3 out of 4 stars
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Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. The Circle is Now Made (King’s Way Book 1) by Mac Fletcher is the story of Greg Alison, recently divorced father of two and failed businessman whose story begins with a harrowing threat from creditors who are collecting on his ex-wife’s debts. He flees town in a borrowed caravan, his faithful dog in tow and lands in a small town in Cornwall, intending to live off the land for a while. Unfortunately, the town he lands in is embroiled in their own recent crisis. The lord of the local manor has died without leaving sufficient funds for his widow and nephew to keep the manor house up and running, employing many of the local townspeople. Upon integrating himself into the village community, Greg discovers that the deceased man, Lawson Penmaric, had quite a few dark secrets, and Greg himself is in danger of becoming caught up in much more conspiracy and subterfuge than he bargained for.
With a healthy dose of alcohol and plenty of village intrigue, this story features many intertwining and complex plot lines, many of which make for some immersive and exciting chapters in which the reader will be kept guessing about what each character knows and how many of them are trustworthy. From the events of the prologue onward, there is a distinct atmosphere of paranoia that follows Greg to Cornwall and across Britain as he uncovers the details of the various mysteries he finds associated with Penmaric and his estate, all the while dodging the creditors that have been dogging his steps since he locked up his house and went on the road.
There are, perhaps, too many plot threads running through the story, such that when I reached the midpoint of the book, there were at least two that had not been touched since early in the book, and one that could likely have been left out of the beginning altogether, since that particular story line was only relevant at the end of the book, and could have been held back until it became pertinent to the story. As it is, I was left wondering about this story line for the entirety of the novel, only to find that it only really mattered at the end.
Greg is an intelligent, realistically flawed protagonist, whose more than occasional foibles are enough to offset his curiosity and clever wits. He throws himself into the village life in a way that makes it seem realistic when he becomes embroiled in the local drama. The plot moves relatively well and keeps the attention of the reader as Greg is thrown from adventure to adventure in England and abroad. There is some slowness in the beginning of the story, in which the author seems to spend an inordinate amount of time on a business deal that Greg and a local woman formulate with Penmaric’s widow. My eyes did begin to glaze over during that part of the book, as the author went into what seemed to be unnecessary detail on this particular element, which did not turn out to be a major part of the overall plot.
On the whole, I found the book entertaining and a good mystery/thriller with a nice payoff at the end. There were a few places where the momentum dragged a bit, and some side plots that were perhaps prematurely introduced. Likewise, I found the way in which Greg’s original problem was solved – that of his ex-wife’s creditors – rather slap-dash and hastily done near the end in order to tie a nice bow around the whole story. But this was still an enjoyable read, and if you are a fan of modern mysteries and thrillers, you will probably also enjoy this book as well. I would rate it 3 out of 4 stars.
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The Circle Now Is Made
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