When Shadows Fall

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Pub Date 19 Mar 2020 | Archive Date 19 Mar 2020

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Description

'Immensely exciting and atmospheric' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
'Move over Rebus' Daily Mail
'Exciting, pacy, authentic' ANGELA MARSONS
'Convincing Glaswegian atmosphere and superior writing' The Times
'Relentless and intriguing' PETER MAY

Discover DSI William Lorimer - the series that has sold more than a million copies across the world.

Whether you've read them all, or whether you're coming to Alex Gray's highly acclaimed series for the very first time, this is the perfect, page-turning read if you love Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid or Ian Rankin.

DSI Lorimer is back with a brand new case. And the stakes have never been so high . . .
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When his old friend and former colleague is shot dead at his home, Detective Superintendent William Lorimer is devastated. And his problems are only just beginning. It's not long before two further deaths are reported: both victims ex-policemen.

It's clear this is a targeted campaign against their own, yet with no other link between the victims to identify the killer, Lorimer's police team are starting to panic. Who will be next?

Lorimer knows he must keep his cool if he is to solve the case. But with time running out before the next attack, he's struggling to ignore the sickening question at the back of his mind:

Will he get to the killer, before the killer gets to him?

_____________________

WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT WHEN SHADOWS FALL

'Alex Gray's great crime fiction series is one you can pick up at any stage and not feel lost . . complex, intriguing, tense'

'A fast-paced thriller with lots of twists and turns'

'This series just gets better and better and everything still feels fresh. Highly recommended'

'Immensely exciting and atmospheric' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
'Move over Rebus' Daily Mail
'Exciting, pacy, authentic' ANGELA MARSONS
'Convincing Glaswegian atmosphere and superior writing' The Times
'...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780751576436
PRICE £14.99 (GBP)
PAGES 384

Available on NetGalley

Send to Kindle (PDF)

Average rating from 25 members


Featured Reviews

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of When Shadows Fall, the seventeenth novel to feature DSI William Lorimer, the Glasgow based head of Police Scotland’s MIT.

Lorimer is devastated when his former boss, George Phillips, is shot dead in his garden in what looks like a professional hit. Unfortunately he is not the last former police officer to be shot. With no forensics and no clear motive Lorimer and his team are facing one of the toughest cases of their careers.

I thoroughly enjoyed When Shadows Fall, which is an engrossing read with multiple twists and turns. It is told from multiple points of view so it is a real puzzle for the reader to work out how the various characters fit into the narrative and where the author will take them. I found some of the switches in point of view quicker than I expected so took a second or too to re-adjust but, on the whole, they whetted my appetite for more information rather than being a distraction. The plotting is clever and intricate, rather fiendish in fact, as the reader is aware of “the Big Man” manipulating events with no idea of who he is or how he is doing it. In fact, with all these mysteries to solve it seems as if there is never a dull moment.

I have dipped in and out of this series over the years and still have a few of the earlier novels to read but this is not a problem as this, like the others, will work well as a stand-alone. I had forgotten how much comfort is to be derived from the familiar. I was brought up on the South Side of Glasgow so I know many of the locations well and can picture them. It adds a certain something to the read, as does the language. There are a few Scottish terms that may be unfamiliar to readers from further afield, even some I haven’t heard in years but the meaning is clear and they won’t present problems.

I like the fact that the main characters are fairly normal in that they have few personal problems and are mostly content with themselves, apart from job stress. It makes a pleasant and welcome change to be able to concentrate on the investigation rather than a stream of neuroses.

When Shadows Fall is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC of the latest in the DSI Lorimer series and oh my goodness what a welcome addition to the series this book is.
This series just gets better and better and is fast becoming one of my favourite series of books. I have read all of the previous books and Alex Gray certainly knows how to draw her readers in. All of the characters are entirely relatable and are not "perfect" the way some characters in other author's books are. Although this is the 17th in the series, everything still feels fresh. It is gritty without being too grim and is fast paced and I could not put it down. I was honoured to get this advanced copy as I love these books. I have no hesitation in recommending this book or the series. 5 stars all the way.

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I was new to the DSI William Lorimer series and also to the author, but I’m so glad I’ve discovered them as this book was great and had everything you could ask for in a crime thriller.

When a gardener discovers a body when preparing a new flower bed, DSI Lorimer is called. The body seems to have been there a while and it appears that the person was shot. But why are they buried in a garden, and more importantly, who are they?

Then retired police officers start getting shot in their homes DSI William Lorimer head of the MIT for Police Scotland leaves the investigating to the local SIO’s in the different areas the officers were killed. But after more deaths and a ballistics link showing that the same gun is being used in each attack, he has no option but to take on the case before there is a public outcry.

At the same time a serving police officer is shot on her doorstep changing the pattern of murders, is this the same gunman or is it an entirely different crime committed by someone else?

Who is behind the attacks? Why can’t they find any connection between the murders? How can they stop them? Who will be next?

I really enjoyed this book, its well written and its great how all the different parts of the story connect for the ending. I will definitely be looking out for more Alex Gray books in the future!

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Alex Gray’s Lorimer Series reaches book 17 with When Shadows Fall and it is showing no signs of fatigue.

A 20 year old skeleton is found in a garden and then retired police officers start being shot but are they connected.

The book is very engaging and definitely a page turner as the story moves along at a pace.

All the main characters return along with a few new ones although not all are “goodies”.

This is a very good series of books and When Shadows Fall is definitely recommended

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Police thriller set in and around Glasgow. I like catching up with these characters in a fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns. A good read.

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Thank you to NetGalley for reconnecting me with this authors books, having not read one for a while I was intrigued as to whether I would be able to follow the characters and can confirm this was not an issue

When retired police officers start to be killed in their own homes it is left to Dsi Lorimer and his team to face what could be the most harrowing and toughest case they have yet to face

Highly recommended and has now inspired me to read the others I have missed in the series

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Detective Superintendant Lorimer is gutted when his old friend and colleague is found dead at home,but there is worse to come when two more ex-policemen are found dead.It is now up to Lorimer and his team to solve the case and stop another murder of one of their own,but can he do it.5*

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I've dipped in and out of this well established series so can say that this book works well as a stand alone but many of the central characters I remember.
A clever plot, well written with just a smidgen of Scottish humour.

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This is the latest addition in Alex Gray's Detective Superintendent William Lorimer series that I dip into every now and then, based in Glasgow. There is a strong focus on the families, marriages and relationships that have developed over time, but with little on the whole in the way of strife, conflict, competitive rivalries, traumas, or addictions common in crime fiction. In this well plotted story, it all begins with a landscape gardener, Joseph Alexander Flynn, friend of Lorimer, working in a well to do client's garden, when he shockingly digs up a skull and remains of a long dead corpse shot in the head. This brings Lorimer to the scene and the beginnings of the cold case team painstakingly trying to figure out the identity of the victim and what happened to him , with the only clue that his poor diet and its effects suggesting the possibility of someone who had been in prison.

Lorimer and Police Scotland have more trouble heading their way that is to culminate in stress, chaos and terror that they could never have forseen. It starts with the shooting dead in his garden of Lorimer's well respected and admired boss, George Phillips, now retired. Lorimer is left reeling, wondering who would want to kill George? He has scarcely taken this in, when another retired police officer in another part of the Scotland, ex-DI Stephen McAlpine, is gunned down. Two separate investigations are set up, when the news comes in that both men had been shot with the same gun. With no leads or any evidence, the police are left scrambling, the hits have been professional, and fear spreads amongst the police force when a current DC Sharon Carson, a member of Lorimer's MIT team is shot dead on her doorstep. There are differences and anomalies in Sharon's murder, but the killing of other retired police officers continues as the case comes under Lorimer's MIT team. It is the input of Professor Solly Brightman that begins to give them an inkling to where the truth might lie.

Alex Gray's great crime fiction series is one you can pick up at any stage and not feel lost, you can soon pick up where the characters are. In this complex, intriguing and tense storytelling, the connections between the cold case killing, and the present day shooting spree targeting retired police officers will begin to put the MIT team on the road to unmasking the 'Big Man', the organising mastermind behind the nightmare police murders. One of my favourite threads is the relationship between an older cancer-afflicted bad man and inmate of Barlinnie prison, John Ramsey, and the Reverend Donald Petrie, the non-judgmental chaplain, the unexpected and surprising path Ramsey's life takes, illustrating that redemption and salvation is not always out of reach. This is a wonderful crime read where I enjoyed catching up with the familiar characters caught up in a humdinger of a case. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

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