REVIEW: See Them Run by Marion Rodd (ARC)

See Them Run (DI Clare McKay #1) by Marion Todd

Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural

Read: 22nd November 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 31st October 2019)

★★★★ 4 stars

As a fan of police procedurals, I was excited to discover a new series to sink my teeth into. SEE THEM RUN is the first in a new series by Marion Todd, featuring DI Clare McKay, and set in the Scottish seaside town of St Andrews.

After shooting dead a 15 year old boy who was brandishing what turned out to be a toy gun in an armed robbery, Clare McKay left the grit of Glasgow behind and transferred to the picturesque St Andrews, more famous for its golf course and historic university than crime. Having established a rapport with her new team, Clare was quickly thrown into a suspicious hit and run in the drive of a hotel where a wedding reception is underway. The victim was crushed, having been run over not once but twice. A white card with the number 5 is found on the body. When a second victim is found with the number 4, Clare suspects a serial killer is in their midst.

With this knowledge, and her rank only being a DI, Clare and her team know that a DCI will be tasked to oversee the investigation and soon enough DCI Alistair Gibson arrives from Edinburgh to assist. But it seems Clare's reputation precedes her. That is, her involvement in the shooting in Glasgow as an Armed Response Officer, and it seems he doubts her ability to lead the inquiry into these suspicious deaths, questioning both her fitness and her treatment of the second victim's wife who turns out to be a personal friend of his. But Clare is methodical and determined to solved this case, as she looks to settle and made a home for herself in this town.

It soon becomes clear someone is targeting these men when an attack on a third man is witness by a dog walker, resulting in the victim being found alive and rushed to hospital. A rain sodden white card with the number 3 was found at the scene, along with the green paint of the vehicle involved. The witness was able to provide a general description of the vehicle as being an old style Land Rover, a partial registration and with the surprising supposition that the driver was a woman.

Clare and her partner, DS Chris West, delve into the lives of each of the victims and catch a lucky break in the home of the third victim, Nat Dryden. His laptop was open, no password protection and no security installed, with an address to somewhere on the dark net called the "Playroom". Analyses of the first two victims - Andy Robb and Bruce Gilmartin - link all three men to TOR, an internet browser that guarantees anonymity by hiding and deleting your internet history. That in itself is nothing...but it's what they find on Nat's laptop that leads them to believe that something far more disturbing is at play.

The first victim, Andy Robb, it seems, couldn't keep it in his pants and was out at his club on Thursday nights, withdrawing £100 each week. The second victim, Bruce Gilmartin, was the CEO of a well-established brewery in St Andrews and Thursday nights was spent at one of his many charities. But Clare and her team could not find which one he bestowed upon each week. And then it seemed that the third victim, Nat Dryden, also had a mysterious committment every Thursday. So just what was it about Thursdays that linked these men?

Of course it doesn't help that DCI Gibson is close friends with the Gilmartins and warns Clare off upsetting Mrs Gilmartin any further. But Clare is fairly sure the wife knows a little more than she is letting on, despite being in Amsterdam when her husband was killed.

The clock is ticking for Clare and her team, knowing the killer is on some kind of countdown which will inevitably end with Number 1. Under pressure from her DCI, Clare must quickly identify the remaining victims but in doing so takes her on an unsettling journey within the dark net.

Unlike many other crime fiction stories, SEE THEM RUN is wholly a police procedural where you see the investigation unravel from the viewpoint of the police. The only insight into the victims' lives and any suspects is again from the police perspective. I'm not sure yet if that is preferable or not - in my own opinion - though it still made for compelling reading.

I enjoyed Clare's camaraderie she had with her team, with the exception of DCI Gibson, however even he was won over in the end. I look forward to getting to know Clare and DS West a bit more in future books, and this was an interesting introduction to them. It is obvious that Clare is feeling her way after the debacle in Glasgow and although she is still somewhat unsettled and lonely - particularly with the threat of the criminal suit by the boy's family - I hope that will soon be remedied by her putting down roots in purchasing the cottage that took her eye and the warm addition of Benjy.

Who is Benjy? Read the book to find out! I'm in love with him already and hope to see more of him (with no harm coming to him, of course) both in Clare's life and in future books.

I am thrilled to see the new onslaught of British crime fiction being set in Scotland now, and this one is a great addition. It is a refreshing change being set in picturesque St Andrews, as opposed to gritty Glasgow, Aberbeen and Edinburgh. If you love detective fiction and police procedurals...particularly British crime fiction, you will love SEE THEM RUN and this new series featuring DI Clare McKay.

I would like to thank #MarionTodd, #NetGalley and #Canelo for an ARC of #SeeThemRun in exchange for an honest review.