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Old Bones Lie – Marion Todd

DI Clare Mackay is about to face a test of her loyalty…

When a report comes in that a van containing two prison officers and a convicted jewel thief is missing, the police in St Andrews work quickly to locate the vehicle. Their efforts prove in vain when no trace is found and they realise the wives of both officers also appear to have left the area. Is this a case of corrupt guards springing a felon, or innocent people caught in the crossfire?

DI Clare Mackay leads the team but has to do without her right hand man; DS Chris West is a cousin to one of the missing prison officers and must not be involved in the case. With a new sergeant at her side plus a previously unencountered DCI, Clare’s people skills are pushed to the limit. Especially once she realises her boss is keeping her on the sidelines. Just what is it that Clare doesn’t know? And if she has to choose between keeping secrets from a friend, or letting slip something that could see a culprit go free, which path will she take?

My thanks to Canelo who kindly provided a review copy of Old Bones Lie

When I collated my Best Books of 2020 list back in December 2020 I singled out Marion Todd’s See Them Run as the best debut I had read that year. See Them Run was the first DI Clare Mackay book, spin forward to Summer 2022 and I am reviewing Old Bones Lie which is the sixth Clare Mackay book. It’s a series which I absolutely love to read, I look forward to each new release and it is very pleasing to see so many crime readers are also discovering these books and enjoying them as much as I have been.

With an intro like that it should come as no surprise to learn I thoroughly enjoyed Old Bones Lie. It starts with a chilling scene: two couples enjoying an evening in have just ordered takeaway food – a knock at the door turns their world upside down. Next morning Police Scotland are scrambling after reports of a convicted armed robber has been sprung from custody. Two prison guards are unaccounted for, their wives are also missing and not answering their telephones.

Clare Mackay is co-ordinating events but she will lose her right hand man as her DS (Chris) is related to one of the two missing prison guards. He wants to play an active part in the investigation but Clare knows he cannot be involved. It creates a friction within her team and one which needs addressed quickly – Chris will be tasked with investigating a series of thefts of agricultural vehicles and a new DS will be brought in to work with Clare. The fractious issues within Clare’s team will intensify when a new boss is dropped into supervise Clare and the hunt for the missing prisoner. Her new boss is happy to give Clare some leeway to investigate but frustratingly he is taking ownership of some tasks and not sharing his findings or explaning his reasoning and Clare feels hamstrung.

These personnel issues add a fascinating extra layer of frustration into the investigations. Four missing people, an escaped jewel thief and before too long a dead body – someone who was connected to the robbery which led to the imprisonment of the escaped convict. It is a high profile case and events are unfolding quickly. All these elements are great for keeping the intensity of the story running through the chapters and it makes the reader keep those pages turning.

Marion Todd writes in a very readable style and over the course of the six books has developed a great team of characters which returning readers will enjoy meeting again. Old Bones Lie had all the clever plotting and nice reveals which I have come to expect from this series and it’s always a genuine moment of sadness when I reach the end of the book and I know I have a wait until the next is released. But just as I finished reading the news came out that were were three more books to follow so I can content myself with the knowledge I will be returning to Clare’s corner of St Andrews in future.

I recommend lots of authors to different readers when I write blog posts but it is less frequent for me to be recommending a whole series as part of a review. I have no hesitation in recommending all crime fiction fans to seek out the Clare Mackay books. Each can be read as a stand alone mystery but as the titles follow the development of Clare’s team and the changes to her personal life you may wish to seek them out in publication order – as mentioned above, See Them Run is where it all begins.

A firm favourite! Grab a pack of your favourite biscuits and immerse yourself in these wonderful stories – the latest adventure for DI Clare Mackay is another triumph.

Old Bones Lie is published by Canelo and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format: https://www.waterstones.com/book/old-bones-lie/marion-todd/9781800327306

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February 15

City of Drowned Souls – Chris Lloyd

When a child disappears, the clock starts ticking

Detective Elisenda Domènech has had a tough few years. The loss of her daughter and a team member; the constant battles against colleagues and judges; the harrowing murder investigations… But it’s about to get much worse.

When the son of a controversial local politician goes missing at election time, Elisenda is put on the case. They simply must solve it. Only the team also have to deal with a spate of horrifically violent break-ins. People are being brutalised in their own homes and the public demands answers.

Could there be a connection? Why is nobody giving a straight answer? And where is Elisenda’s key informant, apparently vanished off the face of the earth? With the body count threatening to increase and her place in the force on the line, the waters are rising…

Be careful not to drown.

My thanks to Faye Rogers for my review copy and the opportunity to join the blog tour

My first introduction to the Elisenda Domènech books by Chris Lloyd and I am in a pretty happy place. I have a new series of books I can look forward to reading and (very importantly) beginning the series with this, the 3rd book, has not been a confusing or spoiler-filled affair.

There was loads going on in City of Drowned Souls so it was a richly rewarding read. Elisenda is investigating a series of violent burglaries when a tip-off which could have broken the case falls through. Tempers flare and to keep her position Elisenda has to attend therapist sessions – her colleagues fearing she is not contending well with the death of her daughter some years earlier.

Elsewhere the child of a local politician disappears. The family reaction is not typical but with an election just days away and the child’s mother in the depths of a fiercely fought campaign it is difficult for the police to get a meaningful take on what may have led to the young boy’s disappearance.

City of Drowned Souls is full of marvellous detail about Catalan politics, the locations are expertly described giving a real sense of location. Food habits, recipe ideas and dozens of subtle observations made it so very obvious that Chris Lloyd knows this part of the world very well – the detail makes the story so much more vivid and real.

Nicely paced, full of puzzles (with plenty of red herrings) and a few sinister elements which were great fun to see uncovered. City of Drowned Souls comes highly recommended and I look forward to catching up with the other novels in the series.

City of Drowned Souls is published by Canelo and is available now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N7Y2NDN

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November 27

Zero – Matt Brolly

No crime will go unpunished

A zero tolerance policy results in the death penalty for all crimes, no matter how minor.

When a judge is kidnapped, and a ransom note demands the release of all prisoners awaiting execution, kleptomaniac Detective Inspector Kate Swanson is put on the case.

But soon her boss also disappears. Under increasing pressure from her superiors, and caught between the security services and the growing social unrest, Swanson must race to find a man whose murdered wife and daughter link the missing men.

Can she find him before it’s too late?

My thanks to Darran at Edpr for the chance to join the Zero Blog Tour

The Zero in the title is for the zero tolerance policy towards crime in this dystopian thriller from Matt Brolly. Society has moved to a stage where all crimes are punishable by death, those convicted of committing a crime are held in prison until they can be “podded”. Those sentenced to death are placed into a pod which then slowly travels through the land for a month so that everyone is able to see the fate that awaits law breakers. They are given no food, water is withdrawn after 5 days and the only way out is death. Prisoners will die of dehydration, unless they elect to take their own life by the push of a button which will fill their pod with toxic gas. If this option is selected then the pod fills with red gas (so those outside can see the prisoner elected to end their own life). The pods continue to journey with the body inside until the month is over…it is a bleak concept!

As the pods are such a controversial punishment there are opposition groups who are campaigning to have the pods removed. The judges will send most offenders to the pods, the police will place criminals in front of judges and this means many people will fear and distrust the judicial process.

At the opening of Zero a judge is kidnapped and the police are called in to investigate. We meet Detective Kate Swanson for the first time and soon come to realise how much of a role the politics of this society will play in police-work. There is a fine balance of investigating and keeping within the political constraints that are placed upon her for Swanson – to get things done she is going to have to reach beyond her authority and tread on a few toes.

Readers get to see who has kidnapped the judge and we learn that there is more than one target. A bombing at a podding site will cause confusion for Swanson…are the events linked or is the bomb detonation just coincidence?

There is loads going on in Zero and it was not until I reached the end that I was able to fully to fully appreciate what a good job that Matt Brolly had done in balancing the different plot strands in the story. I noticed that this was the first book in what appears to be a new series – while reading I did feel that some plot lines were being set up for future development (pleasing).

Swanson is an interesting lead character and I would love to read more about her. The society depicted in Zero is bleak and it will be interesting to see if (in future books) a political edge to the stories remains and the podding process is challenged or refined.

Zero is an intelligent and thought provoking thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The “no spoilers” rule is fully applied here but the kidnapper’s motivation and how he executes his plan (including a nasty end-game) is really well depicted – I must admit that in a book of unsettling ideas the end-game was particularly grim.

Really, really enjoyed this (though the podding idea is so very bleak).

Zero was published on 21^st November by Canelo price £3.99 as an ebook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-Detective-Kate-Swanson-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01KTUS7KA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480246178&sr=1-1&keywords=zero+matt+brolly

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October 10

Cut-Throat Defence – Olly Jarvis

There is no man richer than a man without a price

Jack Kowalski is a young and newly qualified barrister, who finds himself working on the biggest drugs importation trial ever played out on English soil. With the assistance of his equally inexperienced instructing solicitor, Lara Panassai, Jack argues a savage ‘cut-throat’ defence – a risky tactic where the defendants blame each other – and quickly embroils some of the most eminent QCs in the land.

As the son of Polish immigrants, the sensitive Kowalski has always found it hard to fit in, with a sense of inferiority and constant nervousness in Court. Now he must face his demons and fight not only for his clients, but for his very future at the Bar.

But when the defendant then unexpectedly absconds, Jack and Lara must fight on regardless, following a tip that leads them out of the courtroom and into Manchester’s seedy underworld – crime bosses, strip clubs, corrupt lawyers and all manner of hidden sins.

As the case grows darker with each new discovery, who in this viper pit of deception can Jack and Lara trust?

My thanks to Heloise at EDPR for my review copy

There was a time (back when I was a student) when I only wanted to read legal thrillers and courtroom dramas, I could not get enough of them. But then I exhausted the titles published by the “big name” authors and my local village library didn’t have a vast selection to choose from. It is only now that I have started Grab This Book that I realise I have not read very many courtroom dramas over the last couple of decades – shockingly few considering how much I used to enjoy them.

Cut-Throat Defence has made me want to read more courtroom thrillers, re-sparking my fascination with the clever interplay between the lawyers and the judges. I was particularly delighted to learn that Cut-Throat Defence is not just a sinister sounding name but an actual legal situation and one which Olly Jarvis has positioned brilliantly.

Central to my enjoyment of any book is the need to like the principle character and I more than liked Jack Kowalski. His Polish roots are mocked by his peers, he finds himself put down by the pompous establishment figures Couple this with his crippling lack of self confidence and it made him an immediately endearing character that I was willing to succeed (I do love rooting for the underdog).

Without giving away too much detail of the story, Jack finds himself at last chance saloon – a promising career is under threat as he cannot contain his nerves when he gets into court. As it looks like his last chance to save his career is slipping by he accidentally lands a new client, one who is caught up in one of the biggest drugs busts in the NW. However, Jack’s client has a story so remarkable and unlikely that it is going to be virtually impossible to prove in a court of law.

Fighting against the clock, and impossible odds, Jack’s story in Cut-Throat Defence was a really fun read – I found I read longer and later than I should have done in the evenings as I didn’t want to stop reading. If you are a fan of legal thrillers then I strongly recommend adding Cut-Throat Defence to your library.

Cut-Throat Defence is published by Canelo and is available in digital download here.

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