Jon Morgan is a retired police Superintendent and francophile who, it is said, has consequently seen almost everything awful that people can do to each other. He relishes quality writing in all genres but advises particularly on police procedure for authors including John Harvey and Jon McGregor. Haunts bookshops both new and secondhand and stands with Erasmus: “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I may buy food and clothes.”
The discovery of
partially devoured human remains in the forests surrounding the county
jurisdiction of town police officer, Henry Farrell turns out to be murder, and
not just because the head is missing.
From this grisly (Sorry, wrong
species of bear.) discovery, the activities of otherwise fine upstanding
citizens are laid bare and the county turns into a war zone. Farrell himself
becomes suspected of involvement in the mounting body count.
The involvement of myriad layers
of US law enforcement are not enough to solve the mysteries and restore the
status quo and Farrell has to go on the run, leaving his pregnant wife and
family, to flush the bad guys out and along the way, seek his young nephew who
has gone missing. The availability of high powered firearms which belong, not
in a hunting community, but in major armed conflict, is stunning and a direct
result of the constitutional right to bear arms.
The Bramble and the
Rose is the 3rd in a series to feature
Henry Farrell and based in the backwoods of Northern Pennsylvania in the
apparently bucolic, and wholly inaptly named, ‘Wild Thyme.’ Legal corruption,
family issues and drugs are all featured, but apart from the main character, Henry,
the real star is the environment, where ‘civilisation’ butts up against
wildlife with a capital ‘W.’ Think: “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” with automatic
weapons, and a bear that fights back!
An exceptional read, devoured in
one sitting. Quite unlike any crime fiction I have read before. It is way
outside my usual reading and preference, but occasionally, it is good to be
challenged. The writing is fresh and moves the action along with some nail biting
set pieces. Minor niggles include my bêtes noire of US terminology and the
labyrinthine and complex US criminal justice system.
I will certainly look out
for the previous volumes, Dry Bones in the Valley and Fateful
Mornings (which Val McDermid described as: “A haunting dissection of the
broken heart of America.”) in my bookshop meanderings.
