| Publisher | Severn House |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 25 February 2015 |
| ISBN-10 | 0727884824 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0727884824 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 224 |
| Price | £ 19.99 |
Ashes to Ashes
by
Some dodgy goings-on at a Somerset crematorium bring trouble for crime-fighting husband and wife Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley.
Review
Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley are a seemingly respectable married couple, living in an old rectory near Bath with their five children, and Patrick’s parents (his dad is village vicar). But they turn out to be a crime-fighting duo straight out of the movies.
But we’re not talking high-tech gadgets here. This is a down-to-earth pair with an entertaining line in back-chat, and the usual worries any parents face – even if that does include not telling the kids that dad’s gone undercover again!
Patrick is ex-army, invalided out and now working for the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Ingrid is an author (although this aspect of her life stays firmly on the back burner), but she acts as a consultant for SOCA and is frequently called in to haul her loose cannon other half out of trouble .
Ashes to Ashes involves a lot of hurtling up the M4 to the seedier patches of east London. But there are also some suitably creepy scenes close to home – the book kicks off with a local woman demanding that Patrick’s father find out why she has been given a bag of left-over parts by the crematorium that definitely didn’t come from her ex-husband. And there are some unpleasant discoveries in a remote Somerset village.
The story isn’t non-stop action, and is a tad one-paced at times. But sparky dialogue and some stomach-churning descriptions make it a good page-turner. And it doesn’t matter in the least if you haven’t read any of the previous books in what looks to have been a longish series – Duffy is generous with back story where it’s needed.
A theme through Ashes to Ashes is whether the couple, and particularly Patrick, should continue in this dangerous line of work, given they have a tribe of sprogs. Duffy never says how old they are, but we’re told Patrick is going grey. My assumption was 40s, given past careers, their tangled relationship and the fairly recent birth of a small person.
The female characters do well out of Duffy. Patrick’s mother is the redoubtable sort of woman who is never ‘just’ the vicar’s wife. And Joanna, married to the splendidly grumpy DCI James Carrick, has a super-duper efficient nanny, and can’t wait to get back to work – she was Carrick’s DS.
The book benefits hugely from Ingrid’s brisk, no-nonsense narrative. She’s not super-woman, but she gets stuck in. Joanna, who has a decent share of the action, is also a believable but gutsy sidekick. Ashes to Ashes ends on a heck of a kick to the stomach. Bring on Dust to Dust!
But we’re not talking high-tech gadgets here. This is a down-to-earth pair with an entertaining line in back-chat, and the usual worries any parents face – even if that does include not telling the kids that dad’s gone undercover again!
Patrick is ex-army, invalided out and now working for the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Ingrid is an author (although this aspect of her life stays firmly on the back burner), but she acts as a consultant for SOCA and is frequently called in to haul her loose cannon other half out of trouble .
Ashes to Ashes involves a lot of hurtling up the M4 to the seedier patches of east London. But there are also some suitably creepy scenes close to home – the book kicks off with a local woman demanding that Patrick’s father find out why she has been given a bag of left-over parts by the crematorium that definitely didn’t come from her ex-husband. And there are some unpleasant discoveries in a remote Somerset village.
The story isn’t non-stop action, and is a tad one-paced at times. But sparky dialogue and some stomach-churning descriptions make it a good page-turner. And it doesn’t matter in the least if you haven’t read any of the previous books in what looks to have been a longish series – Duffy is generous with back story where it’s needed.
A theme through Ashes to Ashes is whether the couple, and particularly Patrick, should continue in this dangerous line of work, given they have a tribe of sprogs. Duffy never says how old they are, but we’re told Patrick is going grey. My assumption was 40s, given past careers, their tangled relationship and the fairly recent birth of a small person.
The female characters do well out of Duffy. Patrick’s mother is the redoubtable sort of woman who is never ‘just’ the vicar’s wife. And Joanna, married to the splendidly grumpy DCI James Carrick, has a super-duper efficient nanny, and can’t wait to get back to work – she was Carrick’s DS.
The book benefits hugely from Ingrid’s brisk, no-nonsense narrative. She’s not super-woman, but she gets stuck in. Joanna, who has a decent share of the action, is also a believable but gutsy sidekick. Ashes to Ashes ends on a heck of a kick to the stomach. Bring on Dust to Dust!
Reviewed 18 April 2015 by Sharon Wheeler
