Although published in 1988, this suspenseful and disturbing mystery has characters and issues that are just as believable today. I hadn't read any of Yorke's books for quite awhile but knew I would when I finally reached the letter "Y" in our blog challenge. "Speak for the Dead" lived up to my expectation completely. Carrie, the protagonist, is a hostile and belligerent criminal from the time she hits 16. Stealing and prostitution are justified by her somewhat convoluted mental processes. She is not a likable character yet many men fall under her spell. While the story of Carrie is woven on one hand, it is the machinations of fate being woven by Yorke on the other direction in which Carrie, herself, becomes a victim.
I am encouraged to continue to read some of Yorke's many other mysteries. The Yorke style is crisp and uncluttered with unnecessary adjectives. Her descriptions of British lifestyles and clothing are never-the-less right on. Although this book is several decades old, it could just as easily have been written today. The motivations and deceptions could happen anywhere as the theme of man versus society plays out to a surprisingly gratifying ending.
Margaret Yorke was born in 1924, had her first of more than 20 books published in 1957. Yorke served as chairman of the Crimefighters Writers Association in 1979-80. She was awarded the Crime Writers Association Cartier Diamond award IN 1999; Golden Handcuffs Award, in recognition of her popularity within the UK library service and its borrowers in 1993 and the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection in 1982. I found my copy at the Thompson (CT) Public Library which has an extensive collection of both books and audiotapes which means that both are available throughout the Connecticut Library System as well as on Amazon and other sources.
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