Edwin’s story is told through his memoir, both plots are gripping and once they started to overlap I found it increasingly hard to put the book down. The plot is split between the present (though that’s in the 1980s, back when the book was written) and the past, as historian Martin Radford tries to investigate what happened to Edwin Strafford back in the 1910s. As soon as I read the synopsis of the book I thought it sounded like my sort of book, within a few pages I knew I’d made a good choice. This is the second book I’ve read for the Great Transworld Crime Caper. I am looking forward to reading more of his entertaining and thought-provoking novels. I’ve read Robert Goddard’s Long Time Coming which I also recommend. Past Caring is full of unforeseen surprises, a story of secrets and the far-reaching consequences of decisions made on a whim. He becomes friends with Edwin’s intended, Elizabeth and together they try to right the wrongs of the past, the stakes of which are higher than either could’ve imagined. He uncovers an intricate far-reaching web of intrigue, including his present-day connection to events started decades before. The more Martin reads, the more invested he becomes in his subject. Strafford left an unpublished memoir which is much of the novel’s first half.

He moved to Madeira soon after and lived there for the rest of his life. The friend introduces him to Leo Sellick who employs him to find out all he can about the late Edwin Strafford, an English cabinet minister who mysteriously resigned at 32 in 1910 after just two years. He’s an unemployed history graduate so when a university friend asks him to visit the island of Maidera, he jumps at the chance.

Martin Radford is the narrator and an unlikely private detective, although, consistent with the genre’s requirements, he is flawed. The expert suspense-manipulation skills of a Daphne du Maurier romance meets a John le Carre thriller is how the New York Times reviewer put it. It’s Goddard’s first published novel, which makes the Booker feat even more impressive. This 1986 Booker prize-nominated novel is a rewarding reading experience.

Past caring robert goddard reviews