it had some moments ( )

Second in series Jasmine Sharp PI

When the Devil Drives by Chris Brookmyre - good

So we're back to CB's second strand: he's Chris not Christopher, so we know we're getting less comedy more crime. Happily he's carried forward, not just, Jasmine, but also, Catherine and Glen Fallon. Some of the other cops from the first book make an appearance, in passing, but those are the three characters we're focused on.

An outdoor performance of a Shakespeare play is being performed at a privately owned Castle for the high and mighty of a Scottish Bank. At the end of performance photo op, a sniper kills someone. This is still in Strathclyde jurisdiction, so Catherine and her team are called in.

In parallel, Jasmine has been asked to find a missing person. A woman calls to see her, she's been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is trying to find her estranged sister.

This being a novel - the two stories are inevitably interlinked and, of course, both are solved.

This being Chris Brookmyre, the stories are well plotted, the humour and dialogue is sharp and the pages turn really quickly!

Looking forward to hearing him talk about the latest in this strand next month and in the meantime have picked up the latest of his 'Christopher' offerings to tide me over. ( )

Second in the more strait-laced crime series featuring private investigator Jasmine Sharp and Detective Superintendent Catherine McLeod. Jasmine, now with more experience under her belt, is once again tasked with finding a long time missing person. A woman recently diagnosed with a terminal illness wants her to find her younger sister that she hasn’t seen or heard from for thirty years. Last thing she can remember was that her sister had just joined a repertory company after leaving drama school. Meanwhile, Catherine McLeod has been lumbered with the murder of a prominent member of the arts world. Shot from long range while posing with the cast of a play performed at Cragruthes Castle and standing just a few feet away from the local Laird. With no clear motive it’s going to take some digging and maybe a bit of luck to find out who the killer was.

As with the previous book, we follow both investigations as they provide twists and turns along the way. The characters are fully fleshed out and believable, with Jasmine taking steps to remedy her lack of social life and Catherine worried about her son’s exposure to violent video games. Plot wise, this one is probably a little more convoluted than the previous but it all comes together in the end. A good solid mystery and there’s already a third volume in the series for me to look forward to. ( )

The second Jasmine Sharp – Catherine McCleod crime/mystery book.
This is very much more Jasmine's book than it is Catherine's.
Jasmine is hired to look for a woman who has been missing for thirty years. A woman hires her to find her sister, because she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wants to have one last chance to see her sister after they had a falling out many years ago. The sister was a talented aspiring actress who Jasmine quickly discovers appears to a have disappeared thirty years ago after spending a summer with a new acting company that was rehearsing at the estate of a the rich leader of the company. But, none of the people who were involved with the acting troupe want to tell Jasmine very much about events back then, and it seems didn't talk about them with anyone since they occurred, and soon after she starts asking questions, one of them is killed.
While Jasmine's investigation proceeds, Catherine starts to investigate the recent murder, unaware of the possible connection to events from long ago. But, she has a hard time getting anywhere, without any clue about a possible motive.
I was glad when the character of Glen Fallon reenters the story about half-way through. He really gives it all much more life and interest. ( )