Review: Nancy Business
Reviewed by: Greg Fleming
Author:
R.W.R. McDonald
Publisher:
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:
9781760878870
Date Published:
25 June 2020
Pages:
368
Format:
Paperback
RRP:
$32.99
McDonald’s debut The Nancys was the surprise winner of the Ngaio Marsh best first novel award last year with the judges calling it “a story that blends crime and humour in unexpected ways.”
Nancy Business shares those qualities and will also appeal to readers of smart, modern YA fiction. Although McDonald himself insists he writes these mysteries for adults, a teenage reader would enjoy the colourful mix of characters and inclusive sensibility.
Here McDonald returns to the same New Zealand fictional small town Riverstone (based apparently on his hometown of Balclutha) and reunites Tippy Chan with her wealthy Uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon, who are visiting from Sydney to renovate a new house. It’s the beginning of the school holidays and Tippy is allowed to stay with them at their shabby Airbnb which smells “damp and funny, a bit like cat pee in a dryer.”
And just like that The Nancys - an amateur detective team driven by Tippy’s love of the mysteries of Nancy Drew - are reunited. However, the novel opens on a sombre note with the family marking the first anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death after he was involved in a strange car accident and later passed away in Dunedin Hospital. (Although this can be read as a stand-alone having the read the first novel is an advantage.)
It’s a death that has always perplexed Tippy because he was driving on a straight road with no other traffic and she still has no idea where he was going. Although outwardly okay, she is still processing the loss and experiencing a form of separation anxiety whenever anyone close leaves her side, memorising details just in case it’s the last time she sees them.
As well as sleuthing and following clues, Tippy also has to deal with some adult-sized issues up close when Pike’s and Devon’s relationship hits some rocky patches; Devon is not the happy-go-lucky character he was in the debut. McDonald is adept at folding in difficult issues like this into an otherwise bubbly and fast-moving narrative, full of jokes and wry, camp-filled banter.
And then a bomb goes off - literally - stopping the town in its tracks. The blast kills three people and destroys the Town Hall and while a disgruntled local is quickly blamed, Tippy has her doubts.
Melbourne-based Kiwi author McDonald describes himself as “a Kiwi and Queer dad living in Melbourne with his two daughters and one HarryCat” - a cat that pops up regularly on his social media - and is carving himself out a unique space in the crime fiction genre.
While he pokes some gentle fun at the artificiality of the cosy construct, he again delivers a compelling mystery in a fun way with a refreshing diversity of characters and perspectives. It’s not often you get to use “heartwarming” to describe a crime novel but it’s apt in this case. And, to the delight of McDonald’s growing fan-base both here and in Australia, the final pages suggest there’s a new case needing The Nancy’s attention.
Reviewed by Greg Fleming
