When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

Scribner, 368 pages, $24.99

I have been a Michael Robotham fan for a long time. The first book of his I read was “The Night Ferry” (c2007). I especially liked the main character, a young Sikh woman named Ali Barba. She was a detective with the Metropolitan Police in London. What was amazing to me at the time was how Robotham, a man, so convincingly voiced his character, a woman. 

Being able to adequately express characters of a different gender often upends authors. Authors, good authors, writers with style, writers with a stylistic verve, are sometimes unable to convincingly voice a character of a gender different than what they are. Like Robert Parker, they might go overboard in expressing how smart, self-reliant, brilliant, independent, clever, tough, brainy, and — okay, I’ve run out of synonyms for “smart” and “doesn’t rely on men” — resplendent a character of a different gender is.

In fact, since (and before) Robotham’s “The Night Ferry,” the author’s go-to characters are two men: Vincent Ruiz, ex of the police force, and Dr. Joseph O’Loughlin, a psychologist. I have loved those books as well, but I have been secretly waiting for the return of Ali Barba.

“When You Are Mine” is not that book.

However, it comes close. The main character is Philomena “Phil” McCarthy, a constable at the Southwark Police Station, London. She has joined the police force despite being the daughter of one of the most notorious crimelords in England. Her parents divorced and her mother tried her best to keep her from her father’s world.

Phil has not seen her father, since remarried to the annoying Constance, in six years. Her father’s sixtieth birthday is coming up, and Constance has been relentless in trying to get Phil to visit. Truth be told, Phil has fond memories of her father’s large and boisterous family. Her uncles, all criminals, were kind to her and still love her. Blood is thicker than employment affiliations, apparently.

Henry, Phil’s fiancé, knows about her family and is intimidated but not bowed. With eyes wide open, they are beginning to plan their wedding. 

That’s when the manure hits the fan. In answering a domestic violence call, Phil runs afoul of Detective Sergeant Darren Goodall, the man suspected of beating his girlfriend, Temperence “Tempe” Brown. Tempe is grateful for Phil’s guidance and sympathy. DS Goodall is livid and vindictive. In the course of helping Tempe escape Goodall, Phil befriends her and opens up to her. Tempe seems to know what Phil needs; she can help with wedding plans and organize pantry items. Okay, you can say it with me. Ready? “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

It turns out Phil knows Tempe under a different name. She went to school with a Maggie Brown. Something happened, and Maggie transferred out. Maggie=Tempe. Perhaps the only thing I can fault Phil for is being too slow to realize something is amiss with Tempe, but then part of the book wouldn’t have existed. So, yay for slow. But this seems minor compared to the take-down Goodall is laying on Phil. Working his connections, Goodall is making it seem that Phil is a stalker and conniver, or worse.

Perhaps Phil’s father can help?

And there you have the mixings for a complex plot for a book. Happy reading!

P.S. Once again, if I need to state it bluntly, Michael Robotham has created a female character with warmth and depth. Bonus: Her family, most assuredly guilty of heinous crimes, also has warmth and depth.