Cast A Cold Eye, by Robbie Morrison - Nigel
Editor’s note: “Glasgow, 1933. Murder is nothing new in the Depression-era city, especially to war veterans Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn and his partner 'Bonnie' Archie McDaid. But the dead man found in a narrowboat on the Forth and Clyde Canal, executed with a single shot to the back of the head, is no ordinary killing.
A suspected IRA cell is at large, embedded within the criminal gangs and attracting the ruthless attention of Special Branch agents from London. With political and sectarian tensions rising, and the body count mounting, Dreghorn and McDaid pursue an investigation into the dark heart of humanity - where one person's freedom fighter is another's terrorist, and noble ideals are swept away by bloody vengeance.”
Whilst the novel takes a while to pick up speed, the atmosphere of 1930s Glasgow is instantly menacing, akin to a Scottish Peaky Blinders, from the perspective the two central police characters of Dreghorn and McDaid - damaged but ostensibly moral if not always strictly lawful.
It didn't matter that I hadn't read the first novel in the series, as the characters were quickly understood as the plot unfolded its layers. It is gripping, developing to a crescendo. A satisfying and not fully conclusive ending. There is clearly more to come!
Nigel
