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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
#18 a murder mystery
This is a police procedural set in Hull. I love English crime novels. This is the first of a series with DS Aector McAvoy, a Scot with a past history of corruption fighting and surviving a violent attack. He is also happily married which makes him a bit of a novelty and his wife is a traveller. It was an enjoyable read which I read very quickly. Ultimately the reason behind the crime was a bit far-fetched and I found some aspects of the home life a bit unnecessary. Interesting concept and my interest in Hull has been piqued. I am sure this will develop into a solid series.
This is a police procedural set in Hull. I love English crime novels. This is the first of a series with DS Aector McAvoy, a Scot with a past history of corruption fighting and surviving a violent attack. He is also happily married which makes him a bit of a novelty and his wife is a traveller. It was an enjoyable read which I read very quickly. Ultimately the reason behind the crime was a bit far-fetched and I found some aspects of the home life a bit unnecessary. Interesting concept and my interest in Hull has been piqued. I am sure this will develop into a solid series.
Bought for 99p on kindle. Formulaic detective novel. Lead detective was likeabel. Will probably read the next in series.
I found this book by way of recommendations for a later book in the series. I was interested in the series set in Hull as I’ve not read anything set there before to my knowledge and I have seen quite a few posts from online friends about Hull, City of Culture. I was fortunate in that my library had book 1 in the series.
DS Aector McAvoy is just returning from an injury and from working a case that was quashed due to political connections and probably the embarrassment of higher-ups. He is working with a serious crimes team and is somewhat of a dark horse to his team members. His boss Detective Superintendent Pharoah sees potential in him and they form a good team. Aector becomes personally involved in a crime due to being on the scene moments after it has occurred and interacting with the perpetrator. As one crime becomes many Aector follows his instincts and his investigation to uncover connections between cases and ultimately reveal the tragic story behind it all.
Aector is not a religious man, but is highly moral. He has sense of justice and desires to see it served. He strives to live up to the pedestal his wife has place him on and to be seen as a good, competent detective. He is very happily married and his wife and marriage are definitely his grounding point. Really interesting, well thought out character, different from many other detectives, who show their trials by addictions and unhealthy relationships or no connections outside of work. In some ways, he reminds me of Inspector Banks from Peter Robinson’s series.
I really liked this, I found it well written and engaging with some great characters. I will be reading more in the series.
DS Aector McAvoy is just returning from an injury and from working a case that was quashed due to political connections and probably the embarrassment of higher-ups. He is working with a serious crimes team and is somewhat of a dark horse to his team members. His boss Detective Superintendent Pharoah sees potential in him and they form a good team. Aector becomes personally involved in a crime due to being on the scene moments after it has occurred and interacting with the perpetrator. As one crime becomes many Aector follows his instincts and his investigation to uncover connections between cases and ultimately reveal the tragic story behind it all.
Aector is not a religious man, but is highly moral. He has sense of justice and desires to see it served. He strives to live up to the pedestal his wife has place him on and to be seen as a good, competent detective. He is very happily married and his wife and marriage are definitely his grounding point. Really interesting, well thought out character, different from many other detectives, who show their trials by addictions and unhealthy relationships or no connections outside of work. In some ways, he reminds me of Inspector Banks from Peter Robinson’s series.
I really liked this, I found it well written and engaging with some great characters. I will be reading more in the series.
I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publishers- Blue Rider Press.
McAvoy, works in the North England city of Hull as a Detective Sergeant. While on an outing with his young son, McAvoy witnesses the brutal murder of a young black girl. As a witness and a detective, McAvoy wants to plunge right into the case. But, there are some issues. First of all he is called away to inquire about a man that disappeared on a voyage. This is mere political stuff since the man's sister's husband has some pull. The other issues are that McAvoy is just starting out in this new position. He was at the center of a corrupt police inquiry as the chief whistleblower. In the end, he got left flapping in the wind. So, all he wants at the moment is to put his head down and do whatever is asked of him.
But, when his missing persons case, turns into what appears to be a suicide, he begins to see some connection between the murdered girl and this case, as well as other cases where each victim happened to be the sole survivor of a tragic incident.
McAvoy is a wonderful character. He is a large, barrel chested man, with the heart of a tech geek. He is happily married with a small son and another child on the way. He is honest and principled, even when he faces challenges that puts temptation in his face.
The mystery is very unique, and you will NOT guess the ending.
The secondary characters are also interesting and they all want to crack McAvoy and get him to reveal what happened to him in the past. Hopefully, we will see all these characters again in the near future. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially to those that like British mysteries and detectives.
McAvoy, works in the North England city of Hull as a Detective Sergeant. While on an outing with his young son, McAvoy witnesses the brutal murder of a young black girl. As a witness and a detective, McAvoy wants to plunge right into the case. But, there are some issues. First of all he is called away to inquire about a man that disappeared on a voyage. This is mere political stuff since the man's sister's husband has some pull. The other issues are that McAvoy is just starting out in this new position. He was at the center of a corrupt police inquiry as the chief whistleblower. In the end, he got left flapping in the wind. So, all he wants at the moment is to put his head down and do whatever is asked of him.
But, when his missing persons case, turns into what appears to be a suicide, he begins to see some connection between the murdered girl and this case, as well as other cases where each victim happened to be the sole survivor of a tragic incident.
McAvoy is a wonderful character. He is a large, barrel chested man, with the heart of a tech geek. He is happily married with a small son and another child on the way. He is honest and principled, even when he faces challenges that puts temptation in his face.
The mystery is very unique, and you will NOT guess the ending.
The secondary characters are also interesting and they all want to crack McAvoy and get him to reveal what happened to him in the past. Hopefully, we will see all these characters again in the near future. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially to those that like British mysteries and detectives.
I took this book on holiday with me Ironically to the Western Highlands. It resonated with me as I am from the Hull area and I enjoyed the feeling of being able to picture the areas that are described in the book. I thought for a debut novel David Mark did a fantastic job of keeping the reader enthralled by the drama of the story, but also keeping the story nice and consise,it didn't drag on too much.Also I managed to guess who the culprit was, but had to read all the way to the end to find out how he was connected with the whole case.
Overall a very good book, and I will definitely be buying more from this author.
Overall a very good book, and I will definitely be buying more from this author.
I really enjoyed this debut crime novel and think that David Mark could do for Hull what John Harvey does for Nottingham and Chris Simms does for Manchester. I thought the novel painted an incredibly realistic picture of Hull as a city on the slide and you got a real sense of the atmosphere of the city in all its grim reality. I thought that McAvoy was a good grounded character without the cliched baggage that crime writers are so fond of shoe-horning into their books and that alone would encourage me to read the next in the series. I also liked the character of 'Pharaoh' the female boss who whilst slightly lacking the acidity of DI Steel in the Stuart MacBride books was feisty enough to give her character credibility. The central plot was quite clever with a particularly twisted killer targeting those poor unfortunates who had previously escaped death and there was a nicely balanced gore factor. Not a bad read at all...
I really enjoyed this. I am from Hull where this book is set and it was really interesting to read a book where I know the setting. The story had a gripping story line and it was well plotted and paced. I look forward to reading more by this author.
Yep, hij krijgt er 5 van mij. Het is niet de beste thriller die ik dit jaar heb gelezen (Ik ben Pelgrim van Terry Hayes staat op de eerste plek), maar het is wel een hele goede detective. Een gewone Schotse rechercheur van 1,95 meter lang met een hart van goud die voor alles gerechtigheid wil, what's not to like? Gooi een seriemoordenaar in de mix met een unieke MO en je hebt alle ingredienten voor een steengoed verhaal.
Aanrader.
Aanrader.