Doll's Eyes

Bari Wood

What is it that makes a book a quintessential seventies mystery novel?I'm not entirely sure, but I do know it has something to do with the writing style of the book's author; reading a mystery written by one of the scions of the seventies mystery novel is a different experience than reading one written by one of the newer breed of mystery writers. The newer novels are faster-paced, breezy almost, with more plot twists, more red herrings, less leisurely speculation on the nature of the mystery. There are a number of authors proficient in this; Daoma Winston, Naomi Hintze, and Bari Wood are just the first three that spring to mind. And make no mistake-- Wood may have released Doll's Eyes in 1993, but it is very much a seventies mystery novel in the same vein as her wonderful The Tribe or Twins.

Because of this, the book does feel a little dated, but that has nothing to do with the action therein. The plot is very nineties. Eve Klein, a psychic, goes to see her estranged husband, Sam, in the small New York town of Raven Lake. When she gets there, she has a vision of a murder being committed by a serial killer. This gets her involved with local police detective Dave Lavotsky, who's been tracking the serial killer. Together, the two of them have to find a way to stop the guy before he kills again.

The Tribe will always be the pinnacle of Wood's authorial career, and once again, Doll's Eyes doesn't quite live up to the incredible potential she showed in that book. However, that said, this is still a cracking mystery. Instead of whodunit-- we know that from the get-go-- the mystery here is whether the killer finding his repressed memories will cure him of the desire to kill. And whether it will happen before he finds out who Eve is and kills her.

It may seem dated, but that doesn't make it any less a pleasure to read. Bari Wood is a strong writer and delivers here another solid book in the corpus. Wood has faded into entirely undeserved obscurity these days (despite her novel Twins having been turned into one of the most popular cult films of all time, David Cronenberg's brilliant Dead Ringers); if you're a mystery fan, do yourself a favor and get to know Bari Wood if you already don't. I'd start with The Tribe, but there's no Bari Wood book out there that isn't worth reading.