| Publisher | Severn House |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 28 October 2012 |
| ISBN-10 | 0727883402 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0727883407 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 208 |
| Price | £ 19.99 |
Dark Side
by
Part-time crime fighters Ingrid Langley and Patrick Gillard steam into action when their boss and a cop friend seem to be the target of revenge attacks.
Review
I thought I was pretty well up on crime fiction writers, but I know nothing about Margaret Duffy. And it's interesting that few of the books in her considerable back catalogue have been reviewed on various online sites. Somehow I'd convinced myself that Dark Side was going to be a rather quaint thriller.
And in some ways that's what it is – although not in a bad way. The main characters are Ingrid Langley and Patrick Gillard. They're not spring chickens, but rather a couple in real life with a raft of kids and a comfortable home in Somerset. Patrick, a former Lieutenant-Colonel, is a one-man army in his own right. Ingrid is also a novelist, although I don't know how she gets anything done, and we don't see any evidence of her success! Their day jobs, so to speak, are crime fighting – they're ex-MI5 and he's now an adviser to Serious Organised Crime Agency and she's a part-time 'consultant' to SOCA.
The action kicks off with a bang – Patrick and Ingrid are meeting Commander Michael Greenway, ex-Met and now his boss at SOCA, when a gunman on the back of a motorbike fires through the cafe window. Greenway doesn't seem overly concerned, but our heroes think differently ...
They tell the tale to friend and sort of partner in crime DCI James Carrick in Bath. And the plot gets even more shadowy as a blast from Carrick's past – a former journalist locked up for peddling child porn – is back on the scene and seems hell-bent on revenge.
Dark Side is clearly a substantial way into a long-running series – and it looks like Duffy has also featured two of the supporting cast, Carrick and his ex-cop wife, as star characters in several books. It's not a major handicap not to have read these, as Duffy drip-feeds back story sensibly where it's needed.
The action boomerangs from Bath to London and back, and features a confusing number of agencies, including MI5 and the police. The action is a little thin, and fairly high on tell rather than show. It's also the kind of plot where, a few days later, you won't remember much of it. But the storytelling is nicely matter-of-fact, and Ingrid, the narrator, has a splendidly no-nonsense voice.
Dark Side is an easy and engaging read. I really liked the competent and sane main characters, who seemed the kind of people you might meet in real life. The book perhaps lacks that certain spark to promote it into the premier league. But it's certainly worth a punt.
And in some ways that's what it is – although not in a bad way. The main characters are Ingrid Langley and Patrick Gillard. They're not spring chickens, but rather a couple in real life with a raft of kids and a comfortable home in Somerset. Patrick, a former Lieutenant-Colonel, is a one-man army in his own right. Ingrid is also a novelist, although I don't know how she gets anything done, and we don't see any evidence of her success! Their day jobs, so to speak, are crime fighting – they're ex-MI5 and he's now an adviser to Serious Organised Crime Agency and she's a part-time 'consultant' to SOCA.
The action kicks off with a bang – Patrick and Ingrid are meeting Commander Michael Greenway, ex-Met and now his boss at SOCA, when a gunman on the back of a motorbike fires through the cafe window. Greenway doesn't seem overly concerned, but our heroes think differently ...
They tell the tale to friend and sort of partner in crime DCI James Carrick in Bath. And the plot gets even more shadowy as a blast from Carrick's past – a former journalist locked up for peddling child porn – is back on the scene and seems hell-bent on revenge.
Dark Side is clearly a substantial way into a long-running series – and it looks like Duffy has also featured two of the supporting cast, Carrick and his ex-cop wife, as star characters in several books. It's not a major handicap not to have read these, as Duffy drip-feeds back story sensibly where it's needed.
The action boomerangs from Bath to London and back, and features a confusing number of agencies, including MI5 and the police. The action is a little thin, and fairly high on tell rather than show. It's also the kind of plot where, a few days later, you won't remember much of it. But the storytelling is nicely matter-of-fact, and Ingrid, the narrator, has a splendidly no-nonsense voice.
Dark Side is an easy and engaging read. I really liked the competent and sane main characters, who seemed the kind of people you might meet in real life. The book perhaps lacks that certain spark to promote it into the premier league. But it's certainly worth a punt.
Reviewed 05 April 2014 by Sharon Wheeler
