I Read Books: Where The Bodies Are Buried

Where The Bodies Are Buried

Chris Brookmyre made his name* writing lurid Scottish crime thrillers, with outrageous and grotesque things happening (mostly to the villains, though many of his protagonists were also very flawed and caught fallout from it), slanted through pop culture and a personal, and often political, viewpoint. He doesn’t precisely tone it down here, and to say this is more of a conventional thriller is to say too much. Yet this feels more mainstream, not because it’s missing the hard edges but because the weirdness is around the sides rather than in the middle.

But enough of that! There’s two strands here. Jasmine Sharp trained as an actress but when her Mum got cancer dropped out and now works for her Uncle Jim** as a private investigator. But unfortunately Jim Sharp has gone missing so her first solo case is finding out what happened to him, which will take a deep dive into her family history, and bring her to partner with a (partially-) reformed gangster, Glen Fallon.

This might link into an historic and well-known missing persons mystery from the past as well.

The other strand is Detective Superintendent Catherine Macleod, who is investigating the murder of a non-reformed gangster. This leads through the drugs trade of Glasgow, new and old, connecting with Sharp’s investigation when someone tries to kill her and Fallon. This all gets caught up with high-powered lawyers and also LOCUST, the organised crime squad who are known amongst the police as Letting Off Criminals Under Secret Trades.

Jim Sharp was an ex-cop before he became a private investigator and this leads into the old question of who is the biggest gang in Glasgow.

Read This: A cool Scottish crime thriller
Don’t Read This: I say it doesn’t go grotesque and weird as earlier Brookmyre, but it’s still plenty weird and grotesque

* Under the name “Christopher Brookmyre,” the minor change in author title indicating the change in direction.
** Her Mum’s cousin