Customer Reviews
Dual Duel - By: M. J. Saxton, 11 Aug 2008 
Like other Minette Walters books, you get to a certain stage & you're hooked; it becomes impossible to put it down because you have to finish it.
With "The Devil's Feather" this stage comes around a third of the way through, once you're used to the shifting style of narrative, email & computer files. The reader begins to wonder how Connie is going to cope with her life after kidnap, not what will happen when the kidnapper turns up - that comes later.
The appearance of Jess & the revelation of her own tortured psyche (old fashioned term, but nonetheless apt here) are fascinating. Throughout, it is as much the working of minds that becomes intriguing as the tension wound upin the plot.
Other characters seem to be familiar: local doctor, concerned parents, absent helpless lover. It's Christie territory with a contemporary twist.
The sub-plot hooks the reader because of its cosiness. One feels as if on familiar territory, this is how British thrillers pan out: countryside setting, recognisable types, class-consciousness. That hook & the Iraq tie-in become irresistible. A thriller set with a background we fully recognise - a clever piece of popular writing.
The Devil's Feather - By: Rich, 02 May 2008 
This has a great beginning but unfortunately the plot lacks the drive to push this book through to the end. It feels like a short story padded out to 4oo page plus status.
Enjoyed this! - By: Penny, 16 Aug 2007 
I gave up on Minette Walters after Fox Evil - I've rarely read a book I liked less. I heard this one was different, & I really enjoyed it. Maybe a bit slow, & the heroine was one you'd like to thump sometimes, but generally very good indeed.
Scary stuff - By: Love Books, 06 Aug 2007 I read the Sculptress years ago & it freaked me out so much that this is the first time I've come back to Minette Walters. I really enjoyed most of this book but that may be because I haven't read all her others. I thought the concept of a serial killer operatingin war zones was really clever & the MacKenzie character very threatening & scary. I also liked Jess (the woman who befriends the terrified Connie), & her dogs. The way the first half of the book is written, using emails & reportage is an excellent way of giving the reader information.
The tone of the book completely changes about three quarters of the way through (after Connie has faced her nemesis) & I went off it at this stage, mainly because you see a completely different side to Connie & Jess & I just couldn't relate to either of them any more. I won't give away the ending but it was fairly obvious what had happened and, well it just spoiled it for me. Still a VERY good read for anyone who doesn't like flying & wants something to take their mind of a longish trip!
Could do better - By: Panda, 23 Jun 2007 
Having read & hugely enjoyed several other Minette Walters novels I was looking forward to this one, which appeared to venture into new & exciting territory for the queen of Dorset crime dramas. How disappointed I was to find that, far from a tale of international intrigue, after about three chapters the book reverts to the author's favourite format -- a family saga setin a small Dorset village populated by equally small-minded locals.
Although beautifully written, as ever, all the main characters are recognisable from previous works -- from the feisty, smart & slightly insecure heroine to the bitter & snobbish elderly matriarch, the beautiful but grasping & callous daughter, the emotionally damaged woman who has withdrawn from the world & the hunky, cerebral professional male. Even the faded country house setting is tediously familiar from earlier, more memorable, outings.
The dialogue is also a problem. Never one of Walters's strongest points,in some places it is so direly pompous that it makes you want either to burst out laughing or give the offending character (usually Connie) a hearty slap. Or both.
Having said all that, the book does have some good points -- the characters are well crafted, the action scenes deftly written & the two plots are woven together fairly well given their disparity. It is just that I expected so much more from the woman who is, after all, one of our greatest living crime novelists. My advice to anyone reading this is to take heed of the negative reviews & spend your money on something else.
