From Publishers Weekly
Building suspense bit by exquisite bit, Fyfield (Staring at the Light) turns out another masterwork, this one about a man's search for a lost lover. American pharmacist Henry Evans has been obsessed for 20 years by the memory of Francesca Chisholm, a young beauty he met while backpacking during his youth in India. He finally travels to the English coastal town of Warbling, a strange little place where Chisholm had told him she was going to live. It's cold and very wet and Warbling's populace is decidedly unwelcoming, with the exception of two homosexual men who rent Evans a room in their peculiar lodging house. When he begins asking around about the whereabouts of Chisholm, Evans can't get a straight answer. A lawyer finally tells him to regard her as dead. A year earlier, it turns out, Chisholm was sentenced to life in prison. Her crime: murdering her five-year-old son, who suffered from a form of cerebral palsy, by drowning him in the ocean. Despite her unequivocal confession, Evans can't believe his former lover would do such a thing. He looks into the matter, but is stymied at every turn by Chisholm's friends and family. Ultimately, Evans discovers that the truth is far more tragic than the lie. Dark humor occasionally flashes through the narrative, but Fyfield's latest is primarily a grim, tense story about regret, loneliness and leaving well enough alone. In Warbling, she's created a memorable setting. It's a harsh, foreboding town, populated by people disappointed, judgmental, distrustful who deserve such a place. (Apr.) Forecast: While this book moves a bit more slowly than some of Fyfield's previous psychological thrillers, readers will recognize and appreciate her deft touch. An eight-city author tour will afford the London-based writer extra U.S. exposure. This could be Fyfield's biggest yet. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
British author and criminal lawyer Fyfield has set aside her popular Helen West series for this fine standalone suspense novel (her second after Staring at the Light), with its wonderfully human characters. Twenty years ago, Henry Evans left the English girl he fell in love with on a backpacking trip in India, and he has regretted it ever since. So he leaves Boston to find Francesca Chisholm, only to learn that she is in prison for killing her son Harry, a five-year-old with cerebral palsy, a year earlier. But the facts of the murder don't add up for Henry, a man of science, who seeks the truth from those closest to Francesca: her cousin Maggie, who defended her in court; her best friend Angela, mother of the tantalizing young Tanya; Angela's ex-husband Neil, who once hit Harry; and Tim and Peter, gay proprietors of a shabbily genteel rooming house, who are visited by Harry's spirit. In the end the truth is revealed, and a final twist rounds things out. A particular pleasure for Fyfield's fans and for readers of Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters, this is recommended for all fiction collections. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Fyfield's title is perfect for this mystery of many voices, all speculating about the same story from many divergent perspectives. The listener has no idea who (if anyone) is telling the truth. Jennings distinctly mixes ages, sexes, and cultures for each voice, helping the listener to keep track of the convoluted story. Twenty years ago, Henry met and left Francesca; now he wants to turn back the clock, but it seems too late since she's in jail for murder. Francesca's viewpoint is revealed subtly in her letters, which are easy to overlook, causing one to miss a vital clue. This excellent and very sad narrative is enhanced by audio. An ideal choice for mystery fans who revel in complex plots. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Fyfield, a practicing criminal lawyer who has worked with the London Metropolitan Police and the Crime Prosecution Service, is widely regarded as one of England's premier suspense novelists. Her reputation derives in large part from her ability to erect a scaffold of thoroughly believable details and forensic evidence to support her tales of ever-building tension. In this, her fourteenth novel, Fyfield introduces an American male, thrown into detective work as he searches for a lost love. Henry Evans travels to the soaked seaside town of Warbling to discover what happened to his lover from 20 years in the past. He finds a town straight out of film noir, where the views are grim, the interiors grimy, and the inhabitants ever-watchful. Evans learns that his old girlfriend is serving time for the murder of her five-year-old son. His quest to discover the truth is like a walk down a dark alley in a bad part of town. Scary and enlightening. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Hailed as one of Britain's most influential crime authors, Frances Fyfield has written a story that poignantly explores the human condition and raised unsettling questions about the corruption of the soul.

Shy, middle-aged American Henry Evans has come to the English coastal town of Warbling in search of a woman he met 20 years earlier while backpacking in India. Francesca Chisholm is the love of Henry's life, but he was too young and naive at the time to realize it. When Francesca's father died and she was forced to return home, Henry was too rigid to modify his plans and follow her. After an adult lifetime of regret, Henry has finally decided to seek Francesca out.

As soon as he arrives in Warbling, though, he finds himself thrust into an unsettling environment. First, his hotel is flooded, and he's forced to take a room in a bizarre lodging. When he inquires about Francesca, he finds that the villagers are reluctant to talk about her or reveal her whereabouts. Eventually, he learns that nearly a year earlier she confessed to murdering her five-year-old son by drowning him in the ocean, and is now imprisoned. Henry decides to probe the child's death. Despite his earnest intentions, his hunt for the truth will lead him down a dark labyrinth of the heart in pursuit of a love that may no longer exist.

Undercurrents alternates between the ongoing story of Henry's investigations and short episodes detailing Francesca's brief journal entries: Both points of view expose the emotions, secrets, fears, and needs of our two haunted protagonists. Although there is a "mystery" here, it is not a traditional affair of clues and detection, but instead a voyage into the maelstrom of dread and misery itself. For so long Henry has been in love with a memory, and as harsh reality of life begins to scrape away at his dreams, he is faced with dilemmas he isn't prepared for. Francesca's journal reveals her battered spirit with a profound richness not often found in genre fiction.

Fyfield's narrative style works intense wonders, describing the beauty and savagery of the English coast and the people who populate it. Reminiscent of Ruth Rendell, Fyfield is able to convey deeply disquieting elements in subtle, elegant fashion. The writing is tight and lyrical without being florid, and it easily breaks free from the confines of the crime field to become a character study of the highest quality. (Tom Piccirilli)

Tom Piccirilli is the author of eight novels, including Hexes and Shards, and his Felicity Grove mystery series, consisting of The Dead Past and Sorrow's Crown. He has sold more than 100 stories to the anthologies Future Crimes, Bad News, The Conspiracy Files, and Best of the American West II. An omnibus collection of 40 stories titled Deep into That Darkness Peering is also available. Tom divides his time between New York City and Estes Park, Colorado.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Undercurrents blends the best of Minette Walters and Daphne du Maurier with an alluring mystique to create a haunting and unforgettable book that is uniquely Fyfield. For twenty years Henry Evans has been haunted by a blurred but shining memory of his lost love, Francesca Chisholm. Now this shy American has come looking for her, in her hometown on the English coast. What he finds there, is not what he expects....

Irresistible. (John Mortimer)

Brilliant. (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Accomplished. (Chicago Tribune)

Stylish. (Minette Walters)

Elegant. (The New York Times Book Review)

Author Bio: Frances Fyfield, a criminal lawyer who lives and practices in London, is the author of thirteen suspense novels.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post

Psychologically astute yet eminently readable, Undercurrents offers the tug of true suspence while probing the eerie confluence of love and loss.

Denver Post

Undercurrents is a carefully constructed piece of fiction, and its beauty lies in the slow revelation of complex humanity.

Salt Lake City Deseret News

Suspense is what Fyfield is good at.

Seattle Times Post Intelligencer

The double plot twist at the end...is breathtaking.

Chicago Tribune

Fyfield's startling, satisfying conclusion will hit you like one of Warbling's icy waves. Read all 7 "From The Critics" >

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