Another Sun by Timothy Williams

First published in French in 2011; published in translation by Soho Crime on April 2, 2013 

Gendarmes pull the dead body of Monsieur Raymond Calais from a pond on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. The immediate murder suspect is an old man named Hégésippe Bray who threatened to kill Calais after Calais stole land that Bray had purchased from Calais' father. Anne Marie Laveaud, the investigating judge, has her doubts. Despite (or because of) his political aspirations, Calais had few friends. None of the people Laveaud interviews are unhappy about Calais' death, except for his widow, who suggests he was killed by terrorists who support the nation's independence from France. One mystery leads to another (and to a second death) as Laveaud probes the past to find long-buried secrets.

Bray's sad history makes him a sympathetic character despite his surly personality. Laveaud is a standard, rather dull "no agenda but the truth" investigator and but her days are enlivened by a chronically unemployed West Indian husband, the lecherous men who want to bed her, and an assistant who quietly mocks her ignorance of local customs and rivalries.

Timothy Williams does what good mystery writers do, peppering the plot with misdirection and false leads. Are the murders personal or political? Is there a conspiracy afoot, and if so, who are the conspirators? Why is Laveaud's investigation being obstructed -- or, more charitably, meeting with little cooperation from her boss? Another Sun delivers a heady mix of family, political, and cultural drama as the reader labors to unravel the mystery.

Yet there is more to Another Sun than a conventional murder mystery. The intricacies of race, heritage, and politics in Guadeloupe form the novel's background. While many Guadeloupians believe in witchcraft and voodoo, the nation is haunted by problems that are not of supernatural origin. Skin color and native language divide Guadeloupians, even when they work together. Blacks and whites and Indians and those of mixed race each occupy their own niche in the social structure. Békés -- the descendents of early European settlers in the French Antilles -- are viewed as racial purists by those of African or Indian descent, while the Békés look down upon those who have dark skin. Whether one speaks French or Creole as a first language determines one's acceptance in different parts of the nation's social milieu. The French colonial nation seethes with the political unrest that is an inevitable result of control by a distant government. Yet none of this is explained in an expository information dump. Insights into life in Guadeloupe are woven into the story and become an integral part of it.

Domestic drama fleshes out Laveaud's character. Her husband is useless, her mother-in-law is antagonistic, her son is pouty. She seems rather cold during the first half of the novel, but as Williams opens her up, revealing more of her thoughts and anxieties, I came to understand what makes her tick. Laveaud isn't the kind of character about whom a reader will develop warm and fuzzy feelings, but she is the kind of dedicated professional a reader can admire.

Ultimately, a murder mystery is only satisfactory if the mystery is a good one. Williams plants clues to the killer's identity but the solution isn't obvious. Readers who are better at solving mysteries might puzzle out the answer before Williams reveals it, but I didn't. The intelligent plot and compelling background make Another Sun an enjoyable read. I particularly liked the ambiguous ending and the possibility it creates for a sequel.

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