REVIEW: Deep and Deadly by Keith Moray

Deep and Deadly (Inspector Torquil McKinnon #7) by Keith Moray

Genre: Crime thriller, Crime fiction

Read: 12th February 2023

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Published: 27th January 2023

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

There’s a killer on the island – but is it someone local?

West Uist, Scotland

It’s an usually busy day on the remote island of West Uist. The only transport on and off the island is the local ferry, and there is uproar when it is blocked by eco-rights activists, protesting against the shooting of seals by local fishermen.

While dealing with that disturbance, the police are amused to find a celebrity has disembarked from the ferry and is causing a stir among the locals.

But just as the demonstration is peaceably dispersed, and actor and singer Declan O’Neil is escorted away from the crowds, Detective Inspector Torquil McKinnon is called to investigate a dead body.

Fisherman Arran MacCondrum, owner of the farm that is being protested against, has been found dead in one of his fish pens, seemingly by suicide.

But with a spate of threatening poison-pen letters making their rounds on the island, it soon becomes clear that Arran’s death was not by his own hands.

Was Arran attacked by a protestor? Or was there an ulterior motive?

Torquil must unravel the mystery before anyone else on the island comes to harm…

MY THOUGHTS:

For a small community on the Outer Hebrides, West Uist sure has its fair share of murders. Not just crime...but murder. And this seventh installment of the Inspector Torquil McKinnon series is no different. In fact the bodycount is somewhat in excess as the island contends with some local eco-rights activists protesting a local salmon farm's methods just as celebrity-singer-turned-soap-actor Declan O'Neill and his entourage disembark the incoming ferry, seeking out some much needed R-and-R...apparently.

Just as soon as the foray is sorted, Torquil is called to the salmon farm where the discovery of owner Arran MacCondrum's body is made in one of his fish pens, seemingly by his own hand. It appears he had received some poison pen letters which have been circulating the island recently, with the reappearance of "Mungo", making threats and accusations that set not only tongues wagging but hearts racing. Who could do such a thing?

But it seems no one is exempt from Mungo's poison pen. Torquil himself receives one as does the Padre, his uncle Lachlan. And the words are brutal. Everyone, it seems, receives a letter. But that aside, no sooner is Arran's death revealed to be murder (and not suicide), than one of Declan's entourage succumbs to a drug overdose while another finds himself in hospital on life support. And then there's another death...this time, it really does look like it's a suicide.

Torquil has his hands full with the investigation as well as his plans to marry Lorna whose been seconded to Lewis with their Superintendent seeing no reason why the island needs another sergeant when they already have Morag Driscoll. And just what is Declan O'Neill's real reason for being on West Uist?

The seventh in the Torquil McKinnon series, if you have missed any never fear because each can be read as a standalone easily enough. Each mystery is engrossing taking in the beautiful windswept and unforgiving coastline of the Outer Hebrides. There are a few red herrings, several twists and even I didn't pick who Mungo was. So that was a real surprise.

Overall, DEEP AND DEADLY is a quick and entertaining read with a cast of likeable (and some not so likeable) characters.

I would like to thank #KeithMoray, #Netgalley and #SapereBooks for an ARC of #DeepAndDeadly in exchange for an honest review.

Hand drawn map of Scotland, showing the fictional island of West Uist in west Outer Hebrides

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Keith was born in St Andrews and studied medicine at the University of Dundee in Scotland. He lives in England now, within arrow-shot of the ruins of a medieval castle, the scene of two of his historical novels, The Pardoner’s Crime and The Fool’s Folly.  He is a retired doctor, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. He writes historicals and crime as Keith Moray, non-fiction as Keith Souter and westerns as  Clay More.  Curiously, his medical background finds its way into most of his writing.

He is  a member of various writers’ organisations, including the Crime Writers’ Association, Medical Journalists Association, International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America and he is a past vice president of Western Fictioneers, a professional organisation of western writers,  based in the USA.

In his spare time he enjoys the movies, theatre and making bread. He plays golf, tennis and runs at carthorse speed. As a frustrated actor he has found occasional solace as a supporting artist, but enough said about that!

He lives in West Yorkshire in England with his wife Rachel and whichever of their children and grandchildren who happen to pop home.

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