Mik lives in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, but travels the length and breadth of the UK as a Project Manager. He's a long-time crime fiction fan, with bookshelves groaning under the weight of signed copies from some of the greats of the genre. He's also a reviewer, and an aspiring crime writer, with hopes of joining his literary heroes on a shelf near you in the not too distant future.
A new police procedural series from Parker Bilal introduces the interesting but disgraced duo of Detective Calil (Cal) Drake and forensic scientist Dr Rayhana Crane. Both attempting to re build their reputations after messing-up previous assignments.
The story is set in central London. A seemingly unrelated couple of bodies are pulled from under a pile of stone and rubble at a building site. The area is undergoing work to develop luxury apartments and it’s immediately clear that this is no accident. The pair appear to have been killed in the most brutal way. They are an unknown Japanese man and the wife of the millionaire developer responsible for these apartments.
Keen to get his career back on-track and sensing this is a high-profile case, Cal Drake pleads with his superior to be the lead officer assigned to this case. His wish is granted and although initially sceptical about the qualities Crane can bring to the case, they ultimately work closely together in bringing this investigation to its satisfying climax.
I felt that the author did a remarkable job of capturing the vibrant but chaotic life that is living in the Capital, especially capturing the perspective from people of all backgrounds and religions, as a vivid backdrop.
Drake and Crane are given forty-eight hours to solve the case before it’s passed to Major Crimes. I was expecting this to ramp up the tension, but I didn’t feel the author added any urgency to the plot. Drake and Crane are complex characters and I really like them. Particularly the motorbike riding Crane. Initially they clash, Drake being the untrusting Lone Wolf and Crane questioning his motives but before long they realise, they have a lot more in common than they realised.
I look forward to these characters developing further in the series. I was equally impressed with how the author was able to offer very different perspectives on race, class and religion in a very unobtrusive manner.
In summary this is a gritty and cleverly written story that opens up several questions that will surely be answered further into the series.
