No Time to Cry: Constance Fairchild Series 1 (The Constance Fairchild Series)

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The female characters come across much better written and empathetic here. Most of the male characters seem one-dimensional, and generally grumpy and / or dumb. There’s a potential love interest with an old friend of her brother’s, but that storyline doesn’t develop very far. But she does her best to ignore them and finds allies in Karen Eve, Bain and Diane Shepherd. They do their best to include her in the investigation that concerns the young man she found and others that have died from their injuries. Con, aptly named for such a dogged, determined woman, needs to know what happened to this young man and a chance encounter with a young woman elicits a name, at least, before the woman runs off. To avoid the press and make herself useful, Bain agrees that she should go and talk to the young man’s mother, who lives in Edinburgh.

Natural Causes, The Book of Souls, and The Hangman’s Song are the three best books in the bibliography of James Oswald. Natural Causes and The Book of Souls have just been described and thus no need to revisit them. Nothing to Hide is a terrific addition to the series. It’s very interesting to follow DC Constance Fairchild’s career and to follow her relationship with her family and colleagues.The first thing that really draws me into James Oswald’s novel is the feeling of place, I love the rural Wales setting – the detail on Aberystwyth and the surrounding area really makes the book sing – it reminds me of childhood holidays to the Welsh coast; the high cliffs, hidden coves, and smugglers caves. The fact that I finished this book at all, and until near the end was contemplating giving it four stars is a testament to Oswald’s skill as a writer. I don’t like Con Fairchild, but the story kept me going until close to the end – it was only then, and when I sat down to think about what I’d read, that the weaknesses became apparent.

She stays with a friend of her aunts, Rose who claims to be a psychic she is a unique character who seems to be well known in the area and hopefully we will see more of her in future books. The story revolves around a young mans body which Con finds behind the bins near where she lives. He has been brutally mutilated but is still alive. It seems this is not the only incident of this nature happening as it has happened nationwide. Part of this book is set in Edinburgh, which is one of my favourite cities so I enjoyed following Constance on her visit there. This part also features a bit of a cross over with characters from the MacLean series which as a huge fan of the series I found hugely enjoyable. I’d love the two teams to feature in future books! I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of Nothing to Hide, the second novel to feature DC Con Fairchild of the Met. I was impressed with the third book about the new character and I look forward to reading both the Inspector McLean and the Con Fairchild series in the future. Strongly recommended.

Publication Order of Christopher Fowler Short Stories/Novellas

When Con does stumble across a clue, she often doesn’t follow it up – on several occasions, she notices something important, and I expected that the next scene would show her investigating further – but she never did. Trouble always seems to find her, and even if she has nothing to hide, perhaps she has everything to lose…. Just when it seems as if things couldn't get any worse, Con discovers the almost dead body of a mutilated young man near her home. It turns out he isn't the first victim either and all these cases could be linked to some bizarre religious cult. The first one is the DCI Gilchrist series authored by Frank Muir. The featured protagonist, called Andy Gilchrist, is a detective inspector domiciled in St Andrews, a coastal town in Scotland.

The featured protagonist in the two aforementioned books is Anthony McLean, a police inspector. McLean is a homicide detective who was orphaned at an early age. He was reared by his grandmother who, after being in a comatose for quite some time, died of stroke. I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of Nowhere to Run, the third novel to feature Detective Con(stance) Fairchild of the National Crime Agency. When further bodies turn up, also mutilated, Con finds herself in danger in a claustrophobic drama…. So when she unwittingly falls foul of two local men and ends up in a jail cell with Lila, a young Ukranian woman, it is not long before Con finds herself at the dark heart of a criminal enterprise which involves, drugs, modern slavery and prostitution. The subsidiary characters, particularly the villains, were rather one dimensional, and only the dog and Karen's girlfriend stood out from the crowd.DC Con Fairchild is recovering her balance, her health and her career following a high profile case which has left her the focus of media attention and forced her into hiding to escape that. Returning to London from a Highland retreat she finds herself confronted by a mutilated young man, barely alive and almost on her doorstep. Although she's supposed to be suspended from work, work seems not to be willing to suspend itself from her and she is pulled into a new investigation. I really enjoy the sense of something other worldly that imbues these books; just out of reach of explanation, never tangible enough to grasp, but there in plain sight, all the same. The ambiguity of dealing with ritualistic crimes and looking for legal justice leads to a fascinating and utterly compelling tension that keeps the reader transfixed. Now this book can be read as a standalone. However, given the fact that Constance (or Con as she likes to be called) is still off-duty due to her role in the previous case. There is a lot of references to the first book. It doesn't detract from the story in hand, but for me now I don't see the need to read No Time To Cry as I basically know how it pans out. Con Fairchild is Lady Constance Fairchild, though her title is not something she would dream of using. The tabloids refer to her as ‘the Posh Cop’ ever since she uncovered a web of corruption which led to the murder of her old boss. Con isn’t all that popular with some members of her own force, either, Cops died in the final fall out that Con was at the heart of and that won’t be forgotten for a very long time. So she’s returned home to her cold and stark London flat, where she does her best to avoid the journalists that seem to be dogging her every footstep.

In custody she meets a young Ukrainian woman, Lila, who confides in Con that she's been forced by her manipulative boyfriend into prostitution and running drugs. Fearing for her life, she has run away from him, only to end up in the cells. The Hangman’s Song, which is the third book in the Inspector McLean series, was initially published in February 2014. In this book, there is a series of seemingly suicide cases wherein three Edinburgh residents take their own lives. But their suicide notes point to a creepy helical trail, implying that a murderous person or thing is on the loose. Detective McLean is on the quest for reconciling the suspicious murders and sleuthing organized crime all the while.

This is the second book in the series which features DC Constance Fairchild which is written by James Oswald and I have taken to this series just like the Inspector McLean series, I love it! Con can smell the evil that’s surrounding these bodies and she’s got a pretty good idea where it’s coming from. The only question is whether she can stay alive long enough to solve the case and bring the perpetrator to justice. James Oswald fills this book with easter eggs and references to his hugely successful Inspector McLean Series. Locations and characters that will fill McLean fans with unbridled joy when they pop up. Yet Oswald still manages to do it in a throwaway, blink or you’ll miss it fashion that won’t confuse or deter readers new to this, the Constance Fairchild Series. My thanks to Headline/Wildfire for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Nowhere to Run’ by James Oswald in exchange for an honest review. Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex