Dead Wrong by
Cath Staincliffe
pbk out April 99
(Headline)
at £5.99
This is the third novel by Cath Staincliffe which features Manchester PI Sal Kilkenny and begins with the bombing of The Amdale Centre in the heart of the city. Sal is a feisty, energetic single parent whose neighbour Ray often looks after her child Maddie while Sal investigates. The story revolves around two cases; Luke Wallace is eighteen and in jail awaiting trial for the alleged murder of Ahktar, his best friend. Unfortunately, when the murder took place outside a night club, he was high on a cocktail of drugs and remembers nothing. The other case concerns Debbie, a divorcee who is being stalked relentlessly. The two cases are not connected but there isn't that sense of disparity sometimes evident in novels with separate storylines.
Dermott Pitt is the urbane solicitor dealing with the Luke Wallace case and clearly has no time for impudent PIs investigating what is already an open and shut case. Ahktar's parents are bitter and vitriolic towards Sal to say nothing of her friend Ray who obviously dislikes the often dangerous encounters which occur often with implied and sometimes real danger to both Maddle and his own family. But Sal is determined and although often thwarted, has a gritty knack of bouncing back when all seems lost.
Debbie Gosforth's brother, Ricky has only one motive in mind and that is to catch the stalker and kill him. Sal has a fight on her hands to ensure that she gets there first and the only time that there is a link between cases is at the book's climax. There is a lovely underlying humour to this novel and a clear political perspective. There are many twists and turns and the ending is gripping and electric. It is a long time since I have enjoyed a British-based female PI story as much as I did this one. The style flows and the characters are down to earth and utterly believable. Read this, it is excellent.
Dead Wrong by
Cath Staincliffe