Monica Kennedy #1

Thenstory is set in Inverness, Scotland. Young teenage boys are either missing or they have been found dead. DI Monica Kennedyniz in charge of the investigation. Social worker, Michael Bach is also looking for a missing boy. Monica is also a single mother. They've just moved back to her roots and she's trying to make an impression.

This book held my attention all the way through. It's quite graphic in its descriptions of the violence that takes place. The descriptions of the scenery and the weather were spot on. This is a dark and gripping read. I liked the main characters and I hope that Michael will feature in more books as the series progresses. My only criticism is the constant reminders of how tall Monica is. A great start to a new police procedural series. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and the author G.R. Halliday for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A bleak atmospheric thriller set in the Scottish highlands, introducing the very tall detective Monica Kennedy.

With young men’s bodies turning up, with a stone forced down their throats Monica Kennedy investigates. Monica is a bit of a strange protagonist and the author constantly refers to her ungainly height and tight boots.. a single mother of 4 year old Lucy, she’s a hard working maybe partly misunderstood detective.

Brutal, harrowing with very little to lighten the mood, this is very melancholy start to a new series and a over long book that takes maybe 2/3 to really begin,

I found the narratives a bit of a struggle and this isn’t my favourite book so far this year. I’ve got an approval for book 2 in the series and will endeavour on in hope of something that hits the mark for me. All that being said though I can appreciate the appeal for hard boiled crime thriller readers,

I was keen to read this as I am a huge fan of Scotland and detective fiction set there. The book dovetails the story of the police with Michael, a social worker looking for a client. The basic premise sounds good- young boys are being lured away by a mysterious stranger and end up murdered with small black stones in their throat. However, Monica Kennedy turns out to be a tall (endlessly told this) Breatharian detective who as well as not needing to eat/drink/go to the loo also doesn't need to sleep. She appears to be the only police officer on the planet who can deal with the murders. Her cavalier, unprofessional and totally irresponsible attitude to colleagues is breath taking but to her daughter??? Good grief! I seriously could not believe that she wouldn't be hauled over the coals as a result. The plot disintegrated, the torture session was unnecessary and I'm unlikely to read more

Meet Monica Kennedy, a very tall detective in the Scottish Highlands, who is a single mother to her young daughter Lucy. And who is caught up in a complicated series of murders. Young lads appear to have been lured away from their homes and murdered; however we also see the story a little from the killer's perspective, showing how they are actually abducted.

Monica rather oddly brings in a social worker, Michael Bach, who is seeking another missing boy to help - this bit doesn't really ring true, as the police would rarely, if ever, release evidence to a third party to work on.

Monica is not a particularly endearing character, and hopefully she will become more rounded in the next book, which I am looking forward to reading. Her relationship with colleagues, her mother and even her child are quite prickly.

Overall an interesting story, pacy and I was kept guessing until almost the end to uncover the culprit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book reminded me a bit like Shetland the TV programme only with a female detective instead. Good book but wasnt interesting enough for me . Will read another by this author to see if the books do get any better

This is quite scary, gritty crime that is very much a page-turner. Good new series to follow with a female lead detective and a beautiful Scottish location. Look like a winner.

I liked the premise of the plot but I found it quite hard to get into and I wasn't gripped, unfortunately. I didn't connect with the lead detective either and I felt she needs to develop as a character for future offerings. If thus happens, I'd probably enjoy it more.

I'm sorry to say that his book didn't work out for me. I really hoped the story would be interesting since I found the blurb to intrigue me, but I found myself just not interested enough to care about what was going on.

It took me a little while to get into this book and I did get a bit confused with everything going on at once. However I'm really glad I persevered, and the last third of the book was really gripping.
DI Monica Kennedy is struggling to juggle motherhood and the police force. She takes on a case of a missing boy who is later found murdered in odd circumstances. It soon becomes apparent that this is the work of a serial killer and Monica is forced to enlist the help of some outside sources to try and solve the case, even though her superiors don't agree.

I hope there are more DI Kennedy books to follow.

When a young boy is found , tortured and murdered with a part of a meteorite pushed down his throat, his social worker, Michael, is concerned. DI Monica Kennedy is assigned to the case and when another boy is found she realises there is a potential serial killer on the loose. Hampered by her superiors Kennedy is trying to juggle catching a killer with her responsibilities as a parent and her guilt over her relationship with a notorious local family. Michael is worried about his client but someone is out to get him.
The setting of this book is great, mixing the wide open and intimidating landscapes of the Highlands with the intensity of the city of Inverness, it really helps to create a contrast that works. Potentially Monica Kennedy is a good lead character with enough of a backstory to keep revisiting. My issue was with the last quarter of the book. It felt rushed and with the crimes solved to a certain extent but still lots of questions unanswered regarding motive etc. It may be that the author wishes to revisit this in a subsequent book but I felt that there wasn't really any closure on the (dead) perpetrator.

Sadly, this book was not for me. I enjoyed the setting, which was what initially attracted me to it, but for a crime novel, it was too slow for me and the plot was a bit too concentrated into the last third of the book. I would certainly pick up another book by the author because he certainly can evoke an atmosphere, it's just that I have different expectations of crime fiction.

There is definitely something about the vast expanse of the Highlands in Scotland that makes it quite possibly the perfect setting for crimes like the ones featured in this book. The fact that everything is so remote creates that eeriness that people can disappear and potentially never be found.

This book follows two lead characters: Monica Kennedy, a Detective Inspector juggling the pressures of a demanding job and raising a young daughter on her own, and Micheal Bach, a social worker struggling with his own inner demons whilst at the same time trying to help young adults work their way through life.

These are two very different characters who collide in the course of a set of gruesome murders both with a vested interest in finding out what happened. Despite them being unlikely acquaintances in their own round about way they actually seem to work really well together and it was an enjoyable read to experience the investigation from both their point of views.

There is a really good twist at the end of this book concerning an unlikely character and really created that little ‘wow I didn’t see that one coming’ moment. This is a book I would definitely recommend for anyone who likes police procedurals or who likes to read along with an investigation trying to solve the clues.

I'm afraid I'm abandoning this one at 30%. The actual writing is quite good, and the author gives a good feel for the Highland setting. But the plot is derivative of so many serial killer stories with nothing to make it stand out from the crowded field.

There are three main reasons I'm giving up on it, apart from the basic one that the story is not grabbing me. Firstly, I am utterly bored by the references to how enormous the detective is every second sentence. She's only 6' 2", for goodness sake - hardly freakish, nor Guinness Book of Records standard. If this is the best the author could come up with to make his main character seem fresh and original, then the editor should have had the courage to tell him it wasn't working. Secondly, in contemporary police procedurals, there has to be at least some feeling of credibility. The detective sneaking evidence out of the station and handing it over to a suspect is ridiculous. Thirdly, too much swearing - lazy, lazy writing that adds nothing, except a feeling of mild distaste and tedium.

I wish the author well - it seems to me he has the basic talent to write good books in the future, and I hope he does. But this one is not for me. Since it's a debut, I'm not going to post this negative review publicly.

Lastly, a note to the publishers.. While I appreciate the opportunity to get books free via NetGalley, that doesn't mean I'm willing to plough through books that haven't been properly edited, proofread or formatted. This one is particularly bad - punctuation errors, lack of capital letters, etc. If the reading is unpleasurable, this can affect the reader's feeling about the book, however hard she might try to overlook it. Better to put the book out later, in a more finished state.

I was drawn to this book by its setting in Inverness & the Highlands as it is an area I am fairly familiar with. That might have been what made me pick it up but it wasn't what kept me reading!

A young lad disappears from his bedroom & is found miles away posed in an almost ritualistic fashion with a stone wedged in his throat. DI Monica Kennedy fears that this may not be a one off killing. Michael Bach is a social worker who is fast approaching burnout. He is searching for one of his clients who seems to have vanished. The police don't seem very interested but he can't seem to shake off the conviction that Nichol's disappearance is suspicious & he worries that this is another young life he has failed.

Divided into the days the case takes & switching from Monica to Michael's perspective with some confusing additions from 'the watcher' this is a fast paced police procedural. I really enjoyed it and I hope there is more to come in this series.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this five star book.

It's great to read a crime novel set in the Highlands and to have a woman detective as its protagonist. DI Monica Kennedy isn't perhaps initially the most sympathetic of characters but she grows on you. The writing is very good as is the plotting with plenty of twists and turns to keep you going. My only reservation is that it is quite graphic at times in its depiction of violence. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I have given this 3* for the content pretty good story but was hard to follow as the punctuation was dire. I have read books before where they have not been proofread and they are not half as bad as this it really spoilt it for me. One minute your reading about the detective and what she is doing next you turn the page to find your reading about an entirely different character.,not even a break of a couple of lines or even a new chapter all names whether Christian or surnames should be in capital letters but not in this case, was very bad, and should not have been downloaded in that state and I nearly gave up, as you really had to concentrate and read twice to see where the plot was going... I also found the characters were not very well thought out all you got for the main character is that she is large and tall, and likewise for the DC's they were skinny with one gelled his hair, not much of a description. The story is there but in need of polishing.

My thanks to Random House U.K./Vintage Harvill Secker for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘From the Shadows’ by G.R. Halliday in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in a series of police procedurals featuring D.I. Monica Kennedy set in Inverness and the Scottish Highlands.

It begins with a very dramatic scene in which 16-year old Robert arrives home. He has been in a stroppy mood with his father since his mother unexpectedly left them. He goes upstairs without a word to his father and ...... I am not saying more except it’s not a happy outcome.

The next day DI Monica Kennedy is called to attend the discovery of a posed dead body near the coast. After looking through current missing person cases to identify the body she meets Michael Bach, a social worker, who feels responsible for the disappearance of one of his clients. Even though the body is not that of his client, Nichol, he is determined to track him down. Meanwhile, another body is found and the case becomes increasingly complex.

There is a lot going on in this novel, which continues alternating between Monica’s and Michael’s viewpoints. In the shadows we get the occasional glimpse of a sinister watcher.

I found this a gripping read with some great twists and shocks, though there were times when I felt a bit overwhelmed by the various plot strands. There also was a point late on where I became very frustrated with a decision made by Monica and wanted to reach into the book and give her a good shake!

I adored the inclusion of Colonel Mustard, Michael’s cat that acts very dog-like. His antics brought a touch of levity to a very grim investigation.

Overall a solid start to the proposed series and I look forward to reading more of Monica (and Michael?) in this atmospheric setting.

Scotland is cold in the winter and clear skies let you see the stars. Young boys are murdered and posed in death and left with a piece of rock within them. What can thus mean and what is it leading to?
Monica is on the case and gains help form Michael. A dark, well written book that is a gripping read throughout. Characters are well written and the plot twists to the end. Enjoy!

Gleich zu Beginn erlebt man mit, was dem Opfer Robert am Beginn des Abends passiert. Er kommt zu spät von der Schule heim. Anscheinend hat er Nachrichten von seiner Mutter, die sie verlassen hat, erhalten. Von einem bereitstehenden Kakao, den er trinkt, wird er handlungsunfähig und muss hilflos entdecken, dass er nicht allein in seinem Zimmer ist. Der Täter bleibt in dem Augenblick unbekannt.

Seit 18 Jahren klärt die 40-jährige Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy schwere Verbrechen auf. Sie steht nun mit ihrem neuen Partner DC Crawford beim Körper des jüngsten Opfers, in der Einsamkeit der schottischen Westküste. Das Opfer wurde gefoltert und in betender Stellung positioniert.

Dann wird der Sozialarbeiter Michael Bach als weitere Hauptfigur eingeführt. Der junge Nichol wollte ihn dringend treffen, aber das ist schon sieben Tage her, zu dem Treffen ist es nie gekommen, weil Michael sich zwei Stunden verspätet hat. Als er sich damit an die Polizei wendet, verknüpft man diese beiden Vorgänge, aber der Besuch in der Pathologie zeigt, dass der Getötete nicht Nichol ist. Aber dann kommt die Vermisstenmeldung von Roberts Vater rein...

Mit dem Fortschreiten der Ermittlungen werden auch immer wieder Kapitel aus der Sicht des unbekannten Täters eingestreut. Zunächst scheint es ein Standard-Serienkiller-Plot zu sein, aber erweist sich dann doch als interessante und komplexe Geschichte. Der Roman ist ein solider Krimi. Zum chaotischen, aufreibenden Showdown ist fast schon jeder verdächtig, die Auflösung kann überraschen, aber das Motiv ist mir selber zu abstrus und etwas weit hergeholt.

Monica beobachtet ihren neuen Partner kritisch. Sie hat sowieso einen ausgeprägt zynischen, nüchterner Blick auf die Welt. Ihre Mutter ist eine sehr interessante Nebenfigur. Aber sowohl mit Monica als auch Michael konnte ich nicht richtig warm werden, sie konnten mich emotional nicht berühren.

An intriguing setup with some unlikely and unusual characters — especially DI Monica Kennedy — yet I struggled to really get stuck into this book. I found the crime-solving a bit too convoluted and wasn’t really interested in any of the characters. I had to give it up eventually.
Monica Kennedy herself is quite the enigma, the too-tall misfit, the sort we’ve come to recognise as maverick detectives in fiction, but almost always male. Thus, she’s quite a breath of fresh air. However, one struggles to really connect with her.
(Review copy received from NetGalley.)