Truth Lies Buried

Fully developed characters, not everyone is as they seem and lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. At times I found the book a little too linear and the pacing slipped a little in the middle. But a very enjoyable book. Take it to the beach!

Reading this ten days ago I thought it was wonderful. Now that my better half has read it and we’ve done all the post-mortems and compared our clinical notes, we rank it as outstanding.

The style is nuanced, sly, wry, and fiercely intelligent, without a superfluous word. Cultural allusions and quotable quotes abound, with two already established in our domestic lexicon.

You know from the get-go that a beautiful terror is born, and the joyride just keeps getting better. It’s all down to feisty, complex Monica, whose heart must have been forged from some mercury-tungsten amalgam. Her love and lust lead to chaos, lunacy, muddle and mayhem, carving up turf, inheritances and physiognomies, with unassailable logic and inevitability.

To sum up: a riveting crime novel that twists, turns, wrings and wrenches its way through a mesmerising cast of sentient psychopaths, a hitlist of great characters – most gone far too soon – but, I guess, c’est la morte. But then again who ever said that death was fair? And why can’t I find an English word for noir?

Reading this ten days ago I thought it was wonderful. Now that my better half has read it and we’ve done all the post-mortems and compared our clinical notes, we rank it as outstanding.

The style is nuanced, sly, wry, and fiercely intelligent, without a superfluous word. Cultural allusions and quotable quotes abound, with two already established in our domestic lexicon.

You know from the get-go that a beautiful terror is born, and the joyride just keeps getting better. It’s all down to feisty, complex Monica, whose heart must have been forged from some mercury-tungsten amalgam. Her love and lust lead to chaos, lunacy, muddle and mayhem, carving up turf, inheritances and physiognomies, with unassailable logic and inevitability.

To sum up: a riveting crime novel that twists, turns, wrings and wrenches its way through a mesmerising cast of sentient psychopaths, a hitlist of great characters – most gone far too soon – but, I guess, c’est la morte. But then again who ever said that death was fair? And why can’t I find an English word for noir?

Sam Riley, ex-army and night club bouncer, takes a job as a bodyguard for Monica, the young glamourous wife of Essex gangster Benny Cohen, and son Brando. Sam falls for heavily for Monica’s charms and as the story opens, Sam along with old mate Joe Murphy, is burying Benny’s corpse.

But Sam floating along on a dream of a life in the sunshine with Monica is swiftly brought down to earth when it transpires that Monica has a different dream, and it doesn’t include Sam.

The twists and turns of the plot move at a terrific speed, hardly had I got my head round one development than it was shattered by another. Even before the funeral the Essex villains were pestering Monica with offers to take over the various aspects of Benny’s business. But is it Monica’s to sell?

Continually overlooked is eleven-year-old Brando whose care falls to Sam as Monica pursues her own agenda. But being overlooked can have its advantages as Sam discovers when Brando shares one or two nuggets of information.

This book is rich in characters, Gloria the housekeeper, Big Jim Carver and his rival for Benny’s empire Gerald Fowley. And the late Benny’s lawyer, Richard Bloom, who drops a bombshell on Sam.

The plot is complex and convoluted as are the relationships which come to light as the story unfolds and the bodies start to mount up. Attempting to find the killer or killers is Detective Inspector Wendy Morrison and Detective Sergeant Trevor Jones.

There is much I could say about this book but I hesitate to give away any of the many surprises that keep turning the story on its head. I liked Sam and hope that this is the start of a series. The story moves along at a cracking pace and I heartily recommend it. Clever title!
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett