Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley by Danyl McLauchlan - Review by Campbell Taylor


Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley (Victoria University Press - $35) is a confident first novel which delivers all that the title suggests. A colourful mystery that occasionally spans continents and time, it never really leaves the confines of the eponymous, shadowy Wellington valley.

The author, Danyl McLauchlan, has chosen a protagonist in the form of a ne’er-do-well writer called Danyl; a device both post-modern and as old as writing itself. Here, it is employed as part of the playfulness of the storytelling as the character reveals himself as both arrogant blunderer and wise detective.
To say too much about the plot would risk spoiling the fun; something the marketeers have had a crack at by labelling this debut as a “classic kiwi comic mystery erotic horror adventure novel”. It certainly is a comic mystery, but to throw the kitchen sink at it somehow devalues the confidence of this debut.

A misunderstanding leads into the realms of a dark cult and a search to solve a mystery from the past.
There is an off-sider to help him; the endearing and funny Steve, who somehow pops up just when he is needed, to help Danyl stumble through a mystery which the author weaves, knits, folds, picks, tangles and untangles over 400+ pages.

The character of a 20-something slacker male is portrayed perfectly: happy to sponge of his girlfriend while life drifts by, who knows everything about the world but is unable to get out bed (because his feet are tangled in the sheets).
I laughed out loud many times.
Having spent some time in Aro Valley, I can believe there is a strange cult getting up to mischief in the pursuit of their holy of holies; that there is a dark Satanist sniffing around the edges, and that an over-imaginative writer has the time to unpick the mystery while he tries to seduce the exotic and voluptuous Stasia. If, at times, she reads like a fantasy then that’s just what someone who has just been thrown out by his girlfriend, Verity, would fixate on.

The book, itself, has a lovely cover and feel, but it really could have done with a friendly edit as the story often flags while characters regurgitate information onto the page. And, yes, it’s a mystery but there are sections which seem just to be questions, followed by questions, ended with question marks. Which is a shame given the tight focus of the setting and nicely limited core of characters.

That said, if you’re looking for a fun tale and a good chuckle, there is plenty here to enjoy. I certainly look forward to reading further novels by this new writer.

And while my name is Campbell, and I like to walk in Aro Valley, I need to emphatically state that I am not the book’s cult-leader, known as the Campbell Walker (or am I)???


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