A flaw in the plan

TO PLAN A SUCCESSFUL MURDER, YOU MUST FIRST KILL THE TRUTH Journalist Justin Stanton once described the Peter Larner novel Deathbed Confessions as ‘a taut thriller, at times mystery, and at times touching renderings of life and human relationships. No character and no observation are wasted. OK, let’s be clear, it’s not Heller’s Catch-22, but it is better than any of the ghost-written celebrity novels that clog up the Best Sellers charts.’ There is a resonance of Heller in A flaw in the plan. But it is no coincidence that the book was published on the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. The allegory to Dante’s Inferno is discernible in Danny Taylor’s descent into a life of sin as he passes through the circles of hell towards the biggest decision of his life. When Danny’s older brother dies, his wife of just two weeks inherits the family farm. Danny is determined to take back his inheritance by any means possible. That includes recruiting the help of two local gangsters, although the Boys have their own ideas. Waking from a coma after a shooting, the Police want to interview Danny, and he has 48 hours to come up with his version of events. Almost inevitably, his lust for Cleo despatches him on a path towards the betrayal of his own family. Can Danny plan an escape from the Boys, the Police and his own past?