July 18

Dead Man Driving – Lesley Kelly

 

I received a review copy from the publishers prior to taking part in the blog tour.

 

The pandemic crime series which began before the readers found themselves living through a real-life pandemic. It was a fascinating idea before 202o and with the benefit of hindsight it is quite remarkable which elements of this “fiction” came to pass. Lesley Kelly’s post-pandemic Edinburgh is a fascinating city where lives have been devastated, people are trying to retain some semblance of normal and the political situation is at the “eggshell deplomacy” where the pandemic and the fallout is casting a huge shadow over everything.

This is the fifth book in the Health of Strangers series, we follow the Health Enforcement Team (a decidedly rag-tag bunch) who are tasked with ensuring the residents of their area of the city turn up for the compulsory regular health assessment checks. Their roles aren’t popular and people are don’t take kindly to a visit from the HET so, as you can imagine, their job satisfaction levels are not high.

As we rejoin events in this new book things in Edinburgh are not going well, food is in short supply and people are taking to the streets in protest. As the police are already stretched the politicians step in and decide it would be a good idea if the HET teams also step up and help maintain the peace. For one of their number it’s a step too far as she is already threatening court action against her employers as she’s being made to undertake tasks which don’t fall into her job description. However, a new Team Leader has been appointed to oversee the HET and she’s a career administrator with no practical experience of life on the frontline – the rules are the rules and there should be no reasons why the rules should not be followed.

Unfortunately the rules are not written to cope with the discovery of a terrorist cell operating within the city.  A van full of luxury food goes astray en-route to a grand function due to be hosted by a prominent MSP. When the van is discovered so too is a a dead body and that discovery will lead to the revelation of terrorists in the city. For Mona and her colleagues at the HET team their days are about to be filled with international terrorists (though has Mona already met one of their suspects?). They are also dealing with the fallout of their latest investigation which had revealed a rogue operator within their team and in the aftermath of that discovery there are lots of red herrings floating around and police investigations are hampered by the false leads which were left for them to find, old loyalties within the team and an overwhelming level of suspicion between colleagues.

What makes these books sing for me is the humour which Lesley Kelly injects to proceedings. Dark humour and dry sarcasm is very much a feature of Scottish day to day life and the dialogue in Dead Man Driving perfectly captures the tone you’d expect from harassed and long suffering public servants faced with unwelcome challenges on a daily basis.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I am loving the evolution of this series and these characters. Where Mick Herron makes incompetent spooks an unmissable read, this is Lesley Kelly making the misfits in government healthcare equally essential reading. They are hopeless, frustrating and occasionally blessed with a flash of inspiration and they are wonderful to follow.

If you’re looking for a new Scottish Crime Fiction series to follow then you should look no further than the Health of Strangers books. A firm favourite.

 

Dead Man Driving is published by Sandstone Press and releases on 20 July 2023 in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C5GF8BGW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

 

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July 21

Murder at the Music Factory – Lesley Kelly

 

The body of Paul Shore toppled onto him, a stream of blood pooling around them on the concrete. Bernard lay back and waited to see if he too was going to die.

An undercover agent gone rogue is threatening to shoot a civil servant a day. As panic reigns, the Health Enforcement Team race against time to track him down – before someone turns the gun on them.

 

My thanks to Sandstone Press for my review copy.

 

A pandemic has caused a huge loss of life. The Health Enforcement Team (HET) was established in the aftermath of the virus to ensure people continued to be checked for possible infection – it is a thankless job and the HET does not attract elite applicants. However, the HET are our principle characters in Lesley Kelly’s Health of Strangers series; crime stories all set in post viral outbreak Edinburgh. Murder at the Music Factory is the 4th book in the series – it can be read as a stand alone thriller.

When I encountered the HET in the first Health of Strangers book it was June 2017 the idea of a pandemic sweeping through the world and changing life as we know it just seemed a clever piece of fictional world creation by Lesley Kelly. Then 2020 happened and…well, you know how that has turned out.

In Murder at the Music Factory the virus is under control and life has returned to a new normal.  This means I may need to stop referring to the series as dystopian, perhaps idyllic would be more appropriate?  For the Health Enforcement Team there is a more pressing issue confronting them – someone has shot a civil servant and poor Bernard, HET’s perpetual unlucky sod, was on the scene as it happened.  It transpires nobody in the HET or any civil servant is safe as the shooter has threatened to target one of their number each day.  A manhunt ensues but what could be behind these attacks?

As more incidents occur a pattern is established, the victims are not being selected randomly and the common link ties back to the Scottish Government and one high profile MSP. Is the shooter trying to ensure something remains a secret?  Is there any link between the shootings and the disappearance of a legendary musician?  The alternative pop-star is an obscure figure on the music scene but it appears he may also have held some obsure and unwelcome opinions which border on the fantatical. If the shooter and the musician are not connected then Mona, Bernard and the HET team have twice as many problems to contend with.

I hold my hand up to confessing my love for this series.  I have enjoyed all the previous Health of Strangers books and Murder at the Music Factory was no exception. The new title is one of the few I actively watch out for each year.  The characters are developing with each new instalment and I long to read more about them. Each book is engaging, funny, thought provoking and there is now a suspicion of a political conspiracy theory to keep me hooked.  Honestly, if you are not reading these books you are missing a treat.  More please.

 

 

Murder at the Music Factory is published by Sandstone Press and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YF6PYF4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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April 30

King of the Crows – Russell Day

“Ocean’s Eleven meets 28 Days Later.”

2028, eight years after a pandemic swept across Europe, the virus has been defeated and normal life has resumed.

Memories of The Lockdown have already become clouded by myths, rumour and conspiracy.

Books have been written, movies have been released and the names Robertson, Miller & Maccallan have slipped into legend.

Together they hauled The Crows, a ragged group of virus survivors, across the ruins of London. Kept them alive, kept them safe, kept them moving.

But not all myths are true and not all heroes are heroes.

Questions are starting to be asked about what really happened during those days when society crumbled and the capital city became a killing ground.

Finally the truth will be revealed.

 

I received a review copy from the publisher.

 

By the time you read this King of the Crows should be available to buy. Go get it. Right now.  Is shall wait for you to come back before I continue.  There is a handy purchase link at the foot of this review – got you covered.

Okay – have you bought your copy? Brilliant decision. The King of the Crows is likely to be the most memorable book I shall ever review here on Grab This Book. Well it’s a book about a global pandemic which I read during a global pandemic.  If that’s not memorable then I am scared to know what could top it.

So you may be thinking that a book about a pandemic isn’t the story for you at the moment. That’s your choice obviously but if you are happy to accept that this is a work of fiction and isn’t meant to ever happen then sit down, strap in and get ready for an unforgettable ride.

A virus has spread across much of Europe. It started with cats (totally vindicating my abhorrence for the feline species) and it spread to humans. The author spends time showing how the early stages of infection were noticed by some of the key players in the story and it is soon very obvious that this virus is unforgiving and deadly. Those infected will keep functioning while their minds are destroyed – the virus keeps the body moving even when when it is badly deteriorated.  The image I had throughout was of the zombies from the Resident Evil videogames.

In London there is a major tipping point in the attempts to combat the spread of infection. Troops open fire on a busy city bridge with the intent of stopping the infected crossing the Thames. Innocent and uninfected civilians die and those cutoff from ‘safety’ are forced to do whatever it takes to survive. With safety in numbers being key the story will track one group at a critical period in their travels around London.

The group in question have gained fame. After the viral outbreak society does return to a form of normal and a blockbuster movie was made (based upon the book written by one of the survivors).  His name was Robertson and he became known as King of the Crows.  I am not telling you why as that revelation is one of the many great elements of the book.

Robertson is one of the key characters the book will follow. Through London’s streets at the height of the crisis and in the future element of the story when the film has made him a celebrity but he is sitting in a police station being interviewed by two cops. They feel Robertson is a criminal but exactly what he has done is not immediately made clear. The interview scenes help link the action elements when the pandemic was at peak.

In addition to London we spend time in France. They had a worse infection than the UK and this element of the book tracks an American banker who gets stuck in a Parisian guest house as the city enters lockdown. Her flight to safety is very much a solo affair and has a different feel to the team efforts in London.

Also keeping the story flowing are urban dictionary explanations of new pandemic terminology. Chat room extracts where online debates rage about actual events which shaped the movie. These punctuate action sequences and allow us to keep abreast of events as scenes change and time passes.

The book is described as Oceans 11 meets 28 days later. It is not immediately obvious why those two films are singled out – all becomes clear. It’s wonderful to finally understand what has motivated some characters. The endgame blew my mind – did not expect what Russell Day meticulously plotted. So very good.

I remember last year when publishers Fahrenheit Press started to crow (sorry) about a manuscript they had received – Zombies and gangs and banks. They made it sound exciting, daring, like nothing you would get anywhere else but from Fahrenheit. It is all those things. You did buy your copy didn’t you? Good.

 

King of the Crows is published by Fahrenheit Press.  It is available in limited edition hardback, paperback and digital format.  As with all of Fahrenheit’s books, buying a physical copy will net you a free digital copy too.  Order link here: https://fahrenheit-press.myshopify.com/collections/fahrenheit-press/products/king-of-the-crows-russell-day

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