REVIEW: Dark Waters by G.R. Halliday

Dark Waters (DI Monica Kennedy #2) by G.R. Halliday

Genre: Crime fiction, Crime thriller, Noir, Suspense, Psychological thriller, Horror

Read: 13th August 2021

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Amazon

Published: 16th July 2020

★★★★ 4.5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

THREE MISTAKES. TWO MURDERS. ONE MORE VICTIM TO GO . . .

Annabelle loves to drive. It helps her escape her world, her past. Speeding on a mountain road in the Scottish Highlands, she sees a little girl step out in front of her. She swerves to avoid her. The next thing Annabelle remembers is waking up in a dark, damp room. A voice from the corner of the room says ‘The Doctor will see you now’.

Scott is camping in the woodlands in the Scottish Highlands - but in the middle of the night, he hears something outside his tent. When he goes out to have a look, a little girl is standing among the trees, staring right at him. Scott is never seen again.

When a dismembered body is found, DI Monica Kennedy gets called to the scene immediately. After six months away from the Serious Crimes team, they need her back on board.

As Monica searches for the murderer, another body is found . . . she’s on the hunt for a serial killer.

Perfect for fans of James Oswald, Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid.

MY REVIEW:

The second in the DI Monica Kennedy series, DARK WATERS is a dark and disturbing read that both creepy and claustrophobic. It is so terribly dark that I feel I need to warn readers that, not only is it disturbing and troubling in some of the content, but there are descriptions of dismemberments that some may find a tad gruesome. But whoa! What a thrilling read!

Annabelle is visting from London and upon arrival in Stirling, snaps a selfie or twelve, applies a filter and uploads to Instagram. The only indication that she is in Scotland. She heads for Inverness and then towards the West Coast when she sees a gate. It isn't locked so she decides to take a chance and is driving her new blue BMW M4 as fast as she dares along the lonely stretch of road beyond. Suddenly a little girl appears out of nowhere and Annabelle swerves to miss her hitting the lone oak tree and sending her into unconscious oblivion.

When she wakes with no idea where she is and unable to move, she is terrified. What happened? Where is she? As the blackness of her surroundings recede, she finds herself in a damp dark room awaiting to see the Doctor. And only then does Annabelle realise that her troubles are only just beginning.

In the wake of the nightmarish end to the previous case which left both her and her daughter Lucy traumatised, DI Monica Kennedy took a temporary secondment to the traffic division so she could spend more time with her daughter. But then she receives a call from her superintendent in MIT. A dismembered body has been found in a remote area near Glen Turrit and she is the only SIO he trusts to handle the case. Joining her are DC Connor Crawford and DC Ben Fisher, both still recovering from the horrific previous case, as well as newest member DC Maria Khan. Assembling her team together in order to begin investigating and identifying the victim, Monica is shocked to learn of a second set of remains with the same injuries as the first has been found nearby.

After tentative identifications are made, investigations lead them to Sinclair Enterprises, a corporate body that seems to own half the highlands, with Monica questioning the victim's widow and his sister. Neither woman is entirely forthcoming leading Monica and her team to believe they are hiding something. But what? And how were the two unlikely men connected?

Enquiries take Monica to a remote almost deserted town in Little Arklow, primarily built during the construction of the hydro electric dam in the 1950s and 60s and after which was relatively abandoned to just a few remaining people. One of which is the partially delusional Gillian who regales Monica with tales of the Affric men and the death of her friend Euston Miller. But how much of her fairy tales are truth and how much are fantasy? But those delusional ravings send Monica on the hunt for the truth as she seeks out the website which Gillian alluded to that Miller had set up some years before. There she comes across the mysterious disappearance of a man, Colin Muir, in 1980...and then there is the apparent suicide of Miller himself four years before. How is all this related to the dismembered bodies found near the hydro electric dam in Glen Turrit? Are they somehow connected to the past?

And then...DC Fisher receives a strange and somewhat creepy text from an unknown number alerting him that whoever they are "is being held hostage somewhere in the highlands" along with as much detail as they could provide that could help pinpoint their location. Believing that it's one of his colleagues having a laugh, Fisher deletes the text without further thought. But Monica isn't so sure. She asks him to retrieve it and put a trace on the number to identify its owner.

Monica is a wonderful character and despite her dislike for her colleagues she has grown to appreciate their value and their unique personalities. She herself is a complex character with her own demons to battle as she comes face to face with them through flashbacks and memories. We actually see a lot more of her mother Angela this time around and I must say I'm pleased to note that she has finally taken Monica's advice and keeps the doors locked. Crawford also, it seems, spends rather a lot of time with her mother who has taken a real shine to him as has Monica's daughter Lucy. It was good to see the supporting characters of Crawford and Fisher fleshed out a bit more in this book and Khan makes a welcome addition bringing her own strengths to the table.

There's a real sense of otherwordliness throughout the book that borders on creepy with the remote settings of the glens, the dam and it's various caves and tunnels. The highland setting lends a remoteness and bleakness to the story that provides a menacing sense of claustrophobia despite its wide open landscape. And then there are Lucy's disturbing dreams, cryptic conversations and her sleepwalking which are creepy to say the least. Is it just because of Monica's sudden return to MIT or is it something far more disturbing? I love how the author leaves that question dangling for readers to ponder.

Told through the alternating narratives of Monica and Annabelle, DARK WATERS is a nightmarish and creepy read with a chilling plot and atmospheric setting. It is dark, disturbing and incredibly intense from the very first page until the very last. One of the most terrifying stories I've read complete with tension, suspense and intrigue, it is definitely NOT for the faint-hearted.

I was just telling hubby that this book would make an awesome movie or better yet...a BBC series with it's spine-tingling plot and the remote atmospheric setting of the Scottish Highlands. It has a touch of the darker side of Criminal Minds and Wolf Creek about it making it doubly disturbing. Mick Taylor meets the Doctor - who would come out of it alive?

Everything about this book is disturbing and yet it is an addictive thriller that is one of the most memorable of its kind. I doubt books like this would be endorsed by the tourism board because after reading, some would never want to venture to the Scottish Highlands again!

Don't worry if you haven't read the first book as DARK WATERS suffices perfectly well on its own. Only the vague references to the previous case from the first one will have some wondering but on the whole, readers learn a whole lot more about Monica in this book as she delves into her own past through memories and flashbacks.

Although I enjoyed "From the Shadows", it pales in comparison to the deeply dark and disturbing tale woven throughout DARK WATERS. It is incredibly well written and though there appears to be a lot of bulked-out description which could have been thinned out a little, DARK WATERS is intense from start to finish.

Perfect for fans of dark, disturbing, intense and atmospheric thrillers.

I would like to thank #GRHalliday, #Netgalley and #VintageDigital for an ARC of #DarkWaters in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Gareth Halliday was born in Edinburgh and grew up near Stirling in Scotland. He spent his childhood obsessing over the unexplained mysteries his father investigated, which proved excellent inspiration for his debut novel "From the Shadows". He now lives in the rural Highlands outside of Inverness, where he is able to pursue his favourite past-times of mountain climbing and swimming in the sea, before returning to his band of semi-feral cats. "Dark Waters" is his second novel.

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REVIEW: From the Shadows by G.R. Halliday

From the Shadows (DI Monica Kennedy #1) by G.R. Halliday

Genre: Crime thriller, Police procedural, Noir

Read: 11th August 2021

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 18th April 2019

★★★ 3 stars

DESCRIPTION:

A stunning, atmospheric police procedural set against the grit of Inverness and the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands, this is the first book in the DI Monica Kennedy series.

Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again.

A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy stands by the victim in this starkly beautiful and remote landscape. Instinct tells her the case won’t begin and end with this one death.

Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days.

As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim.

From the Shadows introduces DI Monica Kennedy, an unforgettable new series lead, perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves' Vera, Susie Steiner and Peter May.

MY REVIEW:

I keep telling myself not to start any more series or I won't be able to keep up, but G.R. Halliday's debut FROM THE SHADOWS offers something different with its melancholic backdrop of the rugged and remote Scottish Highlands. It's something of a welcome addition to the noir crime fiction genre that is both eerie and atmospheric set in and around Inverness and the Highlands.

When 16 year old Robert Wright disappears in the middle of the night from his home, his disappearance at first goes unnoticed until his mutilated and tortured body is discovered in an apparent pose in a remote part of the Highlands. A black stone wedged down his throat.

Enter DI Monica Kennedy.

Monica has recently moved back to Inverness and is trying to make an impression. She has a 4 year old daughter Lucy with whom her mother is more often than not looking after her while Monica investigates her latest case. When Monica receives the call about a young boy found up on the Highland moors, she delegates her team to sift out any missing persons who might match the description. Meanwhile she attends the post mortem hoping it might throw some light on his death. The nature of his wounds and the posing of the body make Monica think that this is not the killer's first...but she has nothing really to prove or disprove the idea.

Meanwhile social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients, Nichol Morgan, who has been missing for seven days. When he hears about a body found up in the Highlands, Michael fears it could be Nichol and is called in to identify the as yet unidentified lad. He is relieved to discover the body isn't Nichol and yet it raises more questions as to where Nichol could be. Michael follows a carefully laid sprinkling of breadcrumbs left by his client in the hope that he will find him safe and well at the end of the trail. But instead, Michael comes up against some characters who nearly beat him half to death but don't give him any further answers. Throughout his search, Michael seeks Monica's help along the way as officially the police just seem to dismiss Nichol as one of their many runaways.

Then another boy is found up in the Highlands, his injuries matching those of Robert Wright whom the police finally identified after his father reported him missing, Monica feels the race is on to catch this killer before he strikes yet again. Although a suspect is in her midst, Monica is not yet convinced of his involvement although her superiors are happy to lay the blame at his feet, particularly when he turns up dead having committed suicide. Or did he? Monica isn't convinced. Then her superintendent brings in a wholly untrustworthy psychiatrist to help steer their enquiries with a profile. He too seems quick to believe the dead man's involvement with that of a missing gamekeeper who knew the second victim.

As Monica and her team continue to investigate the murders, Michael uncovers some very interesting information about previous deaths and disappearances under similar circumstances. And all with a similar black stone found lodged in their throats. What is also interesting is that both the pathologist on the cases and the journalist investigating the stories Michael discovers are also dead with the latter having committed suicide. Or did she? Michael had also discovered that one of Nichol's friends had been found dead in a river some months prior and the conclusion was that he too had committed suicide. These suicides are all sounding far too coincidental for Michael's liking and he brings his findings to Monica for her to peruse. 

What then ensues is a race to uncover the murderer before he claims another victim...this time with Monica in his sights.

I quite enjoyed FROM THE SHADOWS which is part police procedural and part thriller...which is always my favourite kind. The setting of the remote Scottish Highlands gives a chilling and atmospheric feel to the story and the reader feels that remoteness of the dense black night where many a person could find themselves lost forever in the mountainous terrain. It gives credence to the feeling of being alone...particularly as mobile phone signal is so patchy out there and one is cut off from everyone and everything. 

The story is told in the third person from Monica and Michael's perspectives throughout with the occasional inclusion of "the Watcher". As it is in the third person, we learn that the watcher is male with the constant reference to "he" or "him" when alluding to himself. Had these chapters been in the first person narrative his gender would have added more of a mystery...though it was fairly obvious that it was going to be a male villain. Still...it could have provided an interesting red herring with maybe a female luring the victims out at night...teenage boys...a femme fatale...hormones and all that. But that's just my opinion.

As debuts go, FROM THE SHADOWS is a page turner from the beginning though I did find the pace slow down a little in the middle before picking up again towards the end. Some of the loose ends at the conclusion were a little too loosely tied up and the explanations somewhat vague by the end. And yet one of them does offer the promise that it may be followed up in a future installment...maybe? The other secondary characters of DCs Fisher and Crawford left a little to be desired as both fell into my own suspect pool at one point or another. It is also apparent that Monica doesn't really like either of her colleagues but I was glad to see she didn't follow the same lead as other protagonists in her position and become unlikable bossy bitches. She kept things professional which made her an appealing character. One thing I found missing was the usual banter that goes on between colleagues...the gallows humour which I always appreciate (probably because I have a similar dark humour) as it adds a little contrast to what is essentially a dark and tense narrative otherwise.

I liked Monica and I liked Michael. Both are interesting protagonists with pasts that are just begging to be delved into. I hope Michael features in further books in this series as he makes a welcome addition and distraction. The one thing that did grate on me was the constant reference to Monica's height. I was only a couple of chapters in when already it was becoming a thorn in my side. Yes, she is tall. Yes, she is very tall. No need to keep referencing it throughout 413 pages.

The highlight for me is by far the atmospheric setting of the remote Scottish Highlands which creates a very dark and chilling atmosphere. The wilderness, the barrenness, the remoteness, the emptiness...it is seriously chilling. The beauty, the tranquilness, the isolation and the danger...it is the perfect setting for such atmospheric thrillers and I look forward to more from this author trekking me up into the Highlands once again.

Overall, FROM THE SHADOWS is an enjoyable atmospheric read that is chilling and thrilling with the potential for the characters to develop in further installments. As a debut in a series, I think it shows real promise and I will certainly look out for more to come.

Perfect for fans of dark, intense and atmospheric crime thrillers.

I would like to thank #GRHalliday, #Netgalley and #VintageDigital for an ARC of #FromTheShadows in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Gareth Halliday was born in Edinburgh and grew up near Stirling in Scotland. He spent his childhood obsessing over the unexplained mysteries his father investigated, which proved excellent inspiration for his debut novel. He now lives in the rural Highlands outside of Inverness, where he is able to pursue his favourite past-times of mountain climbing and swimming in the sea, before returning to his band of semi-feral cats. 

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