DCI Christine Caplan #4
Can be read as a stand-alone.

Perhaps DCI Christine Caplan is relieved to have her family day celebration interrupted following her son Kenny‘s girlfriend Jade’s provocative rudeness. She sent to Torsvaig Castle, formerly known as Limpetlaw, for a potential fatal incident with air and sea rescue alerted, as well as a drone searching the bay. Her boss, Detective Superintendent Adam Spencer informs her the victim is former supermodel Koi McQuarrie-Samphire, her husband a celebrity photographer and the family being well connected influencers. He urges caution as nothing will be as it seems and the media attention will be huge. No pressure then, Caplan. The case is seriously weird from the get go as is the family response, especially that of their manager Pip Pomeroy. What is the truth of the extended family of the McQuarrie-Samphires and who is the real Koi?

I really like this series and have enjoyed them all, chiefly because of the likeable character of Caplan, her interesting family and police team especially the sartorial (not) DS Finan Craigo. The dynamics of the team are always good and this is evident in this latest instalment with plenty of entertaining banter alongside the hard work.

The setting in the castle is fabulous. It creates a terrific ancient atmosphere and the site is used so effectively in the unfolding and deepening mystery. The surrounding sea with the treacherous rocks matching human treachery, the heat of an untypical Scottish summer matching the heat of the investigation with the ancient walls wrapping around the whole thing. Add in the cult of celebrity, the multitude of questions about the exploited household and their strange behaviour, the eerie, claustrophobic, controlling atmosphere builds and builds. The whole set up is odd and peculiar to say the least and at times there are more questions and answers and in addition, rather a lot of coincidences.

As more evidence about Koi and her fellow supermodels known as The Sunflower Girls is revealed it causes the complex case to become even more tricky to try to solve. This is an especially puzzling part of the investigation.

It’s very well written, there’s plenty to keep you immersed in the storytelling with the darkness of Torsvaig being relieved with some well placed humour often courtesy of local policeman Officer Wattie from Pitcottie Station. I really like the end and I can’t wait to see what happens to Christine et al next.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Severn House for the early copy in return for an honest review.

A Glossy Facade..
The fourth in the DCI Christine Caplan series and a fatality at the foot of a cliff brings the team to a Scottish castle, home to a now deceased influencer and her tribe - but did Koi jump or was she pushed? Caplan needs to ferret beneath the glossy and glamorous facade of the influencer sheen to find the answers. A well crafted procedural with a strong female lead, a cast of well drawn characters, a credible setting and a compelling plot - a worthy addition to this series, each of which can be read as a standalone.

This is a good series. I actually started the series with Book #3, Out of the Dark, not realizing it was a series. I then went back and read the first two. Now we have #4 and I think it's my favorite! I'm a sucker for any plot revolving around social media stars. It still just boggles my mind that this is an actual, and quite lucrative, occupation. But anywho.... we revisit DCI Christine Caplan and her team as they are called to a Scottish castle where a social-media-famous family lives. Seems family member Koi, an ex-model, has fallen off a cliff. Or did she? There is no actual body, but there is a really cool picture of her body lying below on the rocks. Uh, ok.....? I loved reading about this horrible family and the atmosphere is terrific. I also really like DCI Caplan. Here's to hoping there is a Book #5!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Caro Ramsay and Severn House for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram, Barnes and Noble and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of August 5th.

Thanks to Caro and NetGalley for allowing me to read Where She Lies.

This is the fourth book in the series and the best to date and a page turner.
Caro has woven so many strands into this story : -

• The media are told that a celebrity family have moved from London to a Scottish Castle for their “privacy”. Their manager, who controls every aspect of their lives, feeds stories via a third party to tame journalists.

• A creepy setting which hints of “The Scottish Play”.

• A person missing in circumstances which could be likened to that of the author, Agatha Christie.

At home, Caplan’s dinner party is disrupted when her son Kenny’s new girlfriend, Jade, launches a vitriolic attack on police in general and Christine in particular.
It is clear that there is more to the mysterious Jade than meets the eye. Where did she get so much information?

Caplan’s team are by now well established.
DS Craigo continues to be a force to be reckoned with, his local knowledge being more than a match for the PNC.

There are many twists and turns, secrets and lies…….or perhaps the lies are just the person’s “truth”.

DCI Caplan is called to a castle in Scotland, where a social-media-famous family lives. The family is headed by a former model, Koi, and her celebrity photographer husband. Koi's disappeared from the cliffs surrounding the castle under mysterious circumstances during a family party: has she died in a tragic accident? Has she been pushed? And where is her body?

DCI Caplan is a rich, complex character, with her own family troubles bookending the story. I found the story surrounding her family compelling, and it was interesting to watch it unfold.

I personally don't enjoy police procedurals, and this book was heavy on it. We don't spend a lot of time observing or talking to the family firsthand: we get most of the information about them through dialogue during meetings amongst the police. That made it difficult for me to follow the story, and by the time I got to the end, I was surprised, because it felt as if not much had really happened. I could recall a few actual scenes in the castle that stuck out, but so much of the exposition was just reported from the police that there just wasn't a lot to hold on to. I prefer being taken through the action as it unfolds with the detective rather than reading it being reported to her.

I didn't read the previous books in this series, but it works as a standalone fine.

The latest in the DCI Christine Caplan series sees the detective and her team called to a coastal castle after a fall from height onto the rocks. Finding out the victim is an ex super model draws them into an unfamiliar world. But when the body doesn't immediately turn up on the tide, suspicions are raised.

Caplan and the usual crew find themselves dealing with influencers and the uber rich, all led by their controlling manager. The characters are well described although the plot meanders between past and present, making progress slow.

Ultimately Caplan does find some lines to progress, but not at pace. This is an interesting novel, with some weird and wonderful characters, but ultimately not the best installment of what is a fine series.

Caro Ramsay can do no wrong in my opinion, and while Christine Caplan isn’t my favourite protagonist of hers (possibly related to my lack of ability to see any part of myself reflected in an effortlessly put together ex-dancer), I still gallop through her books telling myself ‘just one more chapter’ until I reach the end. She has a great combination of engaging story, beautiful setting, and complicated relationships.

This book starts with Caplan being called to an imposing castle on a high cliff, the home of an ultra-famous family who have recently moved to Scotland from London. Koi, the mother of the family - ex supermodel, face of a generation - has fallen from the imposing cliff to the rocks below. The castle is practically a fortress, with no way in or not, and the large family of influencers seem more interested in their Instagram likes and spinning the PR narrative than helping the investigation. The victim herself is a mystery behind her public persona. Unraveling the truth puts Caplin herself into the glare of the public eye, and overall this is a solid read with a satisfying ending.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This series - with DCI Christine Caplan - is one I am always keen to read. It's so interesting having a female lead who has lived a life with adult children, a partner and friends as well as her job as a detective. In this installment Christine's life is progressing. She's moved from her caravan into a semi-renovated cottage with her husband who is coming out of his depression. One adult child is engaged to a sensible and loving man, while another is dating a 'nepo-baby' journalist who mines her connections with the family to undermine Christine professionally. Indeed the 'nepo-baby' theme is the one on which this novel turns as Christine's case in this novel involves the investigation into the disappearance of a minor celebrity and Chris must deal with her brood of 'nepo-babies'. In the course of the investigation, links to historic crimes emerge. While the police procedural elements of the novel are very satisfying, I most enjoyed Christine's character: her good humour, resilience, courage and smarts. The ending - while avoiding spoilers - is a celebration of female agency.

Looking forward to the next one, Caro Ramsay!

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
Another great book from Caro Ramsay; tense, thrilling and chilling, I loved it.
Hiding away in an ancient castle in Scotland is a family famous for the stunningly beautiful Koi, famous the world over.
Detective Caplan is tasked with finding out what happened to Koi when her body is found on the rocks below the castle.
What she finds is a mystery: no body found, but a picture of Koi lying still on the rocks below the castle. Interrogating the family is almost impossible; they are almost like a cult, led by the father and his manager. They belong to a company that's making millions selling the family and wares on the Internet. P
Talk about a seriously mentally unstable family ... several members are traumatized and psychologically abused, all to keep the fans obsessed and buying anything related to them. Not that far away from today's reality!
And what a satisfying ending, I loved it!
It's a fantastic, beautifully written mystery, Can't wait for no. 5 in the series. Caro Ramsay is a genius!

This was a fascinating and compelling mystery which I think I half figured out what was going on from the start but was difficult to tell as the family involved is extremely complex. When I read I don’t get images of what’s going on in my head and I think that would have been useful for this in honesty as there’s some amazing descriptions of the castle but I found the geography confusing in honesty, there’s also some great descriptors of the family who are quite a nightmare. It really does a great job of reflecting how fame can impact a family and in this case the manipulation of the children was genuinely disturbing. The case is very challenging for the police and there’s an unexpected arrest for murder too., it’s a very twisty read but it’s the darkness of the characters that makes it so addictive.