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Glasgow Kiss (DCI Lorimer #6)

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 96 ratings · 15 reviews

A perfectly paced, atmospheric mystery that gets to the beating heart of the Scottish city and features the most dynamic Scottish detective since Rebus Eric Chalmers is one of the most popular teachers at Muirpark Secondary School in Glasgow. Gentle and kind, he is the person the students come to when they want to confide in someone. So when precocious teenager Julie Donal...more

Paperback, 432 pages

Published October 1st 2012 by Little, Brown Book Group

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Jul 25, 2010 martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One other reviewer commented on the innacuracy of the publisher's blurb - this book does not bring Glasgow to life in the way Rankin has portrayed Edinburgh.

Apart from a good knowledge of the city's streets and districts (and their implied messages of social status, wealth and safety that everyone familiar with the city will appreciate), I found this story could have been more or less anywhere. The beauties (and the ugliness) of the Glaswegian accents have largely been ignored with a few except...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Evangeline rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, 2011, fiction, mystery-thriller

I agree with a couple of other reviewers of this book when they said that this book does not encapsulate Glasgow like it claims to. Indeed, the only reason this book caught my eye in the shop where i bought it in the first place was the exciting prospect of a mystery set in my own hometown, but this novel could have been set anywhere. The only effort made by the writer to capture Glasgow is through the use of local dialect and geography, which, shockingly enough for someone supposedly from the c...more I agree with a couple of other reviewers of this book when they said that this book does not encapsulate Glasgow like it claims to. Indeed, the only reason this book caught my eye in the shop where i bought it in the first place was the exciting prospect of a mystery set in my own hometown, but this novel could have been set anywhere. The only effort made by the writer to capture Glasgow is through the use of local dialect and geography, which, shockingly enough for someone supposedly from the city, isn't even 100% accurate.

Add to this the horrific writing, one-dimensional characters and terrible plot development, and i am genuinely miffed as to how this book ever got published in the first place. The first main event of the story is when a 15-year-old schoolgirl accuses her Religious Education teacher, Eric Chalmers, of rape. Cue immediate witch-hunt by the media and determined rubbishing of the claims by nearly everyone associated with the school, teachers and pupils alike, which lasts for the rest of the novel. Days later, Julie Donaldson is found murdered in the wooded area of a park, and soon other bodies are found in similar circumstances. The race is on to catch the killer, or at least it should be, but no real sense of urgency ever develops in this book.

A sub-plot about a missing child also emerges and is never really developed properly or handled with the care and sensitivity such a matter should be.

Most of the narrative of the novel is spent focussing on the viewpoint of the wife of the leading detective in the case and fellow colleague of Eric Chalmers, that he must be innocent because he is her friend and a nice person, and another sub-plot about a boy called Kyle who has to deal with the early release of his violent father from jail.

There isn't even any real mystery to the story as (view spoiler) I felt that this, along with every other issue raised in the novel was handled in a cold, callous manner, perhaps in the imperosnal way to be expected from a murder mystery, but what gets me is that this book thinks it is humanising its characters and treating them with respect.

Needless to say, i will not be picking up any of the other titles in this series!(less)

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Mar 03, 2011 Josh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

People keep commenting on the blurb on the front of the book. I find this really strange as I have rarely let such blurbs influence my expectations of a book. Remember these are usually filled with buzzwords with the idea being more to try and catch the reader's attention than actually give an accurate representation of anything. They aren't even written by the author for heaven's sake. Basically don't pay too much attention to them.

So coming now to the story itself. I liked it. It was quite ch...more People keep commenting on the blurb on the front of the book. I find this really strange as I have rarely let such blurbs influence my expectations of a book. Remember these are usually filled with buzzwords with the idea being more to try and catch the reader's attention than actually give an accurate representation of anything. They aren't even written by the author for heaven's sake. Basically don't pay too much attention to them.

So coming now to the story itself. I liked it. It was quite character based which surprised me. Usually in these sort of stories I end up thinking that the characters are just conduits for advancing the solving of the crime. In this case the solving of the crime kind of took a back seat with more time being spent exploring the different characters reactions to the events around them, with these reactions, revelations and decisions serving to drive the crime solving forward.

I like this way of doing things because I feel like if it works the other way around where the focus is the crime and the story is full of stereotypical blank characters that just drive the plot forward then the story is nothing more than a bad episode of a random police show.

I have a feeling that I'm slightly naive here because I haven't read a huge number of crime novels so maybe this character based stuff is done everywhere in the genre and I just haven't realised yet, but this is how I feel at the moment.

Now that being said. It's not perfect, hence the three stars. A lot of characters are very well developed. Even some that are arguably minor characters, but then there are some characters that would seem to be major characters that aren't really that well developed. They seem to just be there, you don't feel like you know them and you don't know how they are going to react to things. A pick n mix of character development if you will.

As far a plot goes I was interested and I did want to see it through to the end but it wasn't particularly captivating. I found myself trying to figure it out but it seemed too straightforward. I prefer it when you try to figure something out and then you have to rethink things because of some new information. With this you pretty much figure it out and get it right the first time which isn't exactly exciting.

The story does partly explore some social issues such as attitudes towards the church and the stigma that religious officials and openly religious people are sometimes landed with. This is kind of interesting to read but it doesn't go into these issues in too much detail and certainly won't make you think differently about any opinions that you already hold.

To summarise there are pretty good characters here and an okay plot that will hold your attention but you won't be completely and utterly gripped. Touches on some social issues and it's part of the plot but not in such a huge way that it will be thought provoking.

Worth reading and enjoyable but it's not mind blowing. I don't think it intends to be though.
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May 15, 2009 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, review-books, united-kingdom

Sometimes you have to wonder if the blurbs publishers put on the front of the book are more of a hindrance than a help. In the case of Alex Gray's 6th book - they've set an unbelievably high expectation with 'Brings Glasgow to life in the same way Ian Rankin evokes Edinburgh'. Quite a high mark to set, and one I have to say I didn't think was reached with this particular book.

DCI William Lorimer has been called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. Snatched by a woman in a car fr...more Sometimes you have to wonder if the blurbs publishers put on the front of the book are more of a hindrance than a help. In the case of Alex Gray's 6th book - they've set an unbelievably high expectation with 'Brings Glasgow to life in the same way Ian Rankin evokes Edinburgh'. Quite a high mark to set, and one I have to say I didn't think was reached with this particular book.

DCI William Lorimer has been called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. Snatched by a woman in a car from just outside her home, everyone fears the worst as the days drag on with little or no clues. Meanwhile, at the school where Lorimer's wife Maggie teaches, Julie Donaldson - a teenage student at the school - has accused a popular Religious Education teacher of rape, and young Kyle Kerrigan, coincidentally he is very close to Julie, is dealing with the release from jail of his violent and abusive father.

When Julie disappears an official investigation stretches Lorimer's team further as they are still hunting for the missing toddler. Meanwhile Maggie is conducting her own unofficial investigations as she and her colleagues struggle to believe that a popular teacher like Eric Chalmers would have ever been involved with a young student.

Despite the sense of urgency that you think would be inherent in these sorts of multiple threads, the book really seemed to lack focus and pace. The concentration of the story around the school - and hence Maggie - also meant that Lorimer, as the investigating policemen, was at best a bit part, a sort of a grey lurking figure in the background somewhere. The main thread in the book does appear to have been the accusation of sexual assault, and because this occurs within the context of the school community, Maggie does have a much higher "investigator" profile. As startling as this seems, the sexual assault case became all a bit boring. Perhaps this was partly because Maggie's was a very difficult character to have much interest in or sympathy with. She and her colleagues seem to operate in a starkly black and white world - where people are either "good" or "bad" and that distinction had an overtly moralistic tone to it. Along with that - the constant claims of disbelief at Eric's position (the "good" people); the colleagues with differing opinions (the "bad" people); the constant assertions that Eric is "not that sort of person"; the wanderings around in his personal life that didn't contribute much to anything in the book; and it all got very repetitious and extremely tedious. Combine that with some aspects of the abuse of Kyle Kerrigan that were - even for a reader well versed in the art of willing suspension of disbelief - unbelievable, and it was a strangely flat sort of a book. This definitely wasn't helped much by a series of nice, tied up in ribbon resolutions that were piled on at the end, leaving the whole thing with a bit of a "here's one that we prepared earlier" feeling.

Having never read any of the other books in the series, it's not possible to say whether this particular book suffers from the concentration of Maggie and the lack of a substantive part being played by William or not. Having said all of that, I should try another book in the series and see if this one just didn't quite hit the spot for this reader. The blurb has to be hinting at something after all.

Also by Alex Gray: Never Somewhere Else, A Small Weeping, Shadows of Sounds,The Riverman and Pitch Black
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Apr 23, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book good to read, and could easily imagine all the characters in there. This book had a couple of stories unfolding together, but not related which gave the story more 'real policing' as more often than not, more than one case is being investigated at a time.

The main character DCI William Lorimer comes across as one may expect a policeman to and this time you are introduced to his wife more as one of the stories centre on the school where she teaches.

Took a while to discover why th...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Stuart Mclaughlin rated it 2 of 5 stars

My first Alex Gray / DCI Lorimer novel and I'll probably look up the other books in the series; not a patch on Rebus however.

A decent police procedural - easy to read but I felt the subplots and characterisation were at the expense of the main plot.

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Jan 26, 2013 Roy McDine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

From the first few pages through to the epilogue, a really un-put-downable thriller.
Saw some other poor reviews for this novel about the authenticity of some of the Glasgow details - made no difference to me as the plot and characterisation was first-class.
Highly recommended!!

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Sep 08, 2010 Maggie White rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Enjoyed the book about a teacher who is accused by a pupil of sexual assault. The girl is later found murdered at the same time as a toddler goes missing. It is set in Glasgow and was well written. Good easy read.

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Aug 12, 2012 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012

I like the characters of Lorimer and his wife Maggie. Don't know Glasgow very well so inaccuracies are lost on me. Enjoyable read and brings home the point that rumours and murmurings against people only hurt the innocent.

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Oct 10, 2010 Rog Harrison rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Must have missed this one when it came out last year. Another in the series featuring Glasgow police detective Lorimer.

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Mar 26, 2011 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

At first I just enjoyed listening to all the references to Glasgow but by the end I was quite caught up in the story and really quite enjoyed it too.

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Oct 05, 2012 Helen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bit disappointed. Expected more from it.

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Mar 05, 2011 Ginger rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, crime, audio-books

A debut novel worth reading.

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Mar 08, 2012 Vicky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quite good. Not the fastest plot but I enjoyed reading

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Dec 05, 2011 Chris Longmuir rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alex Gray never fails to disappoint and this book was as good as any she has written. It had all the elements of a good crime story, allegations of rape, missing child, and murder, with the story told at brekneck speed. A great read.

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Apr 26, 2011 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this one very quickly which is always a good sign that I really enjoyed it.

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Jun 17, 2013 Matt marked it as to-read

Jun 16, 2013 Helene Ullah marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jun 15, 2013 Christina Glass rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jun 15, 2013 Brenda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jun 07, 2013 Reisha marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jun 03, 2013 Lianne Bloomfield is currently reading it · review of another edition

May 30, 2013 Lupemankell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 30, 2013 Helen Ladbrook rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 27, 2013 Lindsay Towler added it · review of another edition

May 23, 2013 Andy Rafferty marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 12, 2013 Alan Carmichael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Glasgow Kiss (DCI Lorimer #6)

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