Incy Wincy by RJ Dark

I would like to thank Waveback for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Waveback

Published – 24/3

Price - £1.99 Kindle eBook

Malachite Jones is a pretend psychic medium and an unwilling detective. 

He certainly doesn't want anyone bringing him a missing persons case. 

Definitely not two. 

When the a body turns up he knows life is only going to get harder.

Blades Edge premier gangster, Trolley Mick, owes a favour to a family who’s son, Daniel Jerrings, has vanished. He wants Mal to pay it. Jackie’s friend from the military, Spider, is also missing. And though Jackie doesn’t really do friends, he does do loyalty and that means Mal does too.

But it seems that there are plenty of other people out there looking for Spider, and everything is spiralling down the drain in a wash of designer drugs, UFOs, racists, violent youth gangs and a group of evangelical Americans with their own agenda. Somehow, it all involves a missing teenager but nothing adds up, and violence lurks around every corner.

Discovering the truth means sinking deeper into the grimy world of organised crime where dangerous people have an awful lot to lose, and a way out for Mal and Jackie is getting harder and harder to see.

With crime series we can go two ways. Very straightforward cases that rarely impact future stories as you would find in Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple for instance where the star attraction stays fairly much the same or you can down the route of a series that expands the characters, the world and the wider plotlines. Reading the excellent thriller Incy Wincy by RJ Dark we firmly see the series’ second outing move into that second thread and cements this as one of the most interesting new crime series around.

A little reminder what this series is about. Malachite ‘Mal’ Jones is a former addict turned fake clairvoyant with a gift for reading people and putting facts together. His best friend Jackie Singh Khattar is a ‘well respected businessman’ or a crook depending on if you speak to law enforcement agencies. They recently were recently investigating a case that involved murder and lottery numbers and now that reputation has grown. Mal is hired to investigate a missing teenager who may have got himself involved in the local drugs market. Jackie needs Mal help looking into a former fellow army teammate nicknamed Spider who while always a little keen to make money also has disappeared. The more Mal discovers we get a case that mixes drugs, far right gangs and religion in unexpected ways and the duo may find this time they have beaten off more than they can chew.

If you read A Numbers Game and thoroughly enjoyed it then for me the good news is that this an even better story. The actual mystery itself is a compelling one with Dark expanding the goings on in the strange Blade’s Edge Estate. While we see the return of often vastly underestimated Trolley Mick and his mysterious Twins Dark adds a lot more underground gangs all vying for power. We meet a local gang of youths trying to corner the drugs market and also cross into the disturbing Yorkshire Pure – a white nationalist party that loves to get headlines and too is clearly up to something. Our two missing people seem somehow wrapped in this and the various ways the case slot together is an immensely satisfying mystery that carefully lays all the clues out but its only fairly late you will see them click into place.

What really stood out here though is Dark uses the story to make some sharp points about poverty and crime and how its not simply people deciding to be bad. The story does highlight the lack of decent housing, massive cuts to support services such as youth clubs that can lead to a rise in homelessness, drug abuse and people seeking a life in a gang to protect themselves and try to make a living. The finger gets pointed at those making those cuts or still very wealthy and the true really sinister villains are those who just hate people because they don’t believe someone who is not like them in terms of skin colour deserves to live.

The teaming of Mal and Jackie holds the story together. Mal continues to be our narrator but rather than noir we get someone with a wry sense of humour and occasional confusion at how they’ve got themselves into this situation. Mal has grown and while still not a fully operating detective is actually showing they are a lot less reluctant to apply their skills and always when it comes to the crunch prepared to do the right thing. Jackie last time was like the special event whenever they walked on the page to upset the applecart and this time Mal and Jackie are more balanced as a partnership. Jackie is still a loud and extravagant character – in particular with their constantly changing fast cars and this time interesting choice of fancy dress costumes but this time Mal and Jackie tend to work in tandem a lot more. Again, I like that underneath Jackie’s constant urge to say inappropriate jokes at any time there is a sharp mind just as good as Jackie putting things together, but his area of expertise focuses more on the underworld and we also get a few clues to his former time in the army. We also get to see this time he is not superhuman and can be beaten. With both characters you sense a lot more is awaiting to be discovered but I also felt again by the end of this story both characters have developed as has their relationship as friends and colleagues.

The last and really needs to be stressed joy is the style Dark applies to the telling of the story. We can move to characters all trading jokes or killer lines and occasional tests of various people’s stupidity to scenes of violence, social commentary, and extreme danger. That this can all happen in the next paragraph makes the story unpredictable in the best way possible. Its not too cosy and if you make a mistake in this world then someone will either use it or will be harmed by it. Safe to say this is not a story where things go right and the finale for this story is violent, messy, and expertly written. These tonal shifts are built onto the series and makes it really stand out – on occasion you even get some hints that the supernatural may not always be that far away either!

Very pleased to say Incy Wincy for me is an even better instalment in this series and the way it has built out the world that these characters live in; all of which is really well delivered. It is surprising, entertaining and makes the reader pay attention to all the details as well as providing two excellent lead characters trying to both stay alive and bring a little justice to an uncaring world. I am pleased to hear there will be more of these and strongly recommend you get this now!