Aching Lust for Crime, The

"Louis had a keen, intuitive understanding of the metaphysics of a knife in the back." The door-darkening and nomadic Louis sweeps into town to take Ida, his on-gain off-again, away on holiday. When the long-suffering and law-abiding Ida discovers that Louis only wants her along to help him rob a bank, she comes up with a plan of her own. She will have the money and set up Louis for the fall. But soon it is Ida who the police decide is the criminal mastermind and, after Louis's supposedly long dead brother shows up with an axe in him, she becomes a murder suspect as well. By turns bleak, fast-paced and laced with dark humour, The Aching Lust for Crime is an ingeniously plotted crime novel of exiles from the land of social and consumer success who are seduced by the lure of crime to make their dreams come true. If they will only begin to co-operate they might have a chance. The Aching Lust for Crime is reminiscent of Jim Thompson's novels with their marginalized characters, but there are also elements of the absurd, impossible coincidences, dark humour, and social satire.