We’ve got Second Monday Crime again due to those pesky but much needed bank holidays. Joining us on Monday 10th May at 7.30 pm BST on our Facebook page are Tina Baker (Call Me Mummy), Phoebe Morgan (The Wild Girls), James Delurgy (Vanished) and Marion Todd (What They Knew). William Shaw (The Trawlerman) will be asking the questions. I have a review for Marion’s book but before I give you my thoughts, here’s the blurb.

The Blurb

DI Clare Mackay starts the new year with a death…

It is the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay when Alison Reid admits a caller to her home. When her death is later reported, DI Clare Mackay attends the scene. The initial evidence does not rule out murder, but it’s not possible to say for certain if foul play was involved. Yet when the pathologist informs Clare about a post mortem of a young woman found in the Kinness Burn, and with some similarities to Alison’s case, it seems there’s a strong chance that there’s a killer on the loose in St Andrews.

Clare and her team will have to look past the obvious conclusions and delve deeper into the lives of the victims to get to the truth. But who else risks meeting the same fate while the clock is ticking?

My Review

Although this is the fourth book in the DI Clare Mackay series, it’s my first Marion Todd read. As well as writing police procedurals myself, I love reading them too. It’s like slipping into a world that I vaguely know and Marion Todd does not disappoint.

When DI Clare Mackay is called to a suspicious death in early January, she has no idea as to what is about to unfold. Rather than easing back into work after the Christmas break, Mackay and her team are thrown into a murder inquiry that escalates quite dramatically.

What They Knew is set in St. Andrews in Scotland. I got some sense of the town from the descriptions given. In particular, I loved the hairdresser’s shop that claimed to have cut Prince William’s hair – he had a bit more in his student days. As it’s January, there’s also snow and ice to contend with which doesn’t aid DI Mackay in her enquiries.

As mentioned earlier, this is the fourth book in the series but it’s very easy to read and I picked up on the main characters quite quickly. I liked the camaraderie between Clare Mackay and her team, especially her DS – Chris West. They had some great banter going on but it’s clear that Clare is fond of Chris in a sisterly sort of way.

There’s some interesting twists in the plot and I loved the forensic details that proved to be so important to the case. I don’t want to say too much more about the plot as I don’t want to give any spoilers but there are some clever and very subtle clues that I didn’t pick up on straight away.

A great read that kept me guessing until nearly the end.

If you want to buy What They Knew then click here or better still, you can now go to your local bookshop!

Just to give you a little heads up, we have two more panels before taking a break until the autumn. We have an extra May panel on Monday 24th and then our June panel on Monday 7th. We’ll be giving further details soon but put those dates in your diaries!

The Author