The Lake Ladies by Paul Gullen - Book Report/Review Example

Written by Paul Gullen, The lake Ladies is a fictional crime and mystery novel. The plot in the novel revolves around the life of Marston Bates, a fictional character. Marston Bates is a detective with the Chicago Police department. He is also a scholar in the time and therefore approaches issues with an informed and equally liberal mind. The events begin unfolding while he is on a holiday and living at his mother’s residence at the lakeside. The police discover two dead bodies by the lake both with scribbled notes explaining the course of their deaths. Marston Bates involves himself in the investigation of the two mystery murders a feature that threatens both his life and the lives of some of his immediate family members. The conflict in the plot heightens as Marston Bates carries out an investigation into a gang of criminals coupled with a suspicious community. As such, he works against a large social tide.

Marston Bates is the main character in the novel. Key among his personality traits is courageous. Bates takes responsibility and often faces challenges in society. He takes initiative to investigate a criminal gang despite his knowledge of such criminal gangs. During the investigation, he creates enemies with some of the most feared criminals in the region (Gullen 54). The fact that the crime he investigates is in his hometown risks the lives of his immediate family members such as his mother and sisters. Additionally, Marston Bates is tactful and always informed. As explained earlier, he is a scholar and therefore has experience and knowledge in various features of society including crime and criminal organizations. This way, he approaches the investigation of the crime cautiously thus succeeding despite the opposition.

Just as is the case with any other literature, Paul Gullen addresses numerous thematic issues in his book. Key among the themes in the novel is a crime and criminal gangs. Crimes are major social vices in any society. Gullen portrays the theme centrally in the book thereby using such to create the overriding conflict in the book. The theme enhances the creation of several other themes all of which stem from crime. One of such is an individual against society. Marston Bates involves himself in the investigation oblivious of the structures and spread of the gang in the local society. As such, he annoys numerous people most of whom are either part of the gang or had coexisted with the gang previously and therefore understand the networks and operations of the gang. Marston Bates, therefore, becomes a lone soldier fighting a social vice the society had coexisted with and appreciated all along. Read More