jewelleryjen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed the way it was written, intertwining stories with different chapters focusing on bringing different things to light. I especially enjoyed that I thought I knew where it might be going and then the book surprised me. I found myself swinging between siding with each of the main characters.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
4.0
Surgeon Diana Jager had courted controversy in the past so when she exiled herself in Aberdeen the last thing she was looked for was romance, and definitely not with a hospital IT worker. However after a whirlwind relationship Diana is married and living with her husband Peter, whilst he tries to develop revolutionary software that will support them both. As time goes by Diana suspects things are not quite as rosy as they could be and when Peter disappears after a row and his car is found in the river, suddenly Diana is in the frame for murder. Asked by Peter's sister to look into the events surrounding this marriage, former investigative journalist Parlabane finds himself intrigued but what he discovers is much more than just the story of a 'black widow'.
It was only after reading reviews of this book in preparation for writing this one that I found out that this book is the latest in a series about Parlabane. I thought the book was a one-off about Diana Jager! It is a testament to the quality of Brookmyre's plotting that this bit of information did not diminish my enjoyment nor cause any confusion by my not knowing any background information. The story is very twisty, set across two timeframes and two narrators. Diana's story is that of an ambitious and emotionally distant woman who has been through the mill and is trying to come out of the other side, believing in true love and seeing the scales moved from her eyes over time. Parlabane is a dogged investigator who smells a rat and doesn't back down. In the end the denouement is somewhat expected but with enough surprise to leave this reader very satisfied
It was only after reading reviews of this book in preparation for writing this one that I found out that this book is the latest in a series about Parlabane. I thought the book was a one-off about Diana Jager! It is a testament to the quality of Brookmyre's plotting that this bit of information did not diminish my enjoyment nor cause any confusion by my not knowing any background information. The story is very twisty, set across two timeframes and two narrators. Diana's story is that of an ambitious and emotionally distant woman who has been through the mill and is trying to come out of the other side, believing in true love and seeing the scales moved from her eyes over time. Parlabane is a dogged investigator who smells a rat and doesn't back down. In the end the denouement is somewhat expected but with enough surprise to leave this reader very satisfied
imme_g's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Winner of the 2016 McIlvanney Prize...
When Peter Elphinstone drives off the road into a river one cold, dark night, it appears to have been a tragic accident. But Peter's sister isn't convinced. She knows Peter was stressed and unhappy in his new marriage and fears there's more to his death than it looks at first sight. So she asks journalist Jack Parlabane to investigate. The uniformed police officer who attended the scene of the crash also isn't wholly convinced, but CID seem happy to let the incident be filed under accident. So Ali and her new partner Rodriguez carry out a little investigation of their own. Soon all the evidence seems to be pointing towards Peter's wife, Diana...
This is my first introduction to Chris Brookmyre and I was hugely impressed by the quality of the writing. The book is told partly in third person from Parlabane's point of view, partly in first person from Diana, and partly from a neutral third person voice covering any aspect not directly involving either of these two characters.
Diana is a surgeon who once kept an anonymous blog where she complained about the sexism shown to women within medicine and the NHS in general, and told some fairly damning stories about colleagues. Her cover was blown when she got hacked, and a huge public scandal ensued that led to Diana being forced to leave her high-flying job down South and head for the small and rather remote town of Inverness in the Scottish highlands where, despite her reputation, the management were keen to have such a skilled surgeon on their books. Alone, forty, and with her body-clock ticking loudly, it's here that she meets Peter, one of the hospital's IT guys, and after a whirlwhind romance, they marry. The question is: what lead to Peter's death only six months later? Diana tells us the story of their relationship, while Parlabane digs into her background.
The NHS setting is brought convincingly to life, and I say that as someone who has spent most of her working life in it. All the rivalries, the arrogance of the top medical professionals, the strict pecking order, the cliques and groups, the loyalties and ultimately the professionalism are all very well done. Brookmyre shows the sexism as an institutional thing – that it is hard for women doctors and surgeons to balance such a demanding career with a fulfilling family life – rather than overt sexism from male colleagues, and again I found this very true to life.
The characterisation is very good, especially of the main characters, Diana and Peter, both of whom Brookmyre manages to keep ambiguous even while we learn a lot about them. The plotting also starts out great, though in truth I felt the outcome was pretty well signalled by about halfway through, meaning the twists towards the end came as no big surprise. There are also a couple of pretty big deviations from reality, which I'm not sure would be noticed by non-Scots in one instance, and non-Scottish NHS employees with a good understanding of the rules around NHS IT confidentiality in the other. Unfortunately, being both those things, they leapt out at me and left me wondering if it had been a failure of research or whether Brookmyre had simply decided to twist things to fit his plot. A degree of fictional licence is always permissible, of course, so I did my best to overlook them, but they did kinda spoil the credibility for me, especially since both were important as to how the plot worked out.
Despite those criticisms, I found the book very readable and more-ish, doing that just one more chapter thing till the wee sma' hours. Parlabane is a likeable character. He's clearly had some ethical problems in the past, and still isn't averse to breaking the odd law or two, but in this one at least his motives are good and he doesn't go too far into maverick territory. His divorce has just become final, and he's finding himself approaching middle-age, single and with his career going through a rocky patch. Brookmyre handles all of this well, including plenty of humour in the book to prevent any feeling of angsty wallowing. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Grove Atlantic.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Peter Elphinstone drives off the road into a river one cold, dark night, it appears to have been a tragic accident. But Peter's sister isn't convinced. She knows Peter was stressed and unhappy in his new marriage and fears there's more to his death than it looks at first sight. So she asks journalist Jack Parlabane to investigate. The uniformed police officer who attended the scene of the crash also isn't wholly convinced, but CID seem happy to let the incident be filed under accident. So Ali and her new partner Rodriguez carry out a little investigation of their own. Soon all the evidence seems to be pointing towards Peter's wife, Diana...
This is my first introduction to Chris Brookmyre and I was hugely impressed by the quality of the writing. The book is told partly in third person from Parlabane's point of view, partly in first person from Diana, and partly from a neutral third person voice covering any aspect not directly involving either of these two characters.
Diana is a surgeon who once kept an anonymous blog where she complained about the sexism shown to women within medicine and the NHS in general, and told some fairly damning stories about colleagues. Her cover was blown when she got hacked, and a huge public scandal ensued that led to Diana being forced to leave her high-flying job down South and head for the small and rather remote town of Inverness in the Scottish highlands where, despite her reputation, the management were keen to have such a skilled surgeon on their books. Alone, forty, and with her body-clock ticking loudly, it's here that she meets Peter, one of the hospital's IT guys, and after a whirlwhind romance, they marry. The question is: what lead to Peter's death only six months later? Diana tells us the story of their relationship, while Parlabane digs into her background.
The NHS setting is brought convincingly to life, and I say that as someone who has spent most of her working life in it. All the rivalries, the arrogance of the top medical professionals, the strict pecking order, the cliques and groups, the loyalties and ultimately the professionalism are all very well done. Brookmyre shows the sexism as an institutional thing – that it is hard for women doctors and surgeons to balance such a demanding career with a fulfilling family life – rather than overt sexism from male colleagues, and again I found this very true to life.
The characterisation is very good, especially of the main characters, Diana and Peter, both of whom Brookmyre manages to keep ambiguous even while we learn a lot about them. The plotting also starts out great, though in truth I felt the outcome was pretty well signalled by about halfway through, meaning the twists towards the end came as no big surprise. There are also a couple of pretty big deviations from reality, which I'm not sure would be noticed by non-Scots in one instance, and non-Scottish NHS employees with a good understanding of the rules around NHS IT confidentiality in the other. Unfortunately, being both those things, they leapt out at me and left me wondering if it had been a failure of research or whether Brookmyre had simply decided to twist things to fit his plot. A degree of fictional licence is always permissible, of course, so I did my best to overlook them, but they did kinda spoil the credibility for me, especially since both were important as to how the plot worked out.
Despite those criticisms, I found the book very readable and more-ish, doing that just one more chapter thing till the wee sma' hours. Parlabane is a likeable character. He's clearly had some ethical problems in the past, and still isn't averse to breaking the odd law or two, but in this one at least his motives are good and he doesn't go too far into maverick territory. His divorce has just become final, and he's finding himself approaching middle-age, single and with his career going through a rocky patch. Brookmyre handles all of this well, including plenty of humour in the book to prevent any feeling of angsty wallowing. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Grove Atlantic.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
sp00ky_n3rd's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this. I knew sort of how it was gonna turn out but it was good following the twists and turns to see how it got there! My only wish is that I'd been slightly more confused - though there were definitely surprise reveals, my guesses were a bit too close to what happened.
jessicarosedarcy's review against another edition
5.0
SO GOOD. That plot twist, I really didn't see it coming!
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
5.0
Well if this is not the twistiest, darkest, cleverest of books I've read in a long while. Ok, so these might not be actual words but my head is still reeling from that ending that I still can't speak properly.
Genius is my one word review. So blinking clever. Characters superb - I believe in every single one, I was led down every single dark alley, tricked into not believing what was right in front of my eyes and believing what I thought was real. I reread chapters and still didn't spot the clues. Ha! I am going to have to cool down my mystery loving brain for a few days and read some lighter stuff - to cool off the overthinking neurons as they're all fired up now.
Not surprised at all to see it won the Bloody Scotland award last year, It's on the list for Harrogate this year - it would be my winner.
Genius is my one word review. So blinking clever. Characters superb - I believe in every single one, I was led down every single dark alley, tricked into not believing what was right in front of my eyes and believing what I thought was real. I reread chapters and still didn't spot the clues. Ha! I am going to have to cool down my mystery loving brain for a few days and read some lighter stuff - to cool off the overthinking neurons as they're all fired up now.
Not surprised at all to see it won the Bloody Scotland award last year, It's on the list for Harrogate this year - it would be my winner.
rachelini's review against another edition
4.0
I liked accessing the story from multiple viewpoints - I wanted more of the two PCs! I didn't love the use of first person for the surgeon. Great story, though, and I thought I'd figured out one of the secrets, but I was quite wrong.