Fast paced crime thriller

My Rating:  4 out of 5

This thriller opens, in typical Owen Mullen style, with action packed drama.  Set in Glasgow, and surrounding area, the fast pace continues throughout the book, as the reader is drawn into the lives of those the action impacts upon. 

This is the third (stand alone) thriller featuring the great character Private Investigator Charlie Cameron, as he struggles to solve and understand why a man has gone missing, and what is going on at the local hospital.   Meanwhile a new development is being proposed, with the slogan “Good for Glasgow“, however “good” might not be an apt word for anyone opposing the development!     

Lending a hand to unravel what is going on, are characters from previous Owen Mullen thrillers in the series, including Pat Logue (when he’s not busy drinking beer )  and of course DS Geddes.  All the characters are very true to life, and are becoming more familiar as the series progresses.   Indeed I feel that if I bump into Charlie Cameron in a pub I will know him immediately!  

The time-line starts on New Year’s Eve/Hogmanay and keeps up a brisk pace over a relatively short period.  No to-ing and fro-ing between different time periods here!

A 4* rating from me, as there are quite a few characters in the book, and I did occasionally get confused as to who was who.  Probably says more about me than the book! The story holds together well, the action keeps going, with some poignancy added, and insights into Charlie Cameron’s private life gives even more interest. 

Although this is a stand alone book, many of the characters appear (or are central) in previous books. Therefore I recommend starting  earlier in the series, so that you know more about each character before meeting them in this book.  I started reading the series at Book 2 The Wronged, and loved it, so that’s a good place to start with if you don’t want to go back to Book 1 Games People Play. 

There is 4th book in the Charlie Cameron series, called The Accused, coming out on 21 September 2021, published by Boldwood Books.

This is a revised and re-edited version of the edition previously published as Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. 

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Other books I have read, and reviewed, by this author (click on book cover to see review) :