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Inspector Liam McLusky #3
A Good Way to Go
Unconventional Detective Inspector Liam McLusky is plunged into a major murder investigation in this gritty police procedural series.
On his first day back at work following his suspension, DI McLusky finds himself in the midst of a major murder enquiry when a body is discovered in the canal at Netham Lock. Chained, weighted down, tied to a buoy by the neck, it has all the hallmarks of a premeditated, ritualistic killing. As he questions those who knew the victim in an attempt to uncover the dead woman's secrets, McLusky's investigations are disrupted by the discovery of a second body. Bound and gagged like the first - but there are differences.
If McLusky could only work out what connects the victims, he would be one step closer to catching the killer - and preventing more deaths.
Meanwhile, his rival DI Kat Fairfield is pursuing a routine investigation which takes a decidedly sinister turn ...
On his first day back at work following his suspension, DI McLusky finds himself in the midst of a major murder enquiry when a body is discovered in the canal at Netham Lock. Chained, weighted down, tied to a buoy by the neck, it has all the hallmarks of a premeditated, ritualistic killing. As he questions those who knew the victim in an attempt to uncover the dead woman's secrets, McLusky's investigations are disrupted by the discovery of a second body. Bound and gagged like the first - but there are differences.
If McLusky could only work out what connects the victims, he would be one step closer to catching the killer - and preventing more deaths.
Meanwhile, his rival DI Kat Fairfield is pursuing a routine investigation which takes a decidedly sinister turn ...
240 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2015
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Peter Helton
15 books17 followersPETER HELTON was born in Germany but moved to London in 1982 where he worked as a translator for film and TV before discovering the attractions of the West Country.
He completed a Fine Arts Degree at UWE and has exhibited in London, Cornwall and Bath. At present he divides his time between his painting studio and writing in the study of a minute cottage near Bath in the company of his cat, Asbo.
Series:
* Chris Honeysett
* Inspector Liam McLusky
He completed a Fine Arts Degree at UWE and has exhibited in London, Cornwall and Bath. At present he divides his time between his painting studio and writing in the study of a minute cottage near Bath in the company of his cat, Asbo.
Series:
* Chris Honeysett
* Inspector Liam McLusky
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 15, 2015
The body in the canal...
DI Liam McLusky has returned to his job after a nine-week suspension, but is under warning from his boss that one step out of line will result in him being fired. But Liam is fundamentally a good cop, so despite the black cloud hanging over him, when a woman's body is found in the canal he is put in charge of the case. A few days later another body is found, a man this time, and there are elements of the two murders that make Liam suspect they are linked, though he can't see what the two victims have in common. Then a third man is abducted...
I recently enjoyed Peter's Helton's Indelible, a PI novel with a Golden Age feel about the setting, so I was intrigued to see how his style would work in the format of the police procedural. And I'm pleased to say the answer is – very well.
The book gets off to a good start with a nicely scary chapter about a woman sensing an intruder in her flat. It turns out this is part of a sub-plot about a sex-pest who is graduating from stealing underwear from clothesline to more serious offences, and this storyline runs in parallel with the murder mystery. We then meet Liam for the first time, in this book, at least – there have been earlier books, which I haven't read, but this one works fine as a standalone. At this point Liam is still on suspension, is driving drunk and behaving like a stereotypical maverick, and my heart sank. However, I'm glad to say he improves on acquaintance – once he is back at work he proves to be a good detective and manages to remain sober. And although he has a string of failed relationships behind him, he hasn't given up all hope of finding the right woman.
The main plot is complex enough to hold the reader's interest throughout, even if it does require the odd bit of disbelief suspension. I admit I kinda guessed whodunit a good bit before the end, but not why, so it didn't spoilt the suspense too much. And the sub-plot about the sex-pest is very well done, getting increasingly creepy and chilling as it goes along. Liam and his partner, DS James Austin, work as a good team and their interactions help to make both characters likeable and enjoyable. And oh joy! It's written in the third person past tense!
I like Helton's writing style. I could complain that the story was a bit over-padded, and I could have lived with fewer descriptions of Liam smoking, drinking coffee, eating chocolate bars etc. But, in contrast, the violence is gritty without being graphic, the dialogue is realistic without the constant use of bad language, there's some humour that keeps the tone light, and the characterisation is very good throughout, and particularly of Liam himself. It all goes to show what a lottery crime writing is – I'd rate this book well above the average standard of most police procedurals out there, and better than many that have achieved a higher level of success. So if you're in the market for a new author, here's one I recommend.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Severn House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
DI Liam McLusky has returned to his job after a nine-week suspension, but is under warning from his boss that one step out of line will result in him being fired. But Liam is fundamentally a good cop, so despite the black cloud hanging over him, when a woman's body is found in the canal he is put in charge of the case. A few days later another body is found, a man this time, and there are elements of the two murders that make Liam suspect they are linked, though he can't see what the two victims have in common. Then a third man is abducted...
I recently enjoyed Peter's Helton's Indelible, a PI novel with a Golden Age feel about the setting, so I was intrigued to see how his style would work in the format of the police procedural. And I'm pleased to say the answer is – very well.
The book gets off to a good start with a nicely scary chapter about a woman sensing an intruder in her flat. It turns out this is part of a sub-plot about a sex-pest who is graduating from stealing underwear from clothesline to more serious offences, and this storyline runs in parallel with the murder mystery. We then meet Liam for the first time, in this book, at least – there have been earlier books, which I haven't read, but this one works fine as a standalone. At this point Liam is still on suspension, is driving drunk and behaving like a stereotypical maverick, and my heart sank. However, I'm glad to say he improves on acquaintance – once he is back at work he proves to be a good detective and manages to remain sober. And although he has a string of failed relationships behind him, he hasn't given up all hope of finding the right woman.
The main plot is complex enough to hold the reader's interest throughout, even if it does require the odd bit of disbelief suspension. I admit I kinda guessed whodunit a good bit before the end, but not why, so it didn't spoilt the suspense too much. And the sub-plot about the sex-pest is very well done, getting increasingly creepy and chilling as it goes along. Liam and his partner, DS James Austin, work as a good team and their interactions help to make both characters likeable and enjoyable. And oh joy! It's written in the third person past tense!
I like Helton's writing style. I could complain that the story was a bit over-padded, and I could have lived with fewer descriptions of Liam smoking, drinking coffee, eating chocolate bars etc. But, in contrast, the violence is gritty without being graphic, the dialogue is realistic without the constant use of bad language, there's some humour that keeps the tone light, and the characterisation is very good throughout, and particularly of Liam himself. It all goes to show what a lottery crime writing is – I'd rate this book well above the average standard of most police procedurals out there, and better than many that have achieved a higher level of success. So if you're in the market for a new author, here's one I recommend.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Severn House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
September 6, 2018
Pretty good mystery series about a hot mess of a DI who's new to Bristol. I must say, the author makes Bristol sound like hell on earth. O.O
July 12, 2015
Detective Inspector Liam McCluskey is a has good instincts as a cop, but no judgment as a person. Even he knows that the conflict inherent in that contradiction threatens his job, but he doesn't do much about it. He needs to work for a really good chief inspector, who could take him in hand, but he doesn't. The tension between what he is and what he could be chips away at the amount of interest I'm willing to give him. The first novel was promising, the second was moderately interesting, and the third is frustrating.
October 16, 2020
This was a sort of gory book, how this guy was attacking people that were rich and horribly torturing them, electrocuting them, drowning them alive, etc. Detective McLusky, who was often in trouble, skirting police boundaries, was determined to find him. Even with an encounter with him. Unfortunately, the detective didn’t take any precautions and got sticking drunk and then became a victim of a beating from the killer. In the end, the police figured out why he killed each victim to have vengeance for how his father died in one of their apartments. The detective got his man, who, when surrounded committed suicide.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2019
2.5 stars. I’ve read the first 3 books in the series; entertaining but not memorable. Book 3’s plot is too similar to the second book. The detectives don’t know who is behind the killings, do not see a relationship between them, and can’t find a motive. The author is literate and the books are well-edited - very few typos; in that regard a pleasure to read. Sites of events are Real places, not fictional, which is also a plus.
February 15, 2021
Enjoyable series.
April 13, 2015
Review can be read at It's About The Book
4.5 stars
What a delightfully twisty mystery this was! Peter Helton is one hell of a writer and I was in suspense the entire book, never figuring out who’d done it until the very last minute. In fact, I wasn’t even certain how many crimes were going on in this book for a very long time. And I was never sure quite how much I liked the inspector. McLusky is a very grumpy youngish detective, who acts and seems like a much older, curmudgeonly man. For goodness sake, it felt like he was Oscar in the old Odd Couple sitcom. He had an atrocious eating, drinking and smoking habit and didn’t take care of himself at all. He was just coming off a suspension at the beginning of the book and had obviously screwed up royally because everyone was watching him like he was a time bomb and his boss told him if he did ONE THING WRONG he was gone. Poof!
These are not the clean, cerebral mysteries of a Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie, where the detectives have tea and scones and twirl their mustaches or knit their tassies and brilliantly deduce things. You don’t think your way through this book. You feel each and every bout of heartburn; you yearn for McLusky to find someone to love who will push him to actually BUY a bed-frame and get that damn mattress off the floor. And while you admire the fact that he’s so intensely driven to solve the cases that he walks off in the middle of a conversation with the girlfriend that left him that he would kill to have back…you wish he could learn to compartmentalize. To learn to save some of it for a personal life. But it doesn’t seem like he can. And that makes you sad. However, it is what makes him such a brilliant detective.
So when the first odd murder happens, it’s unrelated to anything else. There are no clues. They start investigating when the second happens, but the connection is tenuous at best. But they continue. As McLusky sets himself up as the scapegoat for the killer’s hate, he begins a cat and mouse game that could not only help him find the killer, it could add him to the killer’s list.
While I feel I would have benefited from having read the previous books in the series, I loved this mystery. It made me feel like I was in the detective’s disturbed, sad head–probing the mysteries and vagaries of the human mind. It’s almost as if because he is so dysfunctional, it helps him understand others who are as well. Sadly never surprised at the depths to which people will sink.
I’m wondering if he’s the chocolate thief as well.
4.5 stars
What a delightfully twisty mystery this was! Peter Helton is one hell of a writer and I was in suspense the entire book, never figuring out who’d done it until the very last minute. In fact, I wasn’t even certain how many crimes were going on in this book for a very long time. And I was never sure quite how much I liked the inspector. McLusky is a very grumpy youngish detective, who acts and seems like a much older, curmudgeonly man. For goodness sake, it felt like he was Oscar in the old Odd Couple sitcom. He had an atrocious eating, drinking and smoking habit and didn’t take care of himself at all. He was just coming off a suspension at the beginning of the book and had obviously screwed up royally because everyone was watching him like he was a time bomb and his boss told him if he did ONE THING WRONG he was gone. Poof!
These are not the clean, cerebral mysteries of a Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie, where the detectives have tea and scones and twirl their mustaches or knit their tassies and brilliantly deduce things. You don’t think your way through this book. You feel each and every bout of heartburn; you yearn for McLusky to find someone to love who will push him to actually BUY a bed-frame and get that damn mattress off the floor. And while you admire the fact that he’s so intensely driven to solve the cases that he walks off in the middle of a conversation with the girlfriend that left him that he would kill to have back…you wish he could learn to compartmentalize. To learn to save some of it for a personal life. But it doesn’t seem like he can. And that makes you sad. However, it is what makes him such a brilliant detective.
So when the first odd murder happens, it’s unrelated to anything else. There are no clues. They start investigating when the second happens, but the connection is tenuous at best. But they continue. As McLusky sets himself up as the scapegoat for the killer’s hate, he begins a cat and mouse game that could not only help him find the killer, it could add him to the killer’s list.
While I feel I would have benefited from having read the previous books in the series, I loved this mystery. It made me feel like I was in the detective’s disturbed, sad head–probing the mysteries and vagaries of the human mind. It’s almost as if because he is so dysfunctional, it helps him understand others who are as well. Sadly never surprised at the depths to which people will sink.
I’m wondering if he’s the chocolate thief as well.
January 30, 2015
Because of rating differences, I'm giving this book 3 stars here on Goodreads and 4 stars on Amazon.
In spite of not liking the main character of this novel I still liked the book enough to give it a 4 star rating. Not the character's fault, but on almost every page he ate, smoked, or drank something he shouldn't have. Nothing illegal, just annoying when it happened so often that it became monotonous. Detective Inspector Liam McLusky was also portrayed by the author as a "bad boy" type of copper. Which is what led mostly to him smoking too much, eating a diet of unhealthy food, and drinking himself stupid when he was off duty. This stupid drinking, naturally, happened at the absolute worst times possible.
So if I haven't turned you off the book completely by this time, you will probably find the detection and solution aspects as well written as I did. McLusky is a DI in the Avon & Somerset constabulary, specifically in Bristol. There are two previous novels in this series so a lot of the characters have already made an appearance and are familiar with each other through shared history. This time bodies are being found in very unusual circumstances and the victims have been killed in different ways. The author pulled a really clever trick, like a magician pulling the card out from behind my own ear because I was so busy watching the deck in his hand. I liked the twist. I liked that I was fooled.
I don't know yet if I will read the previous books because I tend to like less private life being explored for my fictional detectives. Besides, I don't really care who Laura is sleeping with.
I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley.
In spite of not liking the main character of this novel I still liked the book enough to give it a 4 star rating. Not the character's fault, but on almost every page he ate, smoked, or drank something he shouldn't have. Nothing illegal, just annoying when it happened so often that it became monotonous. Detective Inspector Liam McLusky was also portrayed by the author as a "bad boy" type of copper. Which is what led mostly to him smoking too much, eating a diet of unhealthy food, and drinking himself stupid when he was off duty. This stupid drinking, naturally, happened at the absolute worst times possible.
So if I haven't turned you off the book completely by this time, you will probably find the detection and solution aspects as well written as I did. McLusky is a DI in the Avon & Somerset constabulary, specifically in Bristol. There are two previous novels in this series so a lot of the characters have already made an appearance and are familiar with each other through shared history. This time bodies are being found in very unusual circumstances and the victims have been killed in different ways. The author pulled a really clever trick, like a magician pulling the card out from behind my own ear because I was so busy watching the deck in his hand. I liked the twist. I liked that I was fooled.
I don't know yet if I will read the previous books because I tend to like less private life being explored for my fictional detectives. Besides, I don't really care who Laura is sleeping with.
I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley.
January 12, 2016
Typical British police procedural (I mean that in a GOOD way) with an obsessive male lead who has a questionable personal life and a supportive and accepting work "family". This one is somewhat reminiscent of Ian Rankin's Rebus, but set in Bristol instead of Edinborough, with elements of Pascoe and Dalziel in the relationship between DI Liam McLusky and DS James "Jane" Austin.
The clues to the primary case in the story were well laid out -- which is my nice way of saying I had an idea of where things were going well before the police did. The secondary plot was also a bit obvious -- so much so that I had convinced myself that the actual clues must be red herrings because they were so transparent.
Funniest part to me as a Canadian was when an incidental character "happened" to recognize the difference between an American accent and a Canadian accent because a family member moved to Canada. Hahahaha, nope. (Should have mentioned something specific instead, like maybe the Canadian was wearing a piece of clothing with the CFL logo for the city the relative lived in, or something like that.)
Anyway, regardless of its minor flaws this book made me remember how much I love police procedurals, especially British ones with dysfunctional male leads.
The clues to the primary case in the story were well laid out -- which is my nice way of saying I had an idea of where things were going well before the police did. The secondary plot was also a bit obvious -- so much so that I had convinced myself that the actual clues must be red herrings because they were so transparent.
Funniest part to me as a Canadian was when an incidental character "happened" to recognize the difference between an American accent and a Canadian accent because a family member moved to Canada. Hahahaha, nope. (Should have mentioned something specific instead, like maybe the Canadian was wearing a piece of clothing with the CFL logo for the city the relative lived in, or something like that.)
Anyway, regardless of its minor flaws this book made me remember how much I love police procedurals, especially British ones with dysfunctional male leads.
July 9, 2015
Solid procedural, slightly-predictable plot, repetitive character descriptions, and a very abrupt ending.
July 7, 2015
The third in a series distinguished by a quirky protagonist, engaging supporting cast and well- paced action.
August 18, 2015
Interesting bug confusing at the end
April 12, 2017
Very Good. Love the Brit detective stories. This is another following the police investigation of a list of murders. They are helpless to prevent them until they know who the murderer is and so it is pretty suspenseful. Unfortunately, the murderer gets thru his list before they find out. Couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews