Review: The Eye Collectors by Simon Kewin

Who are you gonna call when come across criminal magic-users? Her Majesty's Office of the The Witchfinder General, of course!

The Blurb

When Danesh Shahzan gets called to a crime scene, it’s usually because the police suspect not just foul play but unnatural forces at play.

Danesh is an Acolyte in Her Majesty’s Office of the Witchfinder General, a shadowy arm of the British government fighting supernatural threats to the realm. This time, he’s been called in by Detective Inspector Nikola Zubrasky to investigate a murder in Cardiff. The victim had been placed inside a runic circle and their eyes carefully removed from their head. Danesh soon confirms that magical forces are at work. Concerned that there may be more victims to come, he and DI Zubrasky establish a wary collaboration as they each pursue the investigation within the constraints of their respective organisations. Soon Danesh learns that there may be much wider implications to what is taking place and that somehow he has an unexpected connection. He also realises something about himself that he can never admit to the people with whom he works…

Think Dirk Gently meets Good Omens!

The Review

The Eye Collectors is the first novel in a series, following the investigations of Acolyte Danesh Shahzan. As such, establishing the basic premise and its context is essential and in less-skilled hands, such challenges can slow down the narrative. That is not so here, in fact, quite the reverse. To illustrate my point, I read the story within twenty-four hours, I hardly put the book down. The pace, the sustained tension, is a strength of the story and it's down to the minor details.

I'm a huge fan of Ben Aaronovitch's London rivers series and there are some similarities here. Both stories centre on organisations closely linked to the police, detective stories with crimes to solve. However, for me, the London rivers books primarily focus on police procedure, that's where the believability is central to the plot. In this story, the focus and the believability focuses on the magic. That trumps police procedure because magical usage, in this story, is highly dangerous. The most innocuous looking item, such as a pentangle cannot be shared or photographed when it features in a crime scene. Those minor details I mentioned earlier are responsible for this credibility. They form the exposition behind the story but they're disclosed in small doses, just enough to hook the reader in to want to know more. The protagonist's relative ignorance allows the author to expose the reader to these dangers. Those minor details, a scent, an innocuous looking object, a light source, warn us of the danger but we don't know what form it will take and that's part of the fun. Magic, all magic, is highly dangerous - it's gelignite with the fuse lit, at your fingertips. And not a magic wand to be seen anywhere!

When it comes to characterisation, again it's the minor details that make them stand out. This is particularly true for the minor characters. The aptly titled Lady Coldwater is an example, ruthlessly chilling in demeanour, we meet her only a couple of times and yet her impact is enormous on the story. Well defined characters need to resonate across the book, like ripples in a pond, and that happens here. Her frightening persona turns her into a variety of possibilities to the plot, keeping the reader guessing as to what her role will be. This is true for most of the characters - more examples could lead to spoilers so I'll avoid doing that.

Danesh is a brilliant protagonist. His background, his cultural history, his family, his secrets, make him a rich and complex hero. You can't help but like the guy and root for him to succeed, to bemoan the setbacks and the prejudices he faces. On that, this is a story which resonates with our society. It deals with fascism in Britain in the twenty-first century and I like how that reflection is shown, again in minor instances but regularly enough that it's never overlooked. Different facets of his character appear in his relationships. His connection to his mum is a wonderful example - he's the dutiful son, guilty for not spending enough time with her, appreciative of her efforts, worried by what she endures. We see it when they go out for dinner together, the meal is described, the joy they both feel during it, the memories it evokes. Again, in less skilled hands, such details would be omitted. The author shows us how it should be done.

All this leads me to one conclusion and it gave the story such an inventive edge, the similarities to Raymond Chandler. Perhaps not as dark and 'hard-boiled' as Philip Marlowe's investigations, first person narrative, the diversity of characters with their grey morality, the attention to minute detail and the emphasis on the senses, all gave the story a distinct 'noir' flavour that made this such an intriguing detective thriller.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is refreshing in the treatment of its fantasy tropes and that takes some doing these days. It's why I mentioned Aaronovitch, why the blurb mentions Richard Adam's Dirk Gently, they do the same thing. The skill is to do it differently to them and Simon Kewin does it with originality, attention to detail and engaging characters that keep you guessing.

You can find this book, the rest of the series and Simon's other stories here: https://simonkewin.co.uk/

To find out about my own fantasy collection, click the image: