When Shadows Fall (Lorimer & Brightman #17) by Alex Gray
Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural
Read: 24th June 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 19th March 2020)
★★★★★ 5 stars
While only having read the first book in the Glasgow-based Lorimer series by Alex Gray, I was happy to dive into this seventeenth installment anyway. Despite this, WHEN SHADOWS FALL works well as a standalone crime thriller that is no nonsense and makes a pleasant change from all the angst in everyone's lives found in other series.
When gardener, Joseph Flynn, uncovers human remains in the grounds of the estate in which he is working, he immediately calls up his old pal Detective Superintendent Lorimer. Scenes of crime are called as are uniform to cordon off the area and when the remains appear to be decades old with a bullet hole through the skull, Lorimer pays a vist to the scene. The skeletal remains predate the new owners moving in but the question remains why are they buried here and more importantly, whose remains are they?
Meanwhile, Lorimer receives the devastating news that his former boss and and close friend , ex-DSI George Phillips, has been shot dead in his own garden. A clean silent kill, it appears to be a professional hit but Phillips was a well respected officer now enjoying retirement - who would want him dead? With no forensics and no clear motive, Lorimer leaves the local police to investigate.
But when other retired police officers are killed in apparent professional hits, as the head of Police Scotland's MIT Lorimer is forced to take over the investigations. Then when ballistics return a match for all murders, including the decades old remains found buried in an affluent garden, Lorimer faces his toughest case yet in trying to track down the gun and the killer or killers responsible.
Then current serving DC Sharon Carson, a member of Lorimer's team, is shot on her doorstep on Halloween, changing the patterns of the murders. Is this the same gunman or an entirely different crime by someone else?
Throughout the story we also meet John Ramsay, who is currently coming to the end of his 15 year stretch in Glasgow's Barlinnie prison. He has lead a long life of crime, his last resulting in the death of someone during an armed robbery. Whilst in prison he has been questioning whether there is redemption for someone like him, having been diagnosed with lung cancer with just a few more months left. He has struck up an unlikely friendship with the prison chaplain Douglas Petrie, whom he calls the Padre. Their conversations show the Padre that Ramsay is facing an inner struggle he doesn't know what to do with. And knowing that he is soon to be released, the padre gives him the name of a church and priest where he can seek comfort on the outside. But Ramsay faces an even bigger challenge...he has been singled out to make one last hit upon his release.
The plotting throughout is clever and intricate with readers aware of "the Big Man" orchestrating events with no idea who he is or how he is doing it. There is honestly never a dull moment as the narrative switches perspectives throwing in multiple twists to throw us off the scent.
I love Lorimer and I really don't know why I haven't read more of the series...probably the fact I have so many on my TBR list as it is...but I love how there is no angst between the ranks or drunken detectives seeing life through the bottom of a pint glass. I love how Lorimer is happily married to Maggie who has been by his side throughout the series, playing her own important role as not just a housewife but a teacher and children's author. I also like Professor Solomon Brightman's (Solly) input into the case throughout, while small in part, is paramount to the story. I also notice that Solly has married pathologist Rosie and they now have two children. While I haven't read the other fifteen books in between and have missed Lorimer's transition from DCI to DSI, the thing about this series is that each book can be read as a standalone.
A brilliant tale from start to finish, WHEN SHADOWS FALL is fiendishly plotted with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing while at the same time whetting our appetites for more.
Cleverly constructed, WHEN SHADOWS FALL is an atmospheric read that will make readers seek out the rest of the series, if they haven't already done so. It is one that all Scottish crime thriller fans will love and I thoroughly recommend not just this book...but the entire series!
I thoroughly enjoyed WHEN SHADOWS FALL, just as much as the first, and look forward to reading more of Lorimer in the future.
I would like to thank #AlexGray, #NetGalley and #Sphere for an ARC of #WhenShadowsFall in exchange for an honest review.
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