Tag Archives: Detectives

The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

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What would you do if you witnessed an assault over the internet? That’s the dilemma facing Eva when a Skype call to her best friend Naomi turns nasty. In fear for her own life, Eva flees… and DCI Helen Lavery is the woman left picking up the pieces. Uncovering a web of corruption, violence and drugs, her own life is soon on the line. But who can she trust?

Issac’s second novel is an enjoyably tense read with a sympathetic heroine in Helen Lavery, who juggles single parenthood with a career. I liked the domestic detail of Helen’s life and felt that she was portrayed positively, without the fatal flaw that is compulsory for so many fictional detectives – she’s successful in her field, has a relatively normal family life, and her love life is instantly recognisable. Lavery’s understandable need for emotional and sexual distraction is realistically portrayed and the consequences of her choices are gripping; rather than a fatal flaw, she’s a normal woman, facing the same relationship turbulence that we all experience, and that makes her an eminently empathetic character.

The plot also deviates from the standard crime story by showing us the identity of the killer early on; this led me down a few blind alleys in terms of my expectations of what would happen – I was expected the killer to feature far more heavily in the last half of the book – but instead it twists into a different type of crime story, becoming far more focused on the inner circle of Lavery’s world, and it’s stronger for that. I also debated Eva’s actions quite a lot – would I react like that? – but I think that’s where a book group would have a great time arguing for and against!

The Truth Will Out is an enjoyable thriller with a strong female lead. The opening gambit is strong and compelling, and the twists and turns of the plot (some I was ahead of, and some were a shock!) kept me glued to my bench in the April sunshine. I was fortunate to be able to attend the launch of this title, and wish Jane every success with this and future novels.

Legend Press, 2013, ISBN 9781909878556

Poppet by Mo Hayder

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

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Reading Mo Hayder is a singularly visceral experience. I can only describe it as like the bit on a rollercoaster when you’re inching up the track, knowing that any moment you’ll plunge downwards at terrifying speed, leaving your insides miles behind you – the anticipation is terrifying, and the outcome… well. You can work it out. I read Hanging Hill when it first came out and the ending to that story still makes me go ice cold when I think about it – it was a brilliant piece of thriller writing. And Poppet didn’t disappoint – I was hooked from the first graphically nasty opener to the shock ending.

It starts as a horror story – the residents of the secure psychiatric hospital are being tormented by a small, vicious ghost they call the Maude, which is driving them to self-harm in horrendous ways. But psychiatric nurse AJ LeGrande – Average Joe – isn’t convinced that the cause is supernatural. Could it be one of the patients themselves? Calling on Detective Inspector Jack Caffrey for help, AJ is determined to stop the culprit before anyone else gets hurt. But his mission is complicated by his new romance with the unit’s boss, Melanie, whom he fears may be the next target of the Maude….

Meanwhile Jack Caffrey has his own problems, both with murder and with love. You don’t need to have read the previous books in this series to get a sense of this complicated cop and the moral nightmare in which he’s caught; he’s an intriguing character and his story arc is tense and compulsive.

Hayder does not shirk away from nastiness but her descriptions are just short enough of graphic detail to leave you breathless for more, rather than stomach-churningly off-putting. They are tautly plotted with lots of twists and turns that keep you hooked throughout – there are no lulls, no bits to skip, she keeps you right there in the action all the time. I loved AJ’s character and was vicariously living the story through his eyes all the way. And the ending was brilliant – so right, so satisfying, and yet so sad. I loved this book and it’s creepy cover – and yes, that shiver is still firmly in my spine. Rating: ****

Bantam Books, 2013, ISBN 9780857500762

The Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman

09 Sunday Feb 2014

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The last two weeks I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have an unhealthy new obsession. I’ve told everyone that will listen the intricate ins and outs of this series of crime novels and have completely neglected doing any housework at all, gripped by the convoluted plots and bizarre characters created by this man. In short, I’m doing the fan thing.

I posted earlier on the blog about The Magus of Hay and how much I enjoyed it. So I kept my promise and read more in the series, and it’s become an addiction. It’s a most unlikely premise – on the Welsh border near Hereford, single mum and parish priest Merrily Watkins reluctantly takes on the role of Deliverance minister (or exorcist) and finds herself embroiled in the machinations of the local community, both spiritually and criminally. So far she’s encountered a sexually predatory Bishop, a solicitor who won’t let his dead wife go, a group of SAS-wannabes who may have commited murder… Not to mention a varied assortment of witches and Druids who challenge her belief system, and supernatural entities that are giving her serious grief…. So gritty crime meets religion head on, and somehow it works. Brilliantly.

I totally believe in Merrily as a character, and in her circle of friends. Her daughter Jane, who’s a pagan, is feisty and fun to read about – I was gripping the arm of my chair in The Secrets of Pain as she walked into horrendous danger. Lol, Merrily’s would-be boyfriend, is likeable and I really wish they’d sort it out and get together. The relationship between the two detectives Frannie Bliss and Annie Howe adds a whole new level of tension. And is Deliverance instructor Huw friend or foe? He’s not at all ambiguous…

But I love, love, love Gomer Parry. This down-to-earth, practical grandfather-figure who stands for no nonsense and saves the day in his JCB. Frequently. Awesome isn’t the word!

It’s kind of like a grittier Midsomer Murders on speed. There’s so much going on, and I can never predict what’s going to happen next or how it will end. I’m reading them slightly out of sequence, but I can’t get enough. Rickman touches on many themes, creating a complex world which takes social and religious issues and puts them under an intense microscope. His sense of place is brilliant, both in his descriptions and in his characterisation, revealing a real tension between town and country, local or incomer. I particularly like how the religious aspect is handled. You can take the supernatural elements as real or as just part of the characters’ interpretations of events; the dying Denzil Joy may be just a nasty man who leaves unpleasant memories behind, or a sexually deviant ghost, but either way his malignant presence is horrible and unsettling. The scene in the hospital (scritch scratch) will haunt me for a long time. And both sides of the religious debate, Christian and Pagan, are shown as good and evil in equal measure. The stresses of being a female minister in a traditionally man’s world are not glossed over either.

In short, Rickman’s damn good.

There’s a website at www.philrickman.co.uk that gives you the lowdown on the real life inspiration for the series (both people and places). And a mention that the Merrily Watkins series has been optioned by ITV Drama…. Fingers crossed!

Now for the next one…

Midwinter of the Spirit, Corvus, ISBN 978-0857890108

A Crown of Lights, Corvus, ISBN 978-0857890115

The Secrets of Pain, Corvus, ISBN 978-1848872752