Like a pesky bluebottle, the buzz about The Mayfly on Twitter was hard to ignore - not that I could ever ignore such excitement surrounding a new book! So like a moth to the flame I was powerless to resist The Mayfly and picked it up almost as soon as it dropped on my mat. What an intriguing book this is, I am certain that we have not heard the last of Charlie Priest and I, for one, can't wait to read about what he gets up to next.
I could probably write a whole review about Charlie Priest, yet I get the feeling that we have only just scratched the surface of his fascinating life. Charlie is an ex-policeman who retrained as a lawyer, he suffers from dissociative disorder and has a brother who is a serial killer. See - intriguing or what? Add to this a dual timeline with a post-war experimentation slant and I was lucky to finish the book without getting papercuts from turning the pages so fast.
Charlie aside, I absolutely loved his associate, Simon 'Solly' Solomon. Solly is an accountant - he likes numbers not people, which is pretty much how I describe myself - but oh my word, he is such an amusing character. He's completely OCD and I almost choked with laughter as he revealed his inner Sheldon Cooper (of Big Bang Theory fame). Like a typical accountant, he's forgotten about as you never see him arrive or leave and he's left to beaver away in a dark and dusty room, but he's always there to be relied upon.
I think it's always a worry with dual timelines that the reader sometimes feels as if they are reading two separate books. I felt a bit like that when I started The Mayfly as I couldn't see how these two stories were related or how they would ever come together at the end, which is why The Mayfly is so brilliant as it all slots together perfectly. James Hazel is a refreshing and exciting new voice in crime fiction and I'm already looking forward to more Charlie Priest adventures. Believe the buzz on this one, and make sure you catch a copy of The Mayfly.
I could probably write a whole review about Charlie Priest, yet I get the feeling that we have only just scratched the surface of his fascinating life. Charlie is an ex-policeman who retrained as a lawyer, he suffers from dissociative disorder and has a brother who is a serial killer. See - intriguing or what? Add to this a dual timeline with a post-war experimentation slant and I was lucky to finish the book without getting papercuts from turning the pages so fast.
Charlie aside, I absolutely loved his associate, Simon 'Solly' Solomon. Solly is an accountant - he likes numbers not people, which is pretty much how I describe myself - but oh my word, he is such an amusing character. He's completely OCD and I almost choked with laughter as he revealed his inner Sheldon Cooper (of Big Bang Theory fame). Like a typical accountant, he's forgotten about as you never see him arrive or leave and he's left to beaver away in a dark and dusty room, but he's always there to be relied upon.
I think it's always a worry with dual timelines that the reader sometimes feels as if they are reading two separate books. I felt a bit like that when I started The Mayfly as I couldn't see how these two stories were related or how they would ever come together at the end, which is why The Mayfly is so brilliant as it all slots together perfectly. James Hazel is a refreshing and exciting new voice in crime fiction and I'm already looking forward to more Charlie Priest adventures. Believe the buzz on this one, and make sure you catch a copy of The Mayfly.