Friday, January 4, 2013

WHILE THE DEVIL DRIVES by Christopher Brookmyre_Review


Review of When the Devil Drives by Christopher Brookmyre
5 stars

I reviewed an e-book copy received via NetGalley.

“When the Devil Drives” is the second worthy entry in author Christopher Brookmyre’s new series which began with “Where the Bodies Are Buried.” Semi-untrained yet feisty young private investigator Jasmine Sharp is making a go of the investigative business more or less bequeathed to her by her “Uncle Jim,” her late mother’s cousin. She still isn’t totally confident, to say the least, but she’s accepted that this is her current career path and that professional acting probably won’t come to pass. She also has the occasional very needed assistance of former gangster Glennan Fallon, a man who still holds secrets about Jasmine’s parentage.

In this story, Jasmine is hired to locate a woman by her sister, who has had no contact with her since 1981. Oddly, neither has anyone else, including her then-friends, employers, or the tax office. Nor has she a record of emigrating to America or Australia or New Zealand, nor anywhere else. Early in her investigation, Jasmine is warned off, but the warning appears more to be of a spiritual nature than a pragmatic one; yet she soon finds that the investigation is indeed, proving very dangerous, to herself and to others.

Author Brookmyre presents his plot line in an eerily gritty fashion; the parallel plot line, which eventually directly intersects with Jasmine’s, presents DS Catherine McLeod, a Glasgow police detective who has seen much of the worst the world has to offer. Readers who enjoy for example, the novels of Val McDermid (as do I), will find Mr. Brookmyre’s series well worth the reading.

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