Michael Wall: The Temptations of Frederick Weld

Reviewed by MICHAEL LARSEN*

Michael Wall should be fairly well known to local readers. Apart from being a former chief press parliamentary secretary, an advertising mogul and dramatist, he finds time to pen novels, and this is his fifth.

Temptations is set in 1850s Auckland, and brings to life the political players and their various intrigues of the time, set against the backdrop of our nation's first attempts at parliamentary organisation. A number of the characters in this fictional account are true historical figures - the simian Edward Gibbon Wakefield (who gets pretty bad press from Wall), Governor Wynyard, Bishop Pompallier and a host of others whose names now adorn street signs in the city.

Within this milieu, Wall inserts a triple murder, the victims having their throats unceremoniously slashed, this being the only connection between these otherwise disparate individuals.

Weld, having sailed from Nelson to make his name in the (then) capital, finds time amidst his representative duties to investigate the seedy goings-on in the criminal underworld and to get to the heart of the grisly matter.

His constant distraction is the almost pathological obsession he develops for Emma Jane Playfair, the beau of the town. His feelings cloud his judgment and seriously compromise his position, both socially and politically.

This should all contribute to a colourful, tantalisingly tenterhook-grabbing whodunnit, and in better hands, it would. But unfortunately, the book is seriously flawed and what should have been great material goes to waste under Wall's steering.

Weld is the main problem. He tells his story as a reminiscence, as he is due to pass sentence on a murderer in his role as Governor in the Straits Settlements, some 50 years after the fact. (Clue: this just might relate to the Auckland murders). He is pompous, tedious and callow, so he holds little interest for us as he ponderously tails the killer and naively makes his way to Emma Jane's bed.

The other notables are interesting in passing, although Wall gives us little more padding as to their motivations and character than a quick flick through a biographical dictionary would give us.

The women are exotic, and he captures the grandeur of society life well, but the writing is dry, the plot improbable and the whole thing lacks structure and suspense. A good opportunity wasted, I'm afraid.

Black Swan, $26.95

* Michael Larsen is an Auckland freelance writer.