Ali Karim was a Board Member of Bouchercon [The World Crime & Mystery Convention] and co-chaired programming for Bouchercon Raleigh, North Carolina in 2015. He is Assistant Editor of Shots eZine, British correspondent for The Rap Sheet and writes and reviews for many US magazines & Ezines.
Edwards writes claustrophobic thrillers elegantly, but with a pace that commences slowly but soon gathers momentum until the reader has to take care not to get paper cuts as the climax comes into view. His latest is no exception though the narrative follows the ‘hidden psychopath’ route that has become ‘a thing’ in contemporary crime fiction.
The Wasp Trap is a split narrative that alternates from just before the millennium and contemporary times.
Six student friends gather to remember the life of Psychology Professor Sebastian Marlow who they worked with on a new dating app, before such applications on the iPhone became ubiquitous as the nineties morphed into the noughties.
Theo [with his partner Georgina] has organised a dinner party in their salubrious house in Notting Hill. Invited are Rohan, Lily, Sophie, Will and the enigmatic Finn (who appears to have been the Professors’ last assistant). The gathered are not ‘friends’ per se - but old former colleagues who worked together for Professor Marlow. Soon it becomes apparent that none of them really knew Marlow, despite working as a focused team on what could have become a ‘killer app’.
The pace is slow, because Edwards’ tale is all about character interplay back in 1999 when they worked for Marlow, but tonight their lives today [as well as past secrets] are converging.
The narrative then takes an ‘In Cold Blood’ styled swerve as there is a ‘home invasion’, and the narrative becomes ‘literally’ a locked-room mystery. The clues to solving the mystery lie hidden in that summer of 1999 when these six people were colleagues working for Professor Sebastian Marlow.
There needs to be confessions.
Though it is apparent that the author is an admirer of Dame Agatha Christie due to the style of The Wasp Trap – however, the unravelling is based around character[s] with the late Professor Marlow’s Academic expertise - a clue that may separate the protagonist[s] from the antagonist[s] as the novel reaches its tense climax.
Editor’s Note: Mark Edwards kindly agreed to an Interview with P.D. Viner - HERE though there are no spoilers per se in their exchange – I would suggest it may be better to read this novel before proceeding to the interview – as it will help put the narrative into context.
