Deadly Animals

“‘The Moors murderers killed girls and boys,’ she said, then stopped. She could mention Peter Kurten, a German who had murdered everything from the age of nine, but self-preservation silenced her in time. If she bit down on her lip any harder it would bleed, and this was not the time to enjoy it.”

This allusion to a real, historical event enhances the novel’s English setting. The Moors murders occurred in Manchester, just north of the West Midlands town of Rubery, where the novel takes place. This early moment of characterization demonstrates Ava’s deep knowledge of unusual crimes, which becomes an asset for ultimately solving the case. In this quote, Ava displays the self-restraint she has developed to avoid the often violent reproaches she receives from her mother for speaking out of line, illustrating The Psychological Impact of Conformity.

“‘Please don’t be a cliche and bring Myra Hindley or Mary Bell into it, Detective Constable. The exception to the rule is not the rule, now, is it?’

Lines blushed, as if he’d been scolded by his mother.”

Ava calls in a new theory using her Miss Misty/Mrs. Poshy-Snob voice. By imitating an adult, Ava gains the confidence to share her knowledge in full, even adopting a sarcastic tone to mock the detective. The motif of imitation appears throughout the narrative when child characters want to adopt traits that they don’t naturally possess.

“In this atrocious place she had discovered another custodian. But, unlike her, their calling was taking—a thief who stole not only respect from the dead but also life from the living. With this monster there was desecration instead of reverence. His hate poisoned the spikes of wire and thorns.”

At Banlock Farm, Ava discovers the killer’s secret den, which is full of animal bones arranged in a macabre ornamental garden. Ava draws connections between herself and the killer, both of whom have an interest in death. Unlike her, however, the killer causes death for his own amusement. Ava and the killer—Nathaniel Marlowe—act as foils within the text, with Nathaniel being the malevolent mirror of Ava.

“‘We are our bones,’ said Ava.

Delahaye paused, struck by the profundity of her simple statement.”

Ava explains to Detective Delahaye that she’s interested in studying anatomy because a living being’s life story can be read in their bones. Delahaye adopts this adage and repeats it throughout the text when confronted with the truth of the statement in skeletal evidence. Bones serve as a motif within the narrative representing both life and death—lives lived, and lives taken.

“‘Good pups become bad dogs if you’re cruel to them, Detective. I should know. Punish ‘em too much, and they run rogue, they do. Shame. He was a good ‘un, once.’

‘Who was a good one?’ asked Delahaye, but the old man wouldn’t answer.”

In Delahaye’s first meeting with Neville Coleman in the hospital, the old man speaks cryptically about a “pup” who has changed from its earlier goodness. Coleman is secretly using an analogy to describe his grandson Nathaniel, lamenting how the boy changed from a happy child to a murderous beast because of the punishments inflicted on him in his childhood. This quotation informs the debate within the novel about Free Will and Moral Responsibility in Violent Crime, as Coleman views Nathaniel’s violent actions as a product of his upbringing rather than a conscious choice.

“‘But, Ava, this is vital evidence, and you took it from a crime scene,’ said John, his face worried.

‘It’s not vital. I’m going to find those graves. I know they’re on that land. The police have the murder weapon and they have the place Mickey was killed, thanks to me. The picture isn’t important in light of those things.’

Not yet anyway, she thought.”

John is a sidekick figure in the text who tries to act as the voice of reason to Ava’s escalating obsessive behaviors. John worries that Ava is interfering in the official police investigation by stealing a Polaroid picture from the Banlock Farm crime scene. Developing the theme of The Fine Line Between Fascination and Obsession, Ava thinks her curiosity about the pictures is harmless, but she secretly hopes it will lead to more information about the crimes.

“We’re not mind readers, we can’t solve crimes with clues we don’t have. And we can’t pull happy endings out of our arses. Seth, Ava Bonney was a gift and she found the murder site, but you found her. You’ve made headway with the local teenagers too—eyes and ears in the community are just what we need right now. Doubt helps nobody.”

Delahaye’s superior officer, Detective Inspector Perrin, tries to console the downcast Delahaye, who thinks the investigation isn’t going anywhere. Perrin explains that policework is often a game of luck until the right clue is found or the right witness comes forward. This quotation implies Delahaye’s frustrations with the restrictions of traditional investigative methods.

“Something was about to happen—something she had to be strong for. Something that John couldn’t be a part of, except as a bystander. Her suspicions might be wrong; it could be a dead duck or vole, or anything other than what she felt it was.”

Ava follows the scent of decay to a tunnel where she realizes she might be smelling the corpse of Bryan, the most recent missing child. This quotation demonstrates Ava’s instinct to protect others from traumatic experiences because she is immune to the shock of death. Ava wants John to stay normal, so she offers to look at the scene by herself, no matter how horrible it may be.

“‘Well, I thought it was a dog at first. It looked…raggedy…like its skin didn’t fit anymore. And then, when we shouted at it…’ Maureen shuddered, her eyes round. Goose pimples popped along Delahaye’s flesh. ‘Well, it grew.’ She pointed to the sky. ‘Upward.’”

Maureen recounts seeing a strange figure in the woods near the hospital. Like an earlier report by a pair of teens, Maureen saw what she thought was a dog, but the animal stood up like a human. These fantastical occurrences enhance the atmosphere of danger in the text, as the community not only has a killer on the loose, but a mysterious beast prowling its woods—who ultimately turns out to be one and the same.

“Shawn thought that was fair enough, but if the boys could get to the Old Nonce first, all’s the better—the police couldn’t charge them the same way they would a grown-up. Alan in prison was the very last thing Kelly and Tom needed.”

Shawn, one of Ava’s classmates, joins a mob of children as they march on Bob Aster’s house to vandalize it. The “Old Nonce”—Bob Aster—is the case’s main suspect because he is a known sex offender, but police don’t have any concrete evidence to arrest the man. This quotation illustrates the community’s feelings of anger, fear, and frustration in the wake of the murders, and it exemplifies the children’s attempt to overcome that fear.

“‘If he thinks he’s a werewolf, wouldn’t he be acting viciously?’

Ava’s eyes narrowed. ‘Only during the killing.’

‘But how does he do it?’ Monsters should look like monsters, John thought, otherwise it was unfair.”

Ava shares her theory with John that the killer suffers from clinical lycanthropy, which makes him think he transforms into a wolf when he kills. John expresses a common belief that such vicious killers should be readily identifiable and that their internal corruption should manifest in how they look and act. This belief characterizes John as childlike and naïve in comparison to Ava. She knows that most killers get away with their crimes for so long because they are skilled at blending in. She shares this response to The Psychological Impact of Conformity, and this commonality helps her understand criminal psychology.

“But this Somebody was to be kept a secret, even from his mom and dad, because Somebody said they wouldn’t understand but also because he gave Gary cool sweets.”

Gary Clarke, the third victim of the Wolf, walks deep into the woods, where a mysterious “Somebody” told him there was a good hiding spot for hide-and-seek. This quotation explains how the killer builds trust with his victims by tempting them with sweets before abducting them. This quotation emphasizes Gary’s youth and childishness, which makes Nathaniel’s manipulation and crimes all the more evil.

“‘The daft lad was trespassing though,’ said Mr. Coleman. ‘He shouldn’t have been trespassing on my land.’

‘His murderer was trespassing too though,’ said Ava, her voice gentle, but she found his response odd, even wrong, as if he was blaming Mickey for being murdered on his land.”

Ava visits Neville Coleman on a hunch that the man may be connected to the murders through his farm. Coleman’s response surprises Ava because of its coldness and lack of care for the boy who had been murdered. This interaction only makes Ava more suspicious of Coleman, foreshadowing the eventual revelation of the man’s indirect responsibility for his grandson’s crimes.

“She supposed it was similar to how she felt around certain people who managed to slip through the chinks in her armor as if she never had any, people she felt safe with. It was strange, but symbiotic alliances came in all shapes and sizes—like plover birds cleaning the mouths of crocodiles.”

Nathaniel brings Ava to his Sky Den, which he hasn’t shown anyone else because he doesn’t feel as comfortable with them as he does with Ava. Ava and Nathaniel’s relationship grows throughout the text based on their shared differences from the community around them. Nathaniel believes that Ava is like him—someone who has to hide their true self to fit in—which is why he gravitates toward her.

“Copper, Copper

Have you stopped the cull?

‘No sir, no ma’am,

Three graves full—One in a garden, One in the rain

And one in a tatty den Up Cock Hill Lane.’

Harry Ca Nab!”

Sporadically throughout the story, graffiti messages appear from an elusive “Harry Ca Nab” figure. This allusion to local folklore enhances the novel’s setting while commenting on current events. Here, the messages begin to grow hostile toward the police for not stopping the killer after three victims. The graffitist turns out to be a local kid, Adam Booth, who writes the messages as a way to express his frustrations under the moniker of a powerful huntsman.

“And for human evil, too many excuses mean we turn a blind eye to the warnings that alerts us of its presence, and its oncoming. Mad, bad, or deluded, nature or nurture, human evil has nothing to do with Satan or sinning. It’s to do with choosing to do the wrong thing because we want to.”

Dr. William Tremblay, a local expert on unique psychologies, explains various experiences and conditions that could lead someone to become violent. This deterministic view appears to argue against free will and moral responsibility in violent crime. However, in this quotation, he also asserts that regardless of experience, evil is a choice. He uses rhyme and alliteration to list psychological and religious explanations for evil before ultimately dismissing all these explanations as irrelevant in comparison to individual choice.

“Ava was aware that she was just a teenager and she should be doing normal teenage stuff, but she was heavily invested in the case, she was nosey, and she honestly saw no harm in finding out more. Unless the Wolf had died or retired from hunting, he would kill again soon. If there was anything she could do to help the police in preventing it, then she would try.”

This quote further develops Ava’s interest in helping the police solve the case. Her insights have been useful thus far, so she believes she should use her rapport with Neville Coleman to find out as much as she can. Ava’s willingness to put herself at risk suggests that her interest in the case has crossed the fine line between fascination and obsession.

“Ava took a shuddering breath. ‘I can’t tell you. I want you to think well of me.’

DC Lines and DS Delahaye exchanged a perplexed glance. ‘Ava, we already think well of you,’ said DS Delahaye. ‘That can’t change.’

‘It might,’ said Ava. ‘I’m not normal.’

‘Normal’s useless,’ said DS Delahaye. ‘If you were normal, we’d still be looking for Mickey Grant.’”

Ava is reluctant to reveal how she found Mickey’s body because she is ashamed of her roadkill body farm. Developing the theme of the psychological impact of conformity, Ava’s shame for her unconventional interest makes her worry that men who obviously respect her will turn on her. Delahaye’s reassurance allows Ava to reclaim her identity. Rather than longing to be “normal,” Ava begins to realize that her unusual character traits allow her to help in ways that no one else can.

“There was a conviction that played on a loop in her head like a pop song: Nathaniel is good. He looks out for me. It’s not Nathaniel. It can’t be.

Absolutely everything made him the principal suspect. Who else could make a den on Banlock Farm other than the heir to its tragedy?”

Ava realizes that Nathaniel must be the killer after discovering his connection to Neville Coleman. Ava tries to convince herself that her new friend isn’t the killer, but the evidence is too overwhelming to ignore. The simile—“like a pop song”—conveys the intensity of Ava’s reluctance to believe that her friend could be a killer. Gradually, Ava realizes that her sympathy and friendship with Nathaniel prevented her from seeing his true, violent nature.

“He’d always been the voice of caution, and she’d always been the one taking risks. It was time he stepped up and took action rather than act like a health and safety officer. He was the bloke and it was time to act like one, and he found he didn’t mind at all.”

This quotation describes John’s character development, as he finally takes action in the investigation himself instead of letting Ava put herself in danger again. Though Ava continually challenges traditional gender expectations, John’s belief that “he was the bloke and it was time to act like one” reinforces those expectations. John offers to look for an underground lair at Nathaniel’s house because he thinks he’ll stand a better chance against the boy if he gets caught. John wants to be Ava’s protector, and in this moment, he asserts that desire.

“As the boys tried to comprehend what they’d seen and argued about what to do next, she rummaged in the old coat’s pockets to find Nathaniel’s mittens that she’d repaired then forgotten to return, and an old blue pencil, blunt at both ends. She took the silver sharpener she’d begun to carry with her for this very purpose and tapered the old pencil’s tips into lethal points.”

While her friends are distracted, Ava secretly prepares for her confrontation with Nathaniel at the Sky Den. Ava’s double-ended blue pencils are a central symbol in the text that represents her astute observational abilities. Here, they are dull because she let her guard down around Nathaniel, which prevented her from suspecting him; she sharpens the pencil to symbolically re-sharpen her mind so she will be alert to his behavior.

“He wasn’t well, and when he stood back to look at her, she saw, with a sadness she barely understood, that all the good in Nathaniel was truly gone. His black eyes glowered beneath the ledge of bone, the distinction of his heterochromia iridium lost in blown pupils rife with agony, lunacy…and glee.”

At the Sky Den, Ava sees that Nathaniel has completely given in to his Wolf persona and doesn’t believe he is human anymore. Ava has to communicate with Nathaniel using dog sounds because he won’t speak, and the boy hides underneath his homemade wolf suit, complete with skull bone mask. This moment leads into the narrative’s climax, where John, Paul, Ava, and Delahaye fight Nathaniel on the roof.

“Delahaye was sure that night would catch up with her, and that she would feel it all, and relive it in bad dreams and waking nightmares, but not yet. Past trauma was like a predator in that it waited for you when you were at your most vulnerable or your most happy, then it pounced.”

Weeks following Nathaniel’s death and the close of the case, Delahaye visits Ava at her new house, where the girl appears to be unfazed by the events she experienced. Delahaye wonders when—or if—Ava will feel the full terror of the events she was part of, and how long she will be able to compartmentalize what she saw. Ava doesn’t indicate that the events had a lasting impact on her, but the text suggests in the future the trauma may manifest.