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Jump to navigationJump to searchA Breath on Dying Embers (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick (view source)
Revision as of 14:57, 16 July 2019
, 14:57, 16 July 2019no edit summary
Followers of the DCI Daley series will recognise a lot of the regulars as they start reading. Daley's health is deteriorating, largely because of his lifestyle choices, but DS Brian Scott is still off the booze, for which his wife, Ella, and his colleagues are particularly thankful. The regulars are still in the bar, but the upset is going to come from Daley's estranged wife, Liz, who arrives with their son James. Daley and Scott can recognise an abused woman when they see one, but Liz is determined not to make an official complaint about who did this to her.
In the early chapters of the book I did wonder if I was going to enjoy it, as much of it seemed more like comedy than the serious police procedural which I was expecting. It did improve though and I soon settled into a more than decent plot with some neat twists. I did spot 'whodunnit' but it was more by a process of elimination than logical reasoning. It didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book though and there were still one or two twists which I hadn't spotted. Despite my early misgivings the book turned into a good read.
The location of Kinloch is fictional, but it's hard to avoid placing the town in south-east Scotland. There's a feeling of proximity to Glasgow, but there's little empathy with the residents of the city: this is the sort of isolated area which means that a trip to hospital regularly means a helicopter or a plane if there's not that much hurry. It's a pleasant contrast with some of the busier parts of Scotland which I've read about recently.
