A respectable start to a new Scottish crime fiction series
From the Shadows is the first book in a new crime fiction series set in the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy is the lead character in this novel. However, I felt like social worker Michael Bach was more developed and played a greater role in the investigative process than D.I. Kennedy. I learned little about D.I. Kennedy, other than that she is tall, has big feet and struggles to achieve a work/life balance. I found myself empathizing with her struggles with mum guilt but questioned her decision making, both as a mother and a detective, at times. I would have preferred more character development and background for D.I. Kennedy, although further character development may come in future books.
Characters aside, the story benefits from a flowing narrative and plenty of twists, turns and tense moments in the plot. Although I was unable to predict the identity of the murderer, I did guess the accomplice relatively early on in the novel. The narrative is descriptive, but I found it hard to visualise the environment and appreciate the scale of the distances travelled by the characters in the book. A map of the location, highlighting the areas under investigation, would have aided my enjoyment of this book.
In short, this is not the best crime fiction book I have read but it is a respectable start to a new crime fiction series and it is worth exploring if you enjoy novels set in the Scottish Highlands.
Characters aside, the story benefits from a flowing narrative and plenty of twists, turns and tense moments in the plot. Although I was unable to predict the identity of the murderer, I did guess the accomplice relatively early on in the novel. The narrative is descriptive, but I found it hard to visualise the environment and appreciate the scale of the distances travelled by the characters in the book. A map of the location, highlighting the areas under investigation, would have aided my enjoyment of this book.
In short, this is not the best crime fiction book I have read but it is a respectable start to a new crime fiction series and it is worth exploring if you enjoy novels set in the Scottish Highlands.