New novel by Eastbourne based, Irish born author Bugler from Canelo Crime
As a vivacious reader of crime novels and thriller reads from the publication house, Canelo, and its sub-print Canelo Crime I have taken pleasure in reading and following the careers of Marion Todd, Rachel Lynch, MJ Lee and Bugler.
Unlike the other contemporaries, who have dealt with a series of detective fiction revolving around a central character, Bugler has dealt with different storylines and characters jumping from a different premise, location and environment from book to book. This book is her 10th release, a wonderful milestone.
In this instance, Dark Road Home, is a coming home of sorts for her. Set in the fictitious west Ireland coastal town of Dungarry; her conduit for this homecoming is Leah Ryan. She returns home after an absence of two decades to face the turmoil she left behind which led her to Australia. Upon her return though to visit her ailing, wheelchair bound mother, another tragedy hits as her first love Eamon is brutally murdered as his restaurant business.
It seems a mystery, but soon as in all small towns where everyone knows everybody's business, everything is connected and there are secrets behind every front door.
Leah starts a flirtatious relationship with a cop who is investigating and she tries to bury the hatchet with her brother, Frank, the sibling who was meant to leave in Leah's place and explore the world. Instead Frank has remained and is a shell of the man he was hoping to be, drinking too much and carrying a spare tyre.
Bugler writes about the Irish homeland - a place she would like to retire to - with such fondness and for fans of The Woman in the Wall and other Irish crime series (the returning Blue Lights) this will be a welcome addition to the canon.
The story which has a dual narrative of now and twenty years prior which leads to Leah's departure for this reader felt like it was treading water, and yet as so often in Canelo releases the second half of the book picked up steam and went to a crescendo that is worthy of Bugler's talent. The delicate handling of Leah and Frank's relationship and the guilt Leah feels for her leaving is told effectively.
While for me not as good as Bugler's other earlier works or her last work Black Valley Farm, it nevertheless is a solid thriller and a well told standalone plot and story that was entertaining and full of twists.
Dark Road Home is out from Canelo on 18th April on all formats.
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