Book review: Unsolicited
Author: Andrea Shaw
Publisher: Jacana
This debut murder mystery by Cape Town author Andrea Shaw kept me guessing until the last page.
Shaw cleverly hid the whodunnit clues in a layered plot with plenty of red herrings, romantic subplots and nerdy publishing jokes – such as the name of fictional publisher that the plot pivots around; Hadeda Press.
In the story, Cape Town detective Fatima Matthews investigates the murder of a young publishing assistant. She’s hampered by nepotism, a visit by her son’s uptight Brazilian in-laws, unresolved trauma from her past and her own menopausal hormones.
Eventually, driven by her conscience, Fatima goes rogue to solve the case solo, putting her teetering career in jeopardy.
The twisty plot was complicated enough to keep me intrigued but Fatima’s character made me uncomfortable. I like to see strong female characters of colour but it would be better if the characters were written by authors of the same culture. Shaw has a very different frame of reference, so Fatima’s character feels a little fake – like a size 42 jacket you bought online that fits like a 38. The character’s cultural fit just wasn’t right.
Here are two cringe-worthy examples: no self-respecting son would ask his Muslim mother: “What kine?” It didn’t help that Shaw wrote “What kind, Mommy?” when Fatima’s son was asking her “What’s up?”. Fatima also flings the p-word around like it is a culturally accepted norm in the character’s circles – which it isn’t.
There were also too many plot mysteries left unresolved. Fatima catches the killer but we are never told what happened to her husband, why she is non-religious, nor the details of her repressed trauma.
Fatima is the main character and features in most of the story but the reader is never given the satisfaction of peeling back the layers of her ill-fitting character.
