Book Review: Ty Scarlet by Joe Camborne

Ty Scarlet Book Blurb

A newly found body. Possible cult connections. A wasps' nest of family secrets.

Ty Scarlet was once a high-flying lawyer, but ever since a series of catastrophic events changed his life forever, Scarlet's been a recovering lawyer, adrift. For the last 20 years.

It is baffling, then, that while on an airport layover, he gets pulled aside by someone influential from his past, who begs him to investigate their daughter’s unsolved disappearance. Scarlet’s no detective, but he’ll take the job, mainly to uncover why they came to him at all.

The two-year-old Emma Harwood case not only strikes a personal chord with Scarlet, but every question he asks leads him to feel that he has inexplicably mastered an incredible new suite of skills that gets him closer and closer to finding out what happened to Emma.

Is his luck finally turning, or are things feeling just a little…off?

Scarlet would do well to keep an open mind while investigating Emma’s disappearance because it will call into question everything he thought he knew about his place and purpose in the universe–and beyond.

Overall Analysis of Ty Scarlet

Ty Scarlet by Joe Camborne is a thrilling and psychological caper that hints at cosmic influence. The protagonist is a facetious, former lawyer reluctantly hurled into the role of an investigator of the unexpected death of a high-status politician's daughter. The internal and external exposition delivered by Ty Scarlet is often dripping with witty humor or cutting mockery, which added some color to this noir story.

I was unfamiliar with cinematic storytelling before delving into this book. From its definition, it is a novel that has swift pacing with a streamlined timeline. However, I didn’t truly understand what it was until I read the story. It’s incredibly easy to follow the story, as everything is told chronologically through the eyes of Scarlet over the span of six days, leaving little room for “unseen” moments. While reading about every event from his wake-up routine to the moment he falls asleep (mostly) may sound boring, Ty Scarlet is far from it; it is a fast-paced story with little breathing room or downtime.

The characters in Ty Scarlet are incredibly fleshed out and have unique personalities. While you do not originally understand Scarlet’s disdain for Mitchell and Vivian Harwood, Camborne is masterful at painting their hostile relationship. Although Scarlet adopts a sidekick and a potential girlfriend all in the course of a day, Camborne does a wonderful job at making it all seem so organic. Each relationship in the story is distinctive and their repartee is very enjoyable. Even Ty Scarlet, who we learn more about throughout the novel, seems relatable right off the bat before receiving his backstory.

The Aha! Moment is very satisfying as Camborne lays out enough of the evidence (both glaring and inconspicuous) throughout the story to give the reader a passing chance at solving the surface mystery themselves. However, the underlying mystery–one you’ll discover fairly early on–is a bit more complicated.

There is not much bad I can say about this novel. The only thing is that the answer to the underlying mystery is a tad bit complicated, and it may take a reread or three of the final chapter to fully wrap your head around what is going on. Though, depending on your background, Camborne’s explanation may be easier to understand.

Final Thoughts

For a debut novel, Joe Camborne knocked it out of the park with this one. His unique writing style is like nothing I’ve experienced before; it is very informal, and it was a breath of fresh air for someone like me who spends most of his time reading fantasy/sci-fi steeped in heroic and poetic prose. I recommend this story to fans of psychological thrillers and mystery, but it really has something for everyone. It is a fun, humorous, and stirring story that had me on the edge of my seat, and it was all capped off with a satisfying ending. I look forward to future installments of Ty Scarlet if Camborne intends to make this a series.