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With an interesting (and very socially intermingled) cast of police characters, this Scottish crime book, the first of the new DC Jane Renwick series, is off to an intriguing start.
Part procedural police mystery, and part what-do-police-officers-do-in-their-social-lives, this story begins with a emotional wallop and the psychological suspense never lets up.
DC Jane Renwick, the story’s main protagonist, is a strange mix of feisty female cop; barely holding it together trauma survivor; beloved and somewhat bad-tempered wife to her wife, DC Rachael Anderson; and friend to be coddled and cherished by her inner circle of big and beefy male cop friends.
DC Angus McKenzie, my favorite member of the cop squad, is a newbie to MIT hailing from Edinburgh – a ginger-haired lad who is still rough around the edges, direct and outspoken in a new recruit kind of way, and keen to make his mark on this case, his colleagues, and ultimately, his career. It will be interesting to see how this author further develops this character over the course of the series.
The plot revolves around the circle of cop buddies and their colleagues and superiors, both in the local force in Edinburgh, and within the larger Police Scotland team at MIT in Glasgow, as they race to solve a series of vicious homicides plotted by a diabolical and vengeful mystery man.
The main POVs presented, alternating between Jane and the mysterious murderer, are expertly paced to allow us to glimpse more of the backstory and ultimately, the connections between the murders and the main characters, revealing slow and tantalizing links providing clues to the cases most difficult DNA-driven puzzle.
I loved the original and intriguing genetic murder plot premise (no spoilers here, you will have to read the book to find out more!) and enjoyed meeting between the pages with this chummy and chatty cop brigade. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.
A great big thank you to the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.
My stop today on the @rararesources #blogtour for #valpenny and #Thefirstcut
