Prompt 36 – A book written by an incarcerated or formally incarcerated person

I have never read any books by bestselling writer Jeffrey Archer who famously served a couple of years in prison, so this was a great opportunity to dip my toes in. I chose Nothing Ventured. This is the first book in the William Warwick series and has a Goodreads average rating of 4 stars.

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

Nothing Ventured heralds the start of a brand-new series in the style of Jeffrey Archer’s #1 New York Times bestselling Clifton Chronicles: introducing Detective William Warwick. But this is not a detective story, this is a story about the making of a detective . . .

William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective, and decides, much to his father’s dismay, that rather than become a lawyer like his father, Sir Julian Warwick QC, and his sister Grace, he will join London’s Metropolitan Police Force.

After graduating from university, William begins a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat under the watchful eye of his first mentor, Constable Fred Yates, to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting from the Fitzmolean Museum, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery who he falls hopelessly in love with, even as Beth guards a secret of her own that she’s terrified will come to light.

While William follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, he comes up against suave art collector Miles Faulkner and his brilliant lawyer, Booth Watson QC, who are willing to bend the law to breaking point to stay one step ahead of William. Meanwhile, Miles Faulkner’s wife, Christina, befriends William, but whose side is she really on?

This new series introduces William Warwick, a family man and a detective who will battle throughout his career against a powerful criminal nemesis. Through twists, triumph and tragedy, this series will show that William Warwick is destined to become one of Jeffrey Archer’s most enduring legacies.

What I think:

Sadly, this did not live up to my expectations.

The book is easy enough to read and the story moves along but there was something about it that just wasn’t connecting with me.

William is privileged and educated – he has a degree in art history – but sets out to prove himself by becoming a policeman. This book covers the first years of his career beginning in the late 1970s

He is mentored by Fred, a salt of the earth local copper who knows the neighbourhood and the local criminals. He teaches William about grass roots policing and supports him with his goal of becoming a detective.

Having passed his detective exam, William is assigned to the Arts and Antiques division where he investigates art fraud and theft.

There are some disasters and some successes as he established himself as a detective.

He also falls in love with Beth – they seem to have a couple of dates and then act like a married couple.

The characters were all very superficial and flat. There was never that much tension. At one point William sleeps with a suspect’s wife which felt both out of character and added nothing to the plot.

This book is very tell don’t show. Having heard how great Archer’s sagas are, perhaps I picked a bad place to start.

This definitely wasn’t for me.