Alison Bruce (1)

Because She Looked Away is the first in a brand new series by Alison Bruce to feature DS Ronnie Blake. New to Cambridge, she expects to get to work as a detective, but a small team with only one operation left open, Operation Byron, wants to question her about her late sister who may turn out to be linked to a series of unsolved crimes.

I loved this premise as soon as I read the synopsis. I always enjoy a good police procedural but this had a slightly different focus, that of a police officer show more being questioned, and I was really drawn into the story because of that. Ronnie is a great character who brooks no nonsense but she's also an excellent detective. She ends up working with the team who are questioning her, the so-called DEAD team and I thought the whole plot unfolded very well. I found it a bit complex at times, keeping track of all the characters and what was happening, but I did enjoy this twisty and tension-filled, often dark and disturbing read.

I think there's lots of promise for the series to develop as it goes on and for the members of the team to grow. Because She Looked Away is a really good opener. show less

“He looked around to see Elizabeth Martin herself eyeing him. She was a woman in her mid-fifties, with grey-flecked blond hair and a passion for knitwear. Skirt, top, scarf; all knitted. Even her boots had a roll-over top that looked knitted too. Beach holidays must be tricky.”

When a student in one of the myriad student houses in Cambridge is found dead after a quiet weekend, suicide is the obvious verdict; particularly given the assortment of substances lying around her she could have show more used to overdose. When DC Goodhew meets her housemate Libby, whose two older siblings also committed suicide, he’s not so sure about this one any more. Could there be a terrible theme connecting the unusually high number of accidental deaths recently?

This took a little while to get going but I was absolutely gripped once it did. The “cold open” scenes were too disjointed and took a long time to fit into the rest of the story; then Libby seems to have a long Facebook conversation with a dead girl. After 25 pages I was quite disappointed, thinking this crime noir was just teenage witterings that didn’t make any sense. DCs Goodhew and Gully to the rescue.

Goodhew is a great police character – stubborn, prepared to bend the rules a little bit to get to the truth, passionately determined to hunt down the killer, particularly when on suspension, but underneath everything just a really good person. I’d point the “this character is too good to be a human” finger at him if he wasn’t so stubborn. And Gully is a sweetie with a core of steel; too embarrassed to experience actual emotion in the context of other humans, as soon as someone else is threatened, she’s in there sorting it out with nary a thought for her own safety. More please.

Plotwise, this simmered along at just the right level for most of the book; as I said, it took a while to get going, and then the bodies really piled up at the end. That might have been me reading faster and faster though as I got to the dramatic climax. Murder weapon of choice was unusual (always good), and Bruce clearly knows Cambridge inside-out and gave us a very strong local grip on events.

A solid, enjoyable thriller – I’d love to read more by Bruce, particularly if it involves Goodhew and Gully! show less

I have to be honest and say that the major reason why I chose to read Cambridge Blue is because of the day I spent wandering the streets of that old city. It's a fascinating place, and I often felt as though I were in a completely different world. Alison Bruce certainly does not disappoint with her setting; I felt myself back on those streets once again, but this time with a very unusual police officer.

Young Gary Goodhew isn't into casual relationships. He simply cannot separate the physical show more from the emotional. His best friend is his grandmother. He's also something of a lone wolf-- a young man who's a police detective by day and then seemingly behaves like some sort of nocturnal super hero when he's off duty. He's a character who simultaneously threw me off balance and captured my attention. I just had to know how different he really is.

Many things that Goodhew does are not by the book. Fortunately for him Detective Inspector Marks sees his potential and is willing to cut the young man some slack. However, as the investigation continues, Goodhew begins to take advantage of Marks, and the inspector has to draw the line. There's a very interesting dynamic between Goodhew and Marks as well as the other police officers he works with.

The mystery is complex and makes for compelling reading-- even though I guessed the identity of the killer rather early on. It seems as though all the victims and suspects have hidden agendas, and that's what made the mystery for me: trying to piece together "what" and "how."

With a Cambridge setting, a complex mystery, and the unconventional Gary Goodhew as the main character, Cambridge Blue is a very good read. I look forward to reading the other books in this series. show less

After the death of her sister, DI Ronnie Blake has relocated from London to work in Cambridge and share custody of her nephew with her brother. However, on her first Day Ronnie is surprised to be called in to an interview with a specialist team who believe her sister's death is linked to a blackmail scam. As Ronnie digs down, she joins the team and finds that sometimes the most obvious isn't the truth.
I found myself voraciously rushing through this book as it is an exciting read. That show more surprised me as I found the plot wildly complex and one that didn't really hang together. The main thing though is that this is a terrific police procedural and introduces some interesting characters who I look forward to reading about in the next instalment. show less