First published in New Zealand by Random House, this is a dark courtroom drama in more than one sense. Professor Chesney is a blind psychologist acting as an expert witness for a young man who has admitted to killing a man who befriended him. Young Huey Dunstan claims the events from his past caused him to lash out in such a vicious way. As Professor Chesney tries to get Huey to talk to him about what triggered the attack, small pieces of a complicated jigsaw begin to join up—pieces that will reveal a brutal, deeply hidden past. This is the way The Crime of Huey Dunstan unfolds—shapelessly, but with plenty of substance, asking readers to think for themselves and make judgements that may or not be correct, much like the trial. James McNeish makes his readers pay attention to detail by going ‘off story’, but also keeps them guessing to the end by dropping vital information in a fairly random fashion. It’s a masterly way of working the novel in the age of the easy read. This will appeal to people who enjoy a challenging read.

Doris Mousdale is the owner of Arcadia Bookshop in Auckland and reviews books weekly on NewstalkZB and BBC Worldwide. This review first appeared in the July2010 issue of Bookseller+Publisher.

Tags: book review, crime fiction, fiction, James McNeish, Random House New Zealand, Text Publishing, The Crime of Huey Dunstan

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