The Romance of Crime

"I will strip the flesh from your bones and bathe myself in your blood!"

Writer: Gareth Roberts

Format: Novel

Released: January 1995

Series: Missing Adventures 06

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9

Synopsis

'How do you kill someone?' asked the Doctor. 'Eviscerate them, crush, reverse their particles. But do the dead always stay dead?'

The TARDIS brings the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 to the Rock of Judgement: a court, prison and place of execution built into a rocket-powered asteroid. There they become embroiled in an investigation by the system's finest lawman.

What connects the macabre gallery of artist Menlove Stockes with the slaughter of a survey team on a distant planet? Why is Margo, chief of security, behaving so strangely? And which old enemies of the Doctor are aboard the unmarked spaceship making its way towards the Rock?

Verdict

The Romance of Crime was an excellent novel! This was a great story from start to finish and it was a perfect example of capturing the era of the Fourth Doctor and Romana during Season 17. The way things started for the TARDIS crew and their game of Monopoly was magnificent and I loved the humour of the Doctor being on the verge of bankruptcy and losing the game. Gemma and myself do enjoy a game of Monopoly and we have quite a few variations so I really loved seeing the likes of the utilities and other streets and property mentioned. This book had an abundance of impressive characters and I think the standout had to be Pyerpoint. His role as the head of the law hierarchy on the Rock of Judgement was excellent and I loved how the initial occurrence of Voltt's rushed execution coming full circle with his plans on Planet Eleven and the mining of helicon. It worked very well and his hiding of the plan throughout was really good. He schemed well and the proposed alliance with Xais was very good, even if it was clear that both personalities were not going to join together and share the spoils. They wanted it all for themselves which made for a fun dynamic of having two separate villains that were also joined at the hip. The extra layer of the brothers Nisbett being thrown in and how Xais was trying to do a double double-cross was brilliant. I thought they were a strange pairing and the references to their mum along with their bickering didn't exactly make them out to be the villains their reputation would have you believe! I thought the return of the Ogron was a lot of fun and even though it was clear from the book's cover and the chapter title in which they emerged, the lack of surprise didn't hurt things. They're a comical race of brutes and I almost get to the point of feeling sorry for them on times because here they were just out to do as they were employed. No compassion was shown to them and the way they were destroyed was pretty harsh and instantaneous. It certainly had a big impact. I thought Stokes was a fun character and whilst it didn't seem entirely logical for an artist to painting portraits of those on death row, the distain he had towards Zy and his ability to sell his work was terrific. He wasn't exactly the bravest of characters though so when his student met a brutal demise, it was obvious that he wasn't responsible. Spiggot was also a really good character and his investigations into the matters on the Rock were intriguing, and the way the Doctor and Romana ended up coupled with him was fantastic. The reaction of Pyerpoint once the full clearance came through for Spiggot was excellent stuff. His initial thoughts that the Doctor was a decoy was great too. I liked learning of the history behind Xais and her execution of three years previous, and the way Stokes was utilised with the helicon mask was a really intriguing way for her to somehow survive through her soul living on. The way she was able to manipulate Margo was really impressive and I thought she made for a brilliant villain. The reaction she had after the Nisbett brothers surveyed Planet 11 and found only a residual trace of helicon was magnificent and it showed the tenacity of Pyerpoint to have already extracted it for himself in the hope of taking the power from Xais and living on. I thought the writing of both the Doctor and Romana was sublime from start to finish with the characterisation of their relationship ever so well presented in prose. Throwing K9 into the mix as well was lovely and I found it amusing how often he needed to be carried! The reveal that Pyerpoint was the Sentinel all along was not the biggest of surprises to say the least, but I liked how it occurred after he had been relatively quiet during events. Xais manipulating him once he got desperate after realising that he had been played and her formula could not be replicated was fantastic and the way he met his demise by the mining robot whilst wearing the mask of Xais was very sudden but a clever way to tie everything up. The Doctor and Romana having to leave and watch on as the mask and helicon devoured Planet Eleven was really powerful and showed just how evil she was for them not to even attempt to help! Overall, this was an excellent read!

Rating: 9/10