|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Jasmine Sharp is an aspiring actress who quit her drama course when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and all but quit her life after her mother died. Now she's reluctantly but unsuccessfully working for her Uncle Jim's Private Investigation business in order to pay the rent. One morning Jim doesn't show up for work and as worried about her next pay cheque as she is for his well-being, Jasmine desperately starts her own investigation into his most recent cases: the Ramsey family, who have been missing for over twenty years, and a dead man called Glen Fallan. She has no idea that when she finds Fallan she'll find not only the answer to the mystery of the Ramsey family, but to the mystery of her own as well. Meanwhile, a gangland killing has landed unexpectedly in the lap of Detective Catherine McLeod. Having been passed up for promotion to head up the organised crime unit – LOCUST – she's more than interested in putting at least one member of the Glasgow gangs away for murder. But a combined fake drugs bust and jewellery heist at Central station, the murder of her three prime suspects, and a man assumed dead over twenty years reappearing from her past all complicate matters. Rumours are rife of corruption throughout the Glasgow force, and on top of all that, she and her husband haven't had sex in six months, which is bothering her. In WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED, Brookmyre is exposing the seedy underbelly of Glasgow, focussing on gangland activities in the 70s and 80s through to the present day, on insidious police corruption and on the devastating effect all this has on individual lives. These are serious subjects handled in such a masterful way that the story is definitely entertainment, filled with the wit and black humour that have become Brookmyre's trademarks. He is also introducing many new characters, all of whom are interesting enough to make the reader want to get to know them better, and in some ways that feels like the point of the book. Unfortunately because much of the novel is spent on introducing these characters, it prevents the narrative from picking up pace until its climax, making the story-telling lag at times. Some fans may also draw parallels between the new anti-hero and Brookmyre's previous leading man, Jack Parlabane. This book conjoins a great web-like plot with complex characters but it is less energetic than recent novels and definitely more down to earth than his last book, PANDAEMONIUM. However, the reveal at the end is perfect, not so much pulling together threads as pointing out that there are no threads to be pulled and proving that Chris Brookmyre is far from losing his touch. Madeleine Marsh is an aspiring writer who lives in South West England. She helps run sci-fi conventions and loves modern cinema.
Reviewed by Madeleine Marsh, May 2011
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
