By Tom Vaughan MacAulay https://www.tomvaughanmacaulay.com/
Published by RedDoor Press https://www.reddoorpress.co.uk/
298 pages ISBN 9781915194084
Publication date 7 July 2022
I was sent an uncorrected paperback proof copy of the novel to participate in its Blog Tour. Many thanks to Red Door Press, Tom Vaughan MacAulay and Team LitPR for allowing me to participate in the tour.
From the blurb
Wen Li, an anxious young woman who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, is tormented by an incessant fear that she might have homicidal impulses. Wen falls for her self-absorbed colleague, Lomax Clipper, who is writing a whodunnit in his spare time. Lomax is pining for Italy and a Sicilian woman he met while on secondment, despite his recurring nightmare about someone being killed on a picturesque street in Palermo. Wen and Lomax both loathe their boss, Julian Pickering, who, unbeknown to them, is struggling… as is Fifi de Angelis, a vulnerable man who has been ostracised by his family.
Synopsis
Lomax Clipper returns to his job as scrivener notary at the London firm of Curtain & Curtain after an amazing six-month secondment Italy. During this time, he had fallen hopelessly in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Sicilian woman called Aurora. Will their separation end this fledgling relationship?
One thing that Lomax isn’t looking forward to is being reunited with his boss, Julian Pickering. Julian is the stereotypical dull middle aged middle manager type who naturally clashes the flippant Lomax. Julian is having a mini midlife crisis. Whilst giving the appearance of being straight and somewhat staid, he is homosexual something his father has never really come to terms with. Julian’s live-in boyfriend is an alcoholic, and their relationship is becoming toxic to the point of breaking.
During Lomax’s absence the firm has taken on Wen Li, a British-Chinese woman, who is kind and sensitive but also troubled. With the help of a therapist, she is trying to control the OCD which she suffers from and is prone to periodic relapses. As if that wasn’t enough to contend with, she has the worry that her parent’s shop is struggling, and she finds it difficult to make friends. Wen and Lomax form a friendship in joint adversity, but is there more at work?
Lomax is venting his frustration by ‘taking up the pen’ in his spare time trying to write a novel. In his delusion he believes it will be a best seller and he will be able to say goodbye to Curtain & Curtain. His inspiration dries up following a visit to the UK by Aurora that didn’t go quite to plan. His big hope is a return to Sicily and reconciliation with Aurora will spark his genius, so he arranges an unpaid sabbatical.
On Sicily life escalates as he meets new people, makes new friends, and experiences the volcanic Italian temperament.
Oh yes and there is a killing…
My thoughts
The story is told through a series of one-sided email and WhatsApp messages rather than traditional prose. Whilst not entirely original there is still scope for stories told in this format, without being just a gimmick, if they are told well and in this case it is. We only see one sided messages from Lomax, Wen, Julian and Fifi which leads to a degree of ambiguity and builds up an element of intrigue. The reader never sees the messages that prompt correspondence or responses, so they are never quite sure if the reaction is justified. When the mental health of the main character is a little fragile this is clever as it is impossible to tell if responses are over reactions or out of character and at times builds an element of paranoia.
The title itself, which unless it’s a big red herring, is a clear signpost to the potential reader that there is going to be a killing at the denouement. It takes a confident author to try this and an accomplished one to make it work and retain the reader’s interest to the very end. I was engaged to the end and unsure who the victim would be, so for me it certainly worked.
The structure also allows for an interesting dynamic with the development of the characters. The movement of the plot is a series of staccato steps as each piece of correspondence moves it along, sometime the steps are small, other times they are big strides. This leaves a broad canvas for characters to be explored, the joy is in what happens to them during this journey. This is a novel about people’s fears and anxieties, their place in society and its hierarchy and the modern workplace. All the key players have strength and flaws which are explored with a generally sympathetic eye.
Lomax is delusional but in a heroic sense as he tries to make his dream of writing a novel a reality whilst avoiding a recurring nightmare becoming a reality too. He needs someone to save him from himself and he isn’t cut out for office life.
Wen is the most sympathetic character and her battles with OCD are described with some compassion. Too often OCD is portrayed or described by people when they are merely talking about being too fussy. We have all heard someone say ‘I’m a bit OCD’ when the reality is it can be a very scary and debilitating disorder to deal with. Here it has been beautifully judged indicating the reality without dwelling too much on the thought processes.
The introduction of Fifi the dwarf adds to the slightly surreal scenes in Sicily, which are great fun, but hasn’t been milked for the comedic potential. Another character prompting sympathy rather than the more obvious, to some, ridicule.
Aurora is a mad Italian bunny boiling beauty from central casting, nicely written but would probably work better on screen. Italian is a very demonstrative language, and I can just picture Sophia Loren in her prime going full on volcanic meltdown, all gestures, shouting and smouldering beauty!
The only aspect of the novel that didn’t appeal was the periodic editorial interjections, which didn’t quite work for me, but here I am being a bit picky.
Countdown to a Killing is a wry and perceptive examination of the effects of modern life on people’s mental health, emotional relationships and working environment.
Countdown to a killing can be purchased direct from the publishers here
The author
Tom Vaughan MacAulay is a solicitor and lives and works in London. His first novel, Being Simon Haines, was published in 2017 to high critical acclaim. The novel was selected as a Best Book for Summer by Alex Wade, writing in The Times, Law, while Justin Warshaw, writing in The Times Literary Supplement, described it as “a grand narrative of a young man on the cusp of the realisation of a dream.” Edward Fennell, writing in The Times, the Brief premium, asked whether it would become “the defining novel for [Tom’s] generation about what it means to be a driven corporate lawyer.
Peter turns the page 