Dead Wood

Dead Wood
Title: Dead Wood
ASIN: B00L3IKI9Q
Categories: ,
Publisher:
Published: June 17, 2014
Author's Twitter: @ChrisLongmuir
Dundee International Book Prize winner 2009 Award winning crime novel set in Dundee, Scotland, A mystery and detective story which is a combination of police procedural, and woman in jeopardy. Book 2 of The Dundee Crime Series, with the popular DS Bill Murphy. Kara owes money to Dundee gangster Tony and takes to the streets to earn the cash. She narrowly escapes the clutches of a killer on the prowl, but stumbles across the bodies of his other victims. Hunted by the serial killer and the gangsters, Kara goes on the run. DS Bill Murphy teams up with newcomer, DC Louise Walker in the murder investigation. But Murphy is heading for a breakdown and it is up to Louise to catch the killer. One of the murder victims is the daughter of Dundee gangster, Tony, and he vows revenge. He is determined to mete out his own kind of justice to the killer. Who will find the killer first? Tony or the police. And what will happen to Kara? In the end what kind of justice will prevail?

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2 Reviews

  1. Reviewed by Kevin J. Hallock

    February 21, 2016

    4.5 Stars

    4.5, rounded up to 5. Dead Wood was a fast-paced murder mystery that kept me guessing throughout the story. The main characters were well-drawn, with histories, personal ambitions, likes, dislikes, and all operating in the gray ethical areas that make characters interesting. I like the way the murderer was handled throughout the story, and the crimes themselves were different from typical mysteries. All around, a fun read that I would recommend to people who enjoy mysteries.

    A minor quibble was the number of point-of-view characters. There were too many for my personal tastes. But it is just a quibble. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

    I received this book free from Awesome Indies Books in return for an honest review.

  2. Reviewed by Adan Ramie

    February 29, 2016

    3 Stars

    Dead Wood by Chris Longmuir is a crime thriller centered around a serial killer whose orders come from a forest haunted by memories of victims past. It’s book #2 of the Dundee Crime series, but it works pretty well as a standalone.

    Longmuir’s story is bleak. Most of the characters are sleazy, immoral, or downright evil, and there are A LOT of characters. One of my complaints about Dead Wood is the number of point-of-view characters whose personalities aren’t unique enough to differentiate them. It was confusing at first, and I didn’t really get interested in how the story would turn out until over halfway in.

    Although I had problems getting into Dead Wood, I did enjoy the last third of the story. It was gripping, powerful, and kept me reading until the end. The conclusion, however, took some of the wind out of my sails; it was abrupt, and I thought some of the character reactions were unbelievable.

    I gave Dead Wood three out of five stars; the story itself was a good one, despite its faults.

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