Alex Gray (1) (1951–)

We are heading to Scotland this summer so I've been trying to read as many books set there as I can. My husband gave this one to me which is set in the mountainous region north of Glasgow. It even looks like we could pass through this region on our travels.

This book is the 19th in the series that has DSI William Lorimer as the chief investigator. Even though I haven't read any of the other books I didn't have any difficulty with a mystery far into the series. Lorimer has taken his friend, Daniel Kohi, to hike the mountain Buchaille Etive Mor to introduce Daniel to Scottish hiking as he is from Kenya. When they get to the summit Daniel sees the body of a man at the bottom of a cliff. As soon as they can get a signal for their phone they call the local Mountain Rescue Team which is headed by the constable of the local detachment. It's much to late to return to Glasgow that day so they arrange to stay in the B & B in Glencoe run by the constable's wife. Lorimer is so charmed by the place that he decides to book a room for him and his wife during Easter break. The unfortunate hiker turns out to be Dutch and most people think he accidentally fell to his death. Daniel isn't so sure but he has no official status in Scotland even though he was a police detective in Kenya. Then, just before Easter, the body of another hiker is found in the nearby quarry. Lorimer and his team are tasked with investigating this death which is obviously the result of murder. Lorimer's wife and Daniel accompany the detective to Glencoe. Shortly after they arrive, the teenage girl who discovered the body goes missing. And while Daniel accompanies a search team he discovers yet another body in a bothy sometimes used by hikers. That's a lot of suspicious deaths for such a small, quiet place. Never fear, the detective and his team will find the perpetrator.

The author tried to lead the reader to considering one of the rescue team to be the guilty party. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that this was the reddest of red herrings. Ms. Gray tipped her had a little too much, in my opinion. The front cover has a quote from the Daily Mail saying "Move over Rebus." but I think Ian Rankin's fan base is secure.… (more)

Thanks to Harper Collins and Edelweiss - AboveTheTreeline for the free ARC Kindle e-book.

[b: The Riverman: A DCI Lorimer Novel|33236238|The Riverman A DCI Lorimer Novel (William Lorimer)|Alex Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480827113s/33236238.jpg|53950256] by [a: Alex Gray|508126|Alex Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270676510p2/508126.jpg] is a big fat juicy read. I have read several other of the DCI William Lorimer novels and enjoyed each one.

The writing is good. Most of the characters are well developed along with the plot, and sub-plots. There are twists and turns, and the novel remained mysterious until the end.

I enjoyed the historical information about the River Clyde, the bridges, and how this part of the world has experienced many changes.

Maybe the author just rode me around in such comfort that I could not keep my eyes open, but I could not read more than a few chapters before nodding off. It was not boring. It just never got my adrenaline up.

[b: The Riverman: A DCI Lorimer Novel|33236238|The Riverman A DCI Lorimer Novel (William Lorimer)|Alex Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480827113s/33236238.jpg|53950256] kept my interest. I could not leave it lay. I will recommend this for our library collection.… (more)

I haven't read any of the previous instalments in this series, but it stood pretty well on its own. I found this quite slow: there were interesting police procedural bits, sections from the perspective of the murderer, which were OK, and then loads of Maggie doing book readings in different towns and making unwise decisions, along with descriptions of the weather each day. The ending was a bit of a disappointment - nothing wrong with it exactly, but it didn't make you think 'oh, I see!' or 'oh, of course!'… (more)