This is a short, spare, darkly witty novel, characteristic of Turner’s signature style. What’s new is the UK setting and he proves to be as comfortable here as he is with his Italian set novels. Born to Lose: Tales of Gigi, his last outing, was a series of vignettes, a riff on the Dario Argento film Cat O’Nine Tails, recalling the Years of Lead and 1970s Turin.
This new story opens at Efford crematorium. Reg is burying his wife, the wind is bitter and he is disappointed by the turnout at the funeral, Sheila deserved better.
Now life will be different, it’s going to take some adjusting to, he’s beginning to realise how much he depended on her. Events interfere when he makes a new friend, a young man called Jamie who offers to get his pals, part of a new decorating firm, to come round and spruce up the house. To be fair, it’s a bit of a time capsule. It’s a set up, Jamie has noted that Reg is alone. By the time Reg realises something is wrong and that this is not on the level one of the gang has moved into his home. The house is now a base for their nefarious activities. They’ll leave when it suits them. Reg’s every move is watched, just to make sure he can’t tell the police what’s going on. So what happens next… The fun starts.
Reg fights back, a visit to the garden centre changes everything and he soon finds he has not been deserted by Sheila and he draws strength from her memory.
Fans of French author Pascal Garnier will feel at home here. This is the study of a man pushed to the limit, wounded by life, and unwilling to go gentle into that good night. Or you could see it as pensioners behaving badly, the kind of anti hero you don’t usually see in a crime novel. The dark humour is accompanied by an involving story and is loaded with grief, anger, revenge and sadness. You’ll laugh but it’s emotional heart won’t escape you.

A simple tale very well told. You will fly through it.

The Reluctant Gardener by Marek Z Turner

Poliziotturner Press