The Gilded Madonna

The murders are sudden and savage. Men’s bodies are being found in public parks at night. Similar murders have happened before in Sydney and then suddenly stopped. Three years later they have started again. A serial killer is clearly at work, one who enjoys leaving behind unique, unmistakable signatures of his deeds and, as before, whoever it is defies all attempts to be identified or captured. Thirty-six-year-old Clyde Smith investigated the first series of murders dubbed “the Silent Cop case” without success for two years when he was a Detective Sergeant. Now a private investigator, he is involved in a case of the kidnapping of two children snatched off the street in broad daylight belonging to Cyril and Margaret Bishop. The mystery of the missing children is inexplicable enough, but then envelopes, a business card of Clyde’s, and a photograph of Clyde with his closest army buddies—all addressed in distinctive green ink—begin to be sent anonymously to various persons, including Clyde. A wrapped statue of a gilded Madonna addressed to Clyde is sent to the Bishops. None of this appears to be related to the kidnapping, but may very well be an attempt to involve Smith once again in the ghastly late-night murders.

Clyde Smith, who first appeared in THE CRICKETER’S ARMS (2019) returns in a second extraordinarily well written and absorbing mystery in THE GILDED MADONNA (2021) by Australian author Garrick Jones. Set in 1957, THE GILDED MADONNA, like all of Jones’s work, contains vivid detail, reliable historic background, a complex and well executed plot, evocative settings, and full-bodied characters. In an Author’s Note, Jones states the novel “is based on three real life events that took place in Sydney during the 1950s and early 60s, fictionally altered in time and place with names changed.”

Like most of the work by Garrick Jones, THE GILDED MADONNA is a very character-driven story. Foremost among the many auxiliary yet vital characters in the novel is Harry Jones, who runs an adventure tours company in an office next to Clyde’s. Calm, level-headed, handsome, and intelligent, Harry frequently provides assistance to Clyde. Newly transferred twenty-nine-year-old Detective Sergeant Mark Dioli is a hot-tempered bully with a chip on his shoulder and a well-concealed, wretched, life-altering past and present. Twenty-two-year-old Tom Ridley is driven from the police force by Dioli’s harassment and is recruited by Smith and Jones to assist the two men in their respective offices. A Romany fortune teller, “Madame Marigold Leeks,” and her brother, Luka, owners of the stolen gilded Madonna sent to Clyde, add color to the novel. Luka becomes especially of interest in the story as he challenges Clyde’s ascetic beliefs by producing tantalizing advice and information which often proves to be true through what Luka declares are special powers.

Undoubtedly, however, the most important character in THE GILDED MADONNA is Clyde Smith, “torn between the love of writing and journalism, but a detective nonetheless,” and a very complicated man. He is generous, loving, kind, and tender—especially when he finds himself in the position to right wrongs done to people who are abused or taken advantage of through no fault of their own. Smith also suffers from PTSD and can be violent when aroused and the need arises. As a method of self-preservation, Clyde usually finds himself in a small, multifaceted, meaningful “circle of friends” during the war, a cycle which repeats itself with different comrades throughout his life, including in the present. Unlike earlier times, Harry Jones is the first man Clyde is willing to be with monogamously. Clyde ranks among Garrick Jones’s most fascinating creations.

As THE GILDED MADONNA progresses, the author leads readers to one fascinating revelation after another in a logical and realistic fashion. Further insight is given to the lives of the diverse characters as well as the unidentified, suspected murderer himself and in spite of some very grim moments involving more than just murder (it is a crime novel after all), there are flashes of humor (especially in some of the dialogue and quips by the characters) and moments of heart-warming romance. Jones’s attention to detail is striking, ranging from various foods and their preparation to insight on how a police artist can begin to create a portrait of a suspect from a witness’s description and much more. Additionally, there is the occasional use of Australian slang in the text and pride in his country which is vintage Jones.

In what Clyde even declares is an Agatha Christie moment, he gathers a number of characters together to reveal several things he has learned about the “Silent Cop” murders. It is an ironic scene because at the time he still doesn’t know the murderer’s whereabouts. It is ironic, too, because Jones’s narrative is far more complex and realistic than a typical Christie story. The gathering does, however, launch the execution of Smith’s plan to once and for all trap the killer. Typical of the best of crime thrillers though, things do not go as planned and Jones considerably raises the suspense and anxiety level for the reader leading to a breath-taking climax in the novel.

Although second in the series with numerous references to earlier events, THE GILDED MADONNA can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. Readers are bound to find THE GILDED MADONNA an extremely entertaining and most satisfactory read.