In a world populated by off-kilter characters, it takes a certain something to make a protagonist memorable for a crime fiction reader. For me there are just a handful that stick out – Elizabeth in Emma Healey’s Elizabeth is Missing, for example; Liz Nugent’s Strange Sally Diamond; and the incorrigible Jackson Lamb, created by Mick Herron.
Time to add Ava Bonney to that storied list, because once you’ve met this teenager I guarantee you’ll never forget her. She is just 13, but Ava knows about the Moors Murderers and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. She is a skilled mimic and a good big sister to her siblings. And she collects corpses — of animals found by the roadside in Rubery, South Birmingham, where she lives, studying them as they decay and writing the results in her trusty red notebook.
Deadly Animals came onto our radar after it won the inaugural Val McDermid Crime Debut Award in Harrogate this summer, and if the queen of crime recommends something it’s probably worth listening. This is a book that hits the ground running, opening as it does in the summer of 1981, with Ava heading out on a night foray to her secret ‘laboratories’ scattered around the estate she calls home, where her subjects lie in varying stages of putrefaction.
She leaves the badger until last, it’s her biggest subject yet and is in an excellent hiding place. Someone else must think so too, because when Ava gets there, she also discovers the body of 14-year-old Mickey Grant who has been missing for a fortnight. He was a bit of a bully, but Mickey loved cats and had a dog called Starsky so that must count for something.
Ava alerts the police by making a call from the nearby phone box, using her mimicry skills to conjure up Mrs Poshy-Snob, whose no-nonsense approach and flawless diction soon has the place swarming with officers – including DS Seth Delahaye, another standout character who soon realises that this diminutive girl is someone who could prove to be very useful to the investigation.
Unlike, say, the aforementioned Sally Diamond, Ava is very much accepted by her peers. In many ways she’s a typical teenager, with burgeoning hormones, difficult parents and really good mates. But her secret adventures in the shadows are where she really comes to life – and when she discovers another body, and demonstrates forensic knowledge in preserving evidence (although once again using her mimicry to stay out of the spotlight), Delahaye gets the feeling he has found a kindred spirit. He’s a bit of an anachronism himself, and the scenes where the pair interact are among the most entertaining of the book.
Marie Tierney may be new to this crime writing business, but she shows an assured hand in a novel that even seasoned writers might struggle to match. She’s got a sharp ear for ultra-realistic dialogue and her characters are multi-layered and hugely believable. The setting is a place this author knows well – and it shows.
There are plenty of surprises in a slow-burning narrative, and standing tall in the midst of it all is Ava, a will-o’-the-wisp of a girl with nerves of steel. There are times when you want to hug her – although I don’t think she’d put up with any fuss for long; at other moments you’ll be gasping in awe of her chutzpah, superior knowledge and sheer bloody-mindedness.
The best news I’ve heard for a while is that there’s a second book in the pipeline, and I want to be first in line when it comes out. Meantime, Ava Bonney will be living in my head rent free for as long as she wants to stay. Take a bow, Marie Tierney, because this debut is utterly fabulous!
Deadly Animals was the Editor’s Choice Best Debut in the 2024 Crime fiction Lover Awards – you’ll find all the winners here.
Zaffre
Print/Kindle/iBook
£9.43
CFL Rating: 5 Stars
