two more Tyack & Frayne stories, and it may be that those provide further clarification of the events that confused me. I confess I also found the references to recent (well, 2016/7) political events (Brexit/Trump) to be a little jarring; the author hasn’t ‘dated’ these stories in such an obvious way before, and while I don’t disagree with her views, they just seemed a little out of place amid all the Cornish mysticism and magic.
Tim Gilbert’s work on this series has been excellent throughout, and he delivers another wonderful performance here, skilfully delineating the fairly large cast and imbuing them all with distinct, quirky personalities. One of the things that must challenge anyone who narrates a long-running series is maintaining the consistency of the portrayals of principal and recurring characters, and I’m pleased to report that having now listened to all seven books, Mr. Gilbert’s interpretation of our two principals is pretty much the same at the end of book seven as it was at the beginning of book one; the gravelly, west-country accent he employs for Gideon continues to expertly conjure the big, burly copper with the heart of gold, and is easily distinguishable from Lee’s softer, slightly higher pitched tones. He excels in bringing out the emotional highs and lows; there are some incredibly emotional, gut-wrenching moments dotted throughout the story and he doesn’t miss a beat. The other recurring characters are equally well served; and although I noticed a bit of variation in his interpretation of Zeke in the earlier books, for the last few, he’s been as consistently voiced as Lee and Gideon – and there’s never been any difficulty in distinguishing Zeke’s dialogue from anyone else’s. He does a good job with the female characters, too, portraying them without recourse to falsetto – although some of the elderly ladies can sometimes sound a little “Shakespearean-old-crone-ish” – which, in the case of Granny Ragwen, I suspect is intentional ;)
Despite my head-scratching over certain aspects of the plot, however, Preacher, Prophet, Beast is still deserving of a fairly strong recommendation. I wouldn’t suggest jumping into the series here, though – it’s certainly best appreciated if you’re familiar with the previous instalments. Tim Gilbert’s excellently paced, intuitive performances have proved to be one of the great delights of experiencing this series in audio format, and I really hope to listen to him again soon.
Caz
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