May 26

Where Crows Land – Paul McCracken

This gripping thriller is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and chronicles the dramatic events when a former detective, Joseph Carter, sets out to gain redemption from the consequences of an old case that cost him everything.

Carter is still haunted by the murders of his niece and brother-in-law at the hands of a serial killer he was trying to track down. One year on, the killer has returned and Carter, now a disgraced detective gone private, launches a personal vendetta to catch him this time around.

 

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the blog tour for Where Crows Land.  I recieved a review copy ahead of joining the tour.

 

Joseph Carter has been in the police and was working on a particularly horrific case when his life turned upside-down.  A killer had been snatching victims and setting their bodies alight, their burning remains found around Belfast almost like a taunt to the authorities.

Carter discovered that his niece had been snatched and was almost certain to be the next victim.  A meet was agreed to pay a ransom but rather than follow procedure and notify his colleagues Carter and his brother in law rushed off to try to secure his niece’s release.  It ended badly and Carter was left a bloodied and bruised sole survivor. The killer was never found.

Spinning forward to current days and Carter has had to leave the force after he shouldered full blame for the (potentially) avoidable deaths of his brother in law and niece.  He now works as a private investigator but still makes use of a couple of police contacts where he can.

Carter becomes embroiled in a new case but there appears a connection to the events which led to the death of his niece.  Not prepared to be bested for a second time Carter throws himself fully into this new case and is adamant he will get justice or retribution for past events.

This felt a relentless read, it’s not a long book but the action comes thick and fast.  Paul McCracken keeps Carter spinning from one incident to the next. It felt intense at times, no respite for a driven Investigator who will lose perspective, patience and his self control to get the information he needs from suspects.

The police are aware of Carter’s obsession and determination but there is only so much sympathetic former colleagues can do to keep Carter out of jail as he over-steps the mark I his pursuit of a truth which will give him closure.

Punchy, intense and with a pleasing endgame.

 

Where Crows Land is available in digital format and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08PFWTLV3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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March 18

Vermin – William A Graham

Meet Allan Linton … a detective with a difference.

It’s not exactly L.A. But dead bodies are the same wherever they turn up.

Allan Linton became a private detective by pure chance. He may not follow the rules, but he always gets the job done. Until he’s hired to track down a missing girl.

All he’s got to go on is an old photo and the help – and hindrance – of the city’s biggest drug dealer and his eccentric associate Niddrie.

Linton’s investigation yields no trace of Tina Lamont. He’s ready to throw in the towel – after all, some people want to be missing. But when a dead body turns up in London, it’s clear there’s something sinister going on. And now others are on Tina’s trail …

Tina ran away for a reason – and that reason will stop at nothing to find her.

 

I received a review copy of Vermin through Netgalley.  My thanks to Black & White Publishing.

 

Vermin was published in July 2018 and is set in Dundee, a city which I feel is under-represented in Scottish crime fiction.  Vermin is also a cracking story about a private detective which I really, really enjoyed.  Allan Linton is the lead character and he is nicely depicted by the author as Linton comes across as friendly, decent, honourable and focussed. He has a teenage daughter who stays with her mother, an ex-wife who Linton clearly adored but their marriage wasn’t to be sustained.  The family squabbles and his relationship with his daughter make Linton an engaging character to follow.

He is approached to find a missing girl called Tina Lamont (this may not be her real name) and although Linton is in Dundee his client is not sure if Tina (maybe Tina) is from Dundee.  An old photograph given to Linton to assist in his search shows her in school uniform but the uniform is not one Linton recognises from Dundee or the surrounding area.  He will have his work cut out but he will have the assistance of Niddrie (drug dealer and and amusingly oddball character who brightens up every scene he is in).

The investigation is well paced and narrative switches nicely between the crimes Linton is investigating and Linton’s personal life as he juggles daughter, ex-wife and a potential new love interest. As is often the way with Scottish crime fiction there is plenty of dry and wry humour on show and the reading is still fun when the narrative slows between the action scenes.

When a dead body turns up during the course of the investigation Linton and Niddrie realise there are more interested parties trying to locate Tina – stakes are raised and events take an unexpected turn.

Vermin was a book plucked at random from the TBR and I am now calling it an inspired choice – I really enjoyed this one.

 

Vermin is published by Black and White Publishing and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vermin-Bill-Graham/dp/1785301985/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=vermin+william+graham&qid=1616103026&s=books&sr=1-1

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February 22

Cross Purpose – Claire MacLeary

Cross PurposeWhen Maggie Laird’s disgraced ex-cop husband suddenly dies, her humdrum suburban life is turned upside down. With the bills mounting, she takes on his struggling detective agency, enlisting the help of neighbour Big Wilma. And so an unlikely partnership is born.

But the discovery of a crudely mutilated body soon raises the stakes… and Maggie and Wilma are drawn into an unknown world of Aberdeen’s sink estates, clandestine childminding and dodgy dealers. Cross Purpose is surprising, gritty, sometimes darkly humorous a tale combining police corruption, gangs and murder with a paean to friendship, loyalty and how women of a certain age can beat the odds.

 

My thanks to Sara of Saraband Books for a review copy of Cross Purpose

 

We first meet Maggie Laird when she is at her lowest possible ebb. Family life has been challenging of late as her husband had been forced to leave his job with the police after allegations of corruption. After scrabbling to make a success of a private investigator business we learn that he has died and left Maggie and their children with a pile of debt and no means to support themselves.

When you are not even left with a good name Maggie is determined to seek justice for her late husband – she knows the corruption charges are not to be believed. However, we realise that Maggie suffers from a lack of self confidence and it is going to take a monumental effort to convince herself that she is capable of gathering the evidence she needs to clear her husband’s name. Step forward Wilma…Maggie’s neighbour and she has more than enough confidence for both of them. The two women are like chalk and cheese but can they combine their talents to overcome the challenges which will face them?

In Cross Purpose Maggie and Wilma will visit some of Aberdeen’s least desirable areas and cross paths with a variety of unpleasant characters. There were some unexpectedly dark topics cropping up in Cross Purpose and it made for uncomfortable reading at times (but those are the stories I enjoy…the edgy and thought provoking ones).

It was refreshing to read a novel where the two principle characters are such contrasting personalities and seemingly finding it difficult to adjust to working together.  Their unlikely partnership made this a rewarding read and seeing Wilma’s confidence grow and her self-assurance return was pleasing. But success comes at a price and over-confidence can be dangerous so those plot twists caused me some angst.

With lashings of authentic Aberdeen and a fast paced plot keeping the pages turning, Cross Purpose was a blast to read and is highly recommended.

 

 

Cross Purpose is published by Saraband Books and will be released on 23 February. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cross-Purpose-Claire-MacLeary/dp/1910192643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487715826&sr=8-1&keywords=cross+purpose

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May 1

The Bursar’s Wife – E. G. Rodford

The Bursar's WifeMeet George Kocharyan, Cambridge Confidential Services one and only private investigator.

Amidst the usual jobs following unfaithful spouses, he is approached by the glamorous Sylvia Booker. The wife of the bursar of Morley College, Booker is worried that her daughter Lucy has fallen in with the wrong crowd. Aided by his assistant Sandra and her teenage son, George soon realises that Lucy is sneaking off to the apartment of an older man, but perhaps not for the reasons one might suspect.

Then an unfaithful wife he had been following is found dead. As his investigation continues, enlivened by a mild stabbing and the unwanted intervention and attention of Detective Inspector Vicky Stubbing, George begins to wonder if all the threads are connected…

 

Thanks to Lydia at Titan Books for my review copy

Meet George Kocharyan, a Cambridge private investigator who is about to take on a case which may just change his life (assuming he manages to avoid being bumped off by a stooge with a pocket knife).

George’s wife has left him for another woman. He is ‘dealing with things’ and making Bambi eyes at the nutritionist that works in his building, but business is slow.  As the story opens we find George breaking the news to his client that the client’s wife is spending time with strange men in parked cars – George has the photo’s to prove it (even if you cannot always see  her face). As one unhappy client leaves his office a new one enters in the form of the lovely Sylvia Booker.  Mrs Booker is the wife of one of the Bursar’s at a Cambridge college. Her husband’s position means she moves in powerful social circles so cannot afford a whiff of a scandal. She wants to engage George’s services to keep an eye on her daughter who seems to be falling in with the wrong crowd. George can hardly say ‘no’ to the bewitching Mrs Booker, especially when there is a bulky cash-filled envelope pushed across his desk to cover his costs.

What seems to be a relatively simple task soon starts to snowball in complexity.  Mrs Booker has not been entirely forthright with George and has kept back a lot of information that could have made his task much easier. Her daughter (Lucy) is also keeping secrets but for the life of him George cannot quite work out what she is doing hanging around the home of a man that is old enough to be her father.

As if these secretive Booker women were not proving George with enough of a headache the local police are very keen to have him ‘help them with their enquiries’. The lady from the parked cars has been spotted in another car, however this time she is on her own and very, very dead.  DI Stubbing does not seem to like George and seems to believe that a man who spends his time taking pictures of people coupling in cars should certainly have no problem spending time assisting the police with their investigations.

The Bursar’s Wife was great fun to read. There is a really good crime story to enjoy but the tone is light and the lead character really engaging – if you have read Lawrence Block’s fantastic ‘Burglar’ series then you may have an idea as to how well this balance can work.

I am going to be singing the praises of The Bursar’s Wife for quite some time, it ticked all the right boxes for me and I was delighted to find that George Kocharyan will be returning next year. Although my bookshelves are filled with dark, intense and gritty reads The Bursar’s Wife was a very welcome addition…I love when an author feels that they can have fun with a story and E.G. Rodford nails this perfectly. You have to read this one – it would be a crime to miss it!

 

The Bursar’s Wife is published by Titan Books and is available in paperback and digital formats. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bursars-Wife-George-Kocharyan-Mystery/dp/1785650033/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462054044&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bursar%27s+wife

 

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