A Dying Breed by Peter Hanington, Book Review

Do you ever wonder if you made the right career choices in your life? When I was at university I toyed with the idea of journalism but chose medieval studies instead, go figure. I don’t think though that you have to have a particular interest in being a foreign correspondent to enjoy Peter Hanington’s thriller A Dying Breed. 

Written by a former journalist about a foreign correspondent and a radio producer involved in trying to solve a puzzling murder and cover-up in Kabul during an election campaign, it smacks of gripping authenticity. I know from a friend how challenging it can be to report from the Middle East, especially if you are a woman. We obviously pay the wrong people vast sums at the BBC. 

I love the characterisations, the nuances of relationships, the dialogue. This isn’t a story board which leaps from action clip to action clip. A Dying Breed is more thought-provoking than many a thriller. And the physical description of Afghanistan is superb. It’s an effective setting for a murder mystery cum thriller, with a touch of spy thrown in. If you want to try something a bit different, then this is the one to go for. 

Having said that, I do have some reservations about one aspect of this book, namely its attempt to downplay some negative features of some people in the Middle East. The author glosses over the unequal situation of women in Afghanistan as well as the religious extremism of some. You don’t have to be a feminist to realise that the author has taken the standpoint of political correctness he would have been trained to use as a British journalist and applied it to this work of fiction. He has no compunction of making ‘western’ people good and bad in all their glorious diversity, but he is seriously one-sided when dealing with their Middle Eastern counterparts. Crime readers can see through cultural relativism and are aware that evil lurks in the hearts of some people everywhere.  

Peter Hanington worked for BBC’s Radio Four programme for 14 years, throughout the Iran and Afghanistan conflicts. Still working for the BBC, this is his first novel. Published in hardback by Two Roads, an imprint of John Murray Press, in 2016, £14.99.  Ebook and Audio Book available.