A Deeper Shade Of Blue by
Paul Johnston
pbk out April 03
(NEL)
at £5.99
To date Johnston has made a name for himself with a series of ironic crime novels set
in a futuristic Edinburgh ruled by a benevolent dictatorship. Here he swaps the
lowlands for the islands – of Greece - in a bigger, more exotic thriller. Investigator
Alex Mavros is hired to find missing American tourist Rosa Ozal, who had been
holidaying on the tiny Greek island of Trigono but has failed to return to her job.
Mavros is happy to take the case, get away from Athens for a while and from the
increasing demands of his current girlfriend. Johnston divides his time between
Scotland and Greece and has given his new hero Alex Mavros dual Scottish-Greek
nationality - useful as he can pass for Scottish and eavesdrop on the locals.
The book has plenty of high-octane action and other blockbuster elements both among
the choice of characters (arrogant tycoon, sex-addled wife, deranged son,
downtrodden village widow) and in the story elements (diaries from the second world
war, serial killings, idyllic yet inhospitable foreign location, the hero as unwelcome
outsider in an isolated, insular and feud-riven rural community - it's not only the sun
that glares on Trigono). Johnston keeps up the pace and keeps us turning the pages.
The sun baked setting and Greek island life, along with the edgy relationship with
tourists, is richly observed. A great beach read but maybe not if you've plans to go
(alone) to some remote Greek island.
Manchester Evening News 26.4.03
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
A Deeper Shade Of Blue by
Paul Johnston
