From the Shadows by G R Halliday
I would like to thank Mia from Vintage for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Vintage
Published - Out today
Price - £8.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle eBook
Seven days. Four deaths. One chance to catch a killer.
Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again.
A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy is drawn into the murder investigation and she has a feeling that the case won't begin and end with this one death.
Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days.
As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim.
When we think crime we tend to go to clinical mysteries or a focus on a strange detective. When I read From the Shadows by G R Halliday I got a bit of this but what was unusual about this tale was the sense of atmosphere - which made this more a nightmarish dark trip to the Scottish Highlands
Near Inverness a young teenager is taken from his dead and found in the countryside murdered and tortured. This then brings in DI Monica Kennedy 6 foot 2 mid forties and very much a detective with a few secrets of their own. As another case is found she gets into the orbit of the awkward Michael Bach a social worker very animated when he realises one of his own clients has gone missing too. The murder brings the pair into the sights of gangs; old killers and brutal murderers and constantly a watcher waits to make their own move.
What really is unusual in this tale is for a story set in the UK feels weirdly like another country. Inverness here is the Highlands with remote areas, mountains and a place where even some police are armed. Rather than say Rankin’s Edinburgh this place feels wider and a touch more unreal. Halliday has an excellent way of making the tale feel murky and dark with things looming in it. In many ways when reading this story it felt less crime and more the edges of horror with watchers in the dark; links to the stars and ritual and both leads having strange haunting dreams. Less a puzzle (although this is a meaty mystery) but more a nightmare. The subject matter is tough and sometimes nasty but compelling.
The main leads are both compelling. DI Kennedy is a bit of a mystery. Her mother a keen crime fan is sad she has yet to morph into the renegade detective of her shows and books. But she never feels compatible in her own skin and even her height makes her a constant outsider. The drivers to make her a police officer are fascinating and I look forward as the series progresses to getting to understand her better. In contrast Michael feels like a man on the edge of a precipice - living a life of nicotine, dirty houses and second hand clothes the one thing keeping him going is his desire to help his lost client. These two compliment each other in the investigation with Michael perhaps the more emotional while Kennedy is the more driven by the crime and perhaps not afraid to break the rules to get there. The story hangs well of these characters although I did wish there were a few more female characters in the wider mix of officers and investigators we meet.
Overall a very well delivered atmospheric thriller that while the sun is shining is probably best read at night with the lights down low and shadows in the corner. Very much those who enjoy their crime on the darker side of the fence. The next novel is out in a few months so I’m intrigued to see how the series moves forward.
