Savage Tide by
Glenn Chandler
pbk out September 03
(NEL)
A relief to find a straight-forward British crime novel, after all the 'noir' and
American formulaic books. This is the first novel by an author well
experienced in the crime genre, as he was the creator and writer of the
'Taggart' series, so well-known on ITV.
It is a police procedural book, but with a difference, in that when Detective-
Inspector Steve Madden is called to a particularly nasty murder, he discovers
that the victim is his own 19-year old son. He is already bitter and twisted
over his own divorce and has been stalking his wife, torturing himself with
the thought of her in bed with the new man. Then even more disturbing facts
emerge about his son, which rack up his guilt levels to intolerable levels.
He falls out with his colleagues and superior officers, as he refuses to back
off from the investigation as ordered. His Detective-Sergeant, an Asian lady,
is both his spy and his mistress.
The story is set in Brighton (and 'Hove, actually', as he explains), which is a
change from the many books now sited in northern and Scottish cities, which
themselves were a departure from the traditional London and Home
Counties environment. The police procedures are pretty well faultless and I
even failed to pick the usual holes in the pathology.
It is a satisfying book, very well-written and tense, with that something
which makes you want to prop it against the marmalade to keep reading at
breakfast. Also, it starts at the beginning and goes on to end, which is so
welcome after the modern fashion for endless temporal chopping and
changing.
An unusually good read, highly recommended.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Savage Tide by
Glenn Chandler
