Headcase

Clement Book 4

By: Keith A. Pearson

Narrated by: Chris Clarkson

Delusion is the ideal place to rest on a painful journey to the truth

David Nunn considers himself a good man. Employed as a counsellor for a mental health charity in North London, his typical day revolves around broken minds and dysfunctional lives.

Then, one day in January, a young man staggers into the charity’s office; no appointment booked and seemingly in the grip of a drug-induced episode. David reluctantly agrees to see the young man.

It proves a brief but fateful encounter.

Within days of that meeting, two men gatecrash David’s life; their motives wildly different but each making a demand. What they both have in common is their propensity for violence and deep-rooted psychological issues.

As his world descends into turmoil, David must decide if one of those men can save him from the other. Perhaps more importantly, can he save a self-confessed headcase from himself?

A Visit from Clement well worth your time.

I liked this book bunches. Clement is himself, and a welcome appearance he is for this reader. In terms of the familiar, he does the same outside the lines assistance to the (in this case) narrator that he did in the other volumes.

The specific problem and the details of the help are different. But anyone who reads a series values and expects this: in a mystery series, there will be at least one murder, the sleuth will solve it relating to police procedures, either outside as an amateur or inside/around as a police detective (of whatever rank).

Clement is fun, and ironically comforting in an uncomfortable way. Having said that, I didn't like his mission-person. The narrator is to me the least sympathetic of all four of Clement's aid-recipients. Normally I'm a push-over for an unreliable narrator. But in this case, I thought he was a jerk and self-deluded. That was funny considering he thought Clement was needing mental health treatment.

Anyway, the book is well worth the cost and the time. What else can you ask of any book?