Review: First In Series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 9, 2014
Two traffic officers called to a remote location in northern Wales on what they assume to be a routine matter are brutally murdered. The killer leaves investigators two puzzling messages—lyrics to a song and the numeral four.Detective Inspector Ian Drake, the lead investigator, recognizes the lyrics as from the Pretenders song “Brass in Pocket” but is initially as confused by the messages as are his associates.Before they’ve begun to deal with this case, a politician is murdered on the summit of Mount Snowdon and the killer leaves more inscrutable messages. As clues accumulate, Drake begins to see a pattern with the series of numbers, 1-9-7-9. But does it point to a year, or something else? Several suspects are considered, though motive remains enigmatic. As Drake gets closer to an answer, the killer threatens his family.In Drake Puleston has created a complex, yet very human character. Afflicted with Obsession-Compulsive Disorder, Drake is driven to find answers despite pressures of job and family. He solves Sodoku puzzles to help him focus and gain control. The recounting of his rituals may annoy some readers but it also illustrates the difficulty under which he functions.In addition to his job and the investigation, Drake is dealing with problems at home. His wife is demanding he seek counseling for his OCD, his father is ill with cancer, his mother is having difficulty coping and he’s at odds with his sister. His occasional annoyance with Detective Sergeant Caren Waits and other members of his team seemed natural for the man. I found the characters well drawn, the flow of the story smooth and the solution evaded me till near the end.This is the first in the Drake series and I think it will be interesting to see how the characters evolve in future.