Review by Priscao_94 -- Pancake Money by Finn Bell

[Priscao_94]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Pancake Money" by Finn Bell.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Pancake Money by Finn Bell

It's a story about Bobby and Pollo who are police detectives and how they try to solve the murders of old Catholic priests who were killed in old Catholic ways. These dead priests were friends and were in charge of a secret rehabilitation center for Catholic priests who suffer from sexual deviancy.

The story takes a twist when a gangster escapes prison three months before he's released. What could possibly have made him do that? And how is this connected to the deaths of the old priests? All is not as it seems as the detectives have to dig up old secrets and even a grave.

At home, Bobby's 11 year old daughter struggles with atypical agoraphobia and his doting wife keeps count of the number of stitches he's had since his becoming a cop. I like the fact that the personal lives of the protagonist is mentioned and that he didn't protray Bobby as a hero so to say but as a man who gets tired, frustrated and anxious.

Although it took me a long time to finish this book it was worth the read. It didn't have too much drama and all, the story just went smoothly. The book was set in a week's time and each chapter represented a day. It is also a bit graphic but I really didn't mind.

Written in the first person point of view.
Bobby narrates their ordeals and also about taking forensic psychology classes where he learns about what motivates behavior. People mostly do bad things for only three reasons: Money, Sex, Power. What was the killer's motive?

The story is built round the culture of the natives of New Zealand. Pancake Money did look professionally edited and I didn't notice any typo error. There's also a bit of repetition in the book where Bobby and Pollo analyses the motive of the killer. At the end of the book, author includes a post script expanding some of the points made in the main book.

If you are a lover of detective and crime novels, I recommend that you read this. If you've also wanted to visit New Zealand, the author recommends some nice places to visit there. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because the title has nothing to do with the book at all. All in all it's educating, not mind blowing yet interesting. I also got to learn about the history of New Zealand and the culture of the natives.

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Pancake Money
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