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