Fans of JP Pomare will know to expect the unexpected with his latest crime novel The Wrong Woman (Hachette 2022) – plenty of twists and turns, numerous characters who could be victims or perpetrators or witnesses, and an ending that resolves very far away from where the story starts. If this is your first Pomare book, lucky you, because he has a backlist of four other novels (one of which, The Clearing, will be coming to a screen near you soon).

Although this book has all the usual Pomare trademarks, it is also very different in some respects. Firstly, it’s set in the US. This feels entirely natural and Pomare has nailed the language, dialects, setting and general community sense about institutions such as the police force. The small twin towns where the book is set are also detailed and believable. Secondly, the characterisation in this novel is particularly strong regarding one individual character – Vince Reid, ex-cop (disgraced), and private investigator. Pomare always writes complex characters but Reid is totally compelling. We care very much about what happens to him as he travels along this investigation. We are in his space, in his head, so what he learns, we learn simultaneously. When he makes mistakes, we are just as surprised as him. When he discovers a clue, we cheer him on (or if it’s a red herring that he thought was a clue, we share his disappointment.) He is a flawed but likeable character, and Pomare shares details of his history and his personality in a slow but well-paced way throughout the book; the result is that we feel we are getting to know Reid gradually, as we might a new friend. I really felt a connection to Reid and I hope we can see him in another novel.

After his public shaming, Reid promised the local PD he would never return to his hometown, but when he gets offered a decent amount of money to investigate an insurance case – a tragic car accident – he figures he’ll get in and get out without anyone noticing or recognising him. But when rumours circulate about the professor killed in the accident, and his possible connection to local missing girls, the mystery deepens and Reid cannot look away.

The novel is told in two voices; the other is Eshana, the well-liked wife of the professor, who was driving the car and is now in a coma. Her story is told from before, whereas Reid’s narrative is in the present, so the reader is continually catching up on the past (from Eshana’s point of view) while Reid investigates after the accident when Eshana is already in the hospital. As with Reid, Eshana’s story unravels slowly, as she recounts the time before the accident.

And it was a tragic accident. Wasn’t it? Nothing is certain about this case, and the title itself – The Wrong Woman – gives us a clue as to where the story might travel. There are many female characters in the story, some pivotal, some peripheral, and the assumption we make at the beginning about which woman is involved in which plot threads might be completely mistaken. Which woman is the wrong woman, and why?

Pomare’s books are great, accessible crime reads. You know to expect some aspect of psychological thriller, but each book is very different in the way he presents that aspect. Each book has been separate and stand-alone in plot, but each share compelling characters, solid writing and complex crimes that are never as they at first appear.