The Collioure Coincidence (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 6)

by Mark N. Drake

Rating: *****

The sixth installment* in Drake’s Glennison Darkisle series begins in Spring 1925, and Jack and Josine’s relationship is strained after events in the Grainger Case. Josine briefly returns to America to visit family, and Jack is invited to join a university archaeological dig on Ben Cattrick Hill back on Darkisle in July. 

While waiting, he decides to investigate a niggling connection between a painting in Charles Deverby’s art collection and the southern French coastal town of Collioure. Putting aside awkwardness, Josine accompanies him to Collioure, where it becomes apparent that what began as a riveting art mystery unfurls into a far wider, darker conspiracy, with its insidious tendrils reaching all the way back to Darkisle and into the Ben Cattrick excavation …

The Collioure Coincidence is unputdownable. Not only does it deliver two utterly gripping and expertly crafted mysteries in one that are seamlessly conjoined while offering their own individual sequence of reveals and twists, but Drake deftly weaves through threads from previous cases that have nuance or relevance, thoroughly immersing the reader while also creating a clear sense of broader momentum and reach as this exceptional series continues. 

As with the fifth book, Drake delays Jack’s return to Darkisle until halfway, although the island’s ominous presence filters through the story from the start. Nonetheless, the Prologue and early chapters, while efficiently re-acquainting the reader, are delicately weighted with unspoken tension between Jack and Josine and, for different reasons, between him and Bea.

There is a definite, if incredibly subtle, detachment from Bea, while it’s noticeable that Jack mentally lingers on Josine more than before. While neither woman addresses anything too directly with him, their responses and reactions, verbal and physical, suggest emotional complexities. Drake continues to play this intriguing triangular conundrum with consummate ease.

Jack and Josine’s trip to the artist’s haven of Collioure is wonderfully entertaining and brilliantly wrought. Drake beautifully captures the vibrancy and charm of the small French town and its bohemian vibe. Although it is set earlier and before the supernatural appearance of the Hunter and Church of the Celestial Shadow member Oliver Gatiss, it’s reminiscent of Maigret. Indeed, Drake’s writing in The Collioure Coincidence is sublime and Simenon-esque, finely detailed, smoothly precise, and absorbingly evocative while the story and characters grapple with psychological currents.

Nonetheless, this is Drake, and it’s not long before the Lovecraftian veil descends. There are a couple of straightforward elements to the Collioure mystery, and these are skilfully resolved, but other discoveries in the French town are not so easily explained. Throughout, Drake superbly controls the plot and its spellbinding array of side stories and clever complications that never become overly complex or incredible, within context.  

The second half focuses on the excavation around a stone circle, Little Megan and her brothers, on Ben Cattrick Hill. Without complacency, Drake once again effortlessly evokes the ghostly atmospherics and sinister antediluvian antics of Darkisle while ensuring this new case, although featuring some reassuringly familiar and curious elements, remains thrillingly fresh, utterly chilling, and sets the reader’s mind racing with perplexity.

Jack has a focused intensity, but flashes of his old, slightly wry humor are back, with the benefit of maturity and hindsight. The dialogue between him and Josine is warm and natural, as they bounce ideas and theories off each other often for the reader's benefit. All characters, from the enticing, enigmatic Marie Roux in Collioure to the sullen, furtive crofter Petyr Kewin on the slopes of Ben Cattrick, are depicted with vivid authenticity and sharp physical detailing.

The University excavation team is a useful mixed bag, Drake does not overtly make one an imposter, although each has their puzzling quirks and dubious behaviours. Still, a slight suspicion about the motivations of one of them remains after the dig, and Drake leaves several tantalizing ambiguities in some areas while providing satisfying resolutions in others. 

Notwithstanding, The Collioure Coincidence offers a last-minute sinister twist, and an epilogue whose cheerful tone fails to disguise the lurking foreboding for Jack, leaving the reader hopeful that Book Seven isn't far off. Highly recommended.

*Click here for my review of Bogganmor (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 5).

*Click here for my review of Falls the Darkness (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 4).

*Click here for my review of What Festers Within (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 3).

*Click here for my review of Those Under The Hill (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 2).

*Click here for my review of The Gathering of Shadows (The Glennison Darkisle Cases Book 1).

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