Genre: Crime
Fiction/Noir
Description:
A woman's body is found, she's been brutally murdered, stabbed over a
hundred times. DCI Bloonsbury, once a superstar detective but now a washed up
alcoholic, takes charge of the case. As more bodies appear Bloonsbury's faded
abilities become a liability and DS Thomas Hutton is in the thick of it, he has
theories of his own. But there's a problem, it seems the killer is closer to
home than anyone wants to believe and there's a whiff of corruption...
Author:
Douglas Lindsay was born in Scotland, but now resides in the south of
England with his family having lived in Belgium and Senegal in between. Douglas
has written several novels with protagonist Barney Thomson taking centre stage.
The Unburied Dead marks the debut of
DS Hutton.
You can learn more about the author at his website.
Appraisal:
I thoroughly enjoyed The
Unburied Dead, Lindsay doesn't mess around with the story, he just gets
right into it from the outset and then drives at a heady pace where events whip
past the reader. The narrative is clipped, often using the bare minimum of
words.
At the outset the reader meets Hutton, a man whose difficult past
overlaps and complicates his present. He's a copper, not the brightest, but
tenacious and ultimately wants to get to the truth, regardless of cost. His
personal life is all over the place, several divorces behind him, along with a
multitude of one night stands and affairs. Hutton joined up because of
Bloonsbury, but the guy is a disappointment these days, and spends most of his
time drunk.
The
Unburied Dead is mainly written in first person (Hutton), present tense which
helps keep up the pace. Periodically the author also drops in short chapters in
third person where we're in the mind of the deranged killer. Again it works
well and adds an extra layer. The story is set up to and over Christmas, but
the season of goodwill doesn't extend to the investigating team and the
victims, it's a nice offset.
The characters are excellent, the vast majority of which are police.
Almost to a person they have their problems, quirks and behaviours. Besides
Hutton and Bloonsbury there's DI Taylor, a good detective but another with a
messy life - the job has destroyed his marriage. Then Superintendent Miller, an
attractive woman who seems to sleep with everyone (including Hutton, whilst his
wife is trying to rekindle their relationship) and Crow, an ex-copper who now
lives in his own detritus, among others.
One aspect I really enjoyed was the way the author utilised the
characters. Although there is brevity in the tale Lindsay shows interactions
between the players, how and why they live their lives with wry observations of
life thrown in. One example is a night out where everyone gets drunk, a
constable in particular who dances in an increasing state of undress and then
isn't allowed to forget it.
An excellent, well written story that will appeal to readers of
gritty, down to
earth crime / noir.
FYI:
Plenty of swearing.
Added for
Reprise Review: The
Unburied Dead by Douglas Lindsay was the winner in the Crime Fiction
category for B&P 2015 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran March 13,
2014.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Approximate
word count: 80-85,000 words
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