Condemned - RC Bridgestock

 

New book in the DI Charley Mann series by respected Yorkshire based duo Bob and Carol Bridgestock

RC Bridgestock is the pseudonym or pen name for the combination of married couple Robert and Carol Bridgestock who together have nearly 50 years of experience working in the West Yorkshire Police service.

They first made their name as consultants on the popular television series Happy Valley which was broadcast on the BBC and starred Sarah Lancashire. From there they have written several standalone books such as the thrilling Reprobates and yet in 2020 they gained creditable traction with the publication of Payback, the first to feature feisty female DI Charley Mann - a woman whose ferocious appetitie for justice is a match for any person in the police force.

Payback was a thrilling read which featured Mann returning to her home near Huddersfield, this reverse fish out of water narrative with Charley returning home after a long stint in the Metropolitan force was both refreshing and gripped the ready from the first page.

In Condemned we find Charley again having to cope with a very cold case as it is January and a body has been found on a building site set for demolition. The forensics find two bodies, apart from each other one fresher than the other but the case throws in questions of legacy and land ownership in these still remote parts of our green and pleasant land.

Charley must contend against many hard-nosed egotistical males from the land developer where the bodies are found, to a young police officer who has a gambling problem affecting his work. These are expected in the still male dominated industry, yet it is the relationship with an elderly women that holds the key to the proceedings of the case and the spectre of ancestral family trees.

The air of suffocating oppression in the Yorkshire dales along with the incoming threat of Covid-19 that underlies the narrative is well done by the writing partnership. Personally though it does not reach the heights of the first novel - a common problem in new series as contemporaries Marion Todd and MJ Lee can attest to - yet those writers grew with each book in the series.

The wealth of experience at the disposal of Bridgestock is unparalleled yet in this instance the narrative did not hold the attention of this writer, yet it remains a solid piece of work in the crime genre. This reader looks forward to the next in the series.

CONDEMNED is out now from Canelo Press 

When The Evil Waits - MJ Lee

 

The sixth book in the DI Ridpath series is out now from Canelo Press

Writer MJ Lee is an author of some renown, prolific and intelligent in his depiction of a searing individual who has to combat many obstacles in his day-to-day life as an assistant to the lead coroner of the Manchester region.

Lee, who writes a book a year for Ridpath, seems to reflect the social context of work to his narrative needs. This is no different in When The Evil Waits, as the action takes place over the month of August 2020 so Ridpath and all his colleagues have had to combat the threat of the global coronavirus pandemic. This helps you appreciate that all the action takes place with the police force with face masks on for the protection of all. This relatability to proceedings helps with the visualisation of the action.

In this novel we find Ridpath dealing with the ramifications of the action that ended When The Past Kills, where one key character was left fighting for their life. Ridpath is in a period of grieving, his daughter Eve is not living with him at moment while he recuperates. He has been signed off for work but he still sees his wife Polly in his dreams. So the spectre and question of if he is fit for work has to be asked by his superiors and one definitely has it in for Ridpath throughout the book.

The unity of those who support Ridpath is there for all to see, he is well liked by his peers because he gets results albeit by unfamiliar methods and gut instincts. 

This is another fine entry into the catalogue however, for this reader the depiction of the villain in this instance was not totally well rounded and a bit of a stretch for reality, yet the action in apprehending him was well told and fittingly gripping to the high standard you expect.

Lee also has fun with the depiction of the journalist who is seeking to upend the police force and their reputation all to better her own career forsaking personal relationships at any cost seemingly; this dweller of bottom feeder journalism still exists in the gossip-mongering all lights on internet.

In conclusion, while it may not have reached the heights of previous Ridpath novels like Where The Silence Calls perhaps but it is still better than some television dramas of recent times and with the in vogue Line of Duty back on our screens, sometimes it is better to remove from escapist fare on the visual medium and rejoice in the assured hand of MJ Lee with DI Ridpath for comfort.

When The Evil Waits is out now on all formats from Canelo Press.

My thanks to Canelo for the review opportunity. 

When The Dead Speak - Sheila Bugler

The second novel by Eastbourne based novelist Sheila Bugler out from Canelo

Bugler turned some heads with her debut novel I Could Be You released at the start of this year (which seems like ages ago), featuring a gripping page-turning tale set in and around the Southern coastal stretch of Eastbourne with train trips to South London.

This time Bugler takes a tale that is very much based upon you never really know what goes on in your own town and how secrets stay with families.

Dee Doran returns, typically tenacious and takes it upon herself to find out what has happened to a missing Polish immigrant set against a police investigation of a young woman, which her boyfriend detective cannot work on due to a conflict of interest.

Told with real care and precision by Bugler who builds out from the relationships we hold dear, it is key to see how relationships are tested by a see-all community and how such relationship is held in public view.

Again featuring a strong female protagonist, Bugler weaves a narrative that is gripping and finishes strong after a somewhat slow beginning, akin to her contemporary and Canelo stable mate, Marion Todd

For fans of Fiona Barton's work, this is a novel that can be devoured in quick time.

When The Dead Speak is out on July 9th from Canelo 

Where The Innocent Die - MJ Lee

Book Four in the DI Ridpath series by MJ Lee out 23rd March from Canelo Press

Author Lee, is quickly becoming one of the most prolific crime writers these shores have seen in recent years in partnership with Canelo Press.

Featuring a different sort of hero in the form of DI Thomas Ridpath, Lee has created a new kind of everyman, a hero without a cape.

Ridpath, following his remission from cancer was placed in the Coroner's office to still have him active but not fully a police officer.  This new role allows him to investigate without fully being a copper, but you cannot teach an old dog new tricks with Ridpath's smell for justice never leaving him.

This book revolves around the supposed suicide of a Chinese woman who is awaiting deportation. One Saturday night she is found with her throat cut in her cell, which was unlocked. Ridpath suspects something is not quite right with the situation at the Deportation Centre; from the low staffing levels, CCTV cameras not working correctly and more evidence appearing in a second post-mortem, Ridpath feels the young woman deserves justice.

While exposition is sometimes repeated, you cannot fault the break neck pacing of the plot and RIP roaring finale would put Line of Duty to shame.

Lee continues to entertain and excite leaving this reader highly anticipated for Book 5 with Ridpath again at a crossroads career wise, whereas with Lee it is full steam ahead.

Where The Innocent Die is out from Canelo Press on 23rd March in all formats

In Plain Sight - Marion Todd

The Second DI Clare Mackay thriller by Marion Todd is out on 20th February from Canelo Press

Marion Todd burst onto the scene in the latter part of 2019 with her debut novel SEE THEM RUN published by Canelo Press, a story about a woman re-adjusting her life at the ten year point in her career as a police detective having to re-locate from Glasgow to the smaller surroundings of St. Andrews.

See Them Run is a nice introduction to Mackay as a character, you are with her throughout the process of a case that involved hit and run vehicular crimes in the serene lush landscapes near the illustrious home of golf.

Todd sets up the lead protagonist, as her role evolves and she has to encounter different people from the city, as well as familiar gender and sexual politics of the workplace environment. The first novel moved at a clip but you got the sense that it was an opening salvo for more to come.

Marion Todd - Back with a bang

It is so pleasing to hear that Todd has not sat on her laurels, and in the follow up In Plain Sight, she has written a better book, the difficult second album bug has been shaken off by this author who at the age she is making up for lost time clearly.

The action kicks off from the outset, a charity run is cut short by environmental protesters and in the vicinity of that a young baby is abducted with no-one in the crowd able to ascertain who had kidnapped her.

What follows is a book that is swift and moves at a breakneck speed; yet it is not all police work, we bear witness to Mackay's attempts at a lasting relationship with Geoffrey, a professor from the area, a more dependable partner than Tom whom she left in Glasgow following her move.

Mackay is utmost sympathetic to the plight of the parents of the missing child, despite not being a parent herself, her procedure of working embraces teamwork and the use of this breaks open the case with leads being jumped upon through hunches being followed and good detective work.

In Plain Sight is out on all formats from Canelo Press on 20th February 2020.
My thanks to them for the review opportunity

I Could Be You - Sheila Bugler

New book by Sheila Bugler, released by Canelo Press

Established author Sheila Bugler is back with a novel featuring the tenacious journalist, Dee Doran. Dee is a rebel at heart, nursing her wounds following a shaky divorce from her now ex-husband, she lives on the south coast not far from Eastbourne.

A few cottages down is her tenant, Katie, who lives with her young son Jake. They have a nice relationship, calling in on each other and while Katie is very young, Dee offers maternal support to both the mother and young boy - until Katie is killed in a hit and run accident and Jake disappears also.

As Dee helps police with their enquiries, her investigative juices start flowing again and she starts delving more into the back story of Katie and the deeper she goes into the back story the more secrets are revealed.

Bugler utilises a dual narrative scheme, with the story of both Dee's investigation going hand in hand with Katie's story from years before which takes place in South East London. Katie was brought up in a pub with her Dad, when she started to take a shine to a certain boy the story starts to unravel for her.

As a reader of Fiona Barton's The Child, this is similar territory with a combative female protagonist who gives as good as she gets and has her own demons to combat in terms of alcohol dependency. Bugler does really well to create these two different environments that the action takes place and in two different time periods - you can feel the wind buffeting off the south coast to her beach house and the grim of the London pub scene.

A book that takes a while to get started but once you dip your toe in the benefits pay off come the conclusion which is both satisfying and pleasing.

I Could Be You is out on 23rd January from Canelo and available on Kindle.