Wowzers! This is an absolute firecracker of a debut novel that pulls together some remarkable characters, a fiendishly clever motive, some very brutal deaths and tops it off with an irreverent sense of humour that draws it together perfectly. The resulting novel, The Mayfly, introduces a former Detective Inspector, now turned successful fraud lawyer who is the original lovable rogue - a rough diamond of a man characterised by his social ineptness and dissociative disorder. The Mayfly opens deep in the midst of winter in South Wales with DCI Tiff Rowlinson attending a grotesque crime scene and a mutilated corpse discovered in a woodland glade and with the Attorney General, Sir Philip Wren himself, attending. A macabre means of death has been employed.. and despite never being gratuitously gory, it is guaranteed to stay foremost in readers minds!
Despite his many detractions, protagonist Charlie Priest is impossible not to fall for. Not in a romantic sense of the word, but if his flippant irreverence and cheeky banter do not leave readers wanting a repeat experience, then I will be staggered. The action opens with Charlie attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to pan fry lemon sole but being distracted by the arrival of an agitated and unspecified individual who attempts to to knock seven bells out of him under the misnomer that he has been received a flash drive, sent from whom and containing exactly what is left undisclosed. Leaving Priest a little worse for wear, the man heads into the night only for a sore Charlie to be visited by the next morning in his offices by the sweating and incapable ‘tool’ that is DI McEwen. Showing Priest a picture of his visitor of the previous night and detailing his excruciatingly painful death by impalement on a greased shaft, Charlie is informed that the man's identity is Miles Ellinder - black sheep and step-son of Kenneth Ellinder, CEO of a powerful pharmaceuticals company. DI McEwen’s first question is to ask Charlie just why his business card was found amongst the clothes stripped from Miles prior to his extremely painful demise. The unexpected arrival of Kenneth Ellinder and his daughter, Jessica, to the offices of Priest & Co requesting Charlie’s assistance in discovering just what motivated Mile’s murder and citing their scepticism of DI McEwan acumen, which all seems very sensible to Charlie, presents him with an opportunity to clear his name. But just as Charlie starts to make headway in discovering what lies behind the sordid affair, the news that the Attorney General, Sir Philip Wren, has hung himself and his only daughter has gone missing see the stakes raised significantly higher.
London based Priest & Co. are staffed by an assortment of quirky oddballs, all endearing in their own right and very distinctive, from eager associate Georgie Someday, with her remarkable processing capacity to the OCD encumbered and likely autistic accountant, Solly. The characters who proliferate Priest’s time away from the office are also equally memorable, from his PhD serial killer and now certified criminally insane brother, William, his ever forgiving sister, Sarah, her layabout husband and his vindictive ex-wife, Assistant Commissioner Dee Auckland. With his ex police contacts, an Attorney General godfather and his derealisation - an alternative manifestation of his dissociative disorder than makes real life even foggier - Charlie Priest is a humorous and beleaguered central character in the world of crime fiction that offers something new.
Despite the rave reviews from many friends, I was reluctant to try this novel due to its split timeline, one strand of which was related to the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945 and continues with the interrogation of a Nazi doctor, Dr Kurt Schneider, responsible for some horrific experiments on prisoners of war. However, James Hazel never lingers on these scenes and they merely provides a wider context for the overarching premise of his wider story.
Brilliantly researched, with some obvious attention to detail, the background of information that is conveyed is enormous, but it never feels for a minute like an overload or information dump. There is so much detail conveyed between the characters in the simple course of general conversation and banter, that makes this book is child's play to get pulled into. And suddenly, despite the suspension of disbelief required, it makes gloriously irresistible reading matter. The Mayfly is a pure adrenaline rush with a hatful of great characters and a tightly knotted plot with no obvious loose ends or lingering questions, except, what is next for the irrepressible Charlie Priest? Either way, I shall be following closely behind. Fast, furious and fresh, The Mayfly is a crackerjack of a thriller which hangs together so well and is characterised by a devilishly scathing humour.
Despite his many detractions, protagonist Charlie Priest is impossible not to fall for. Not in a romantic sense of the word, but if his flippant irreverence and cheeky banter do not leave readers wanting a repeat experience, then I will be staggered. The action opens with Charlie attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to pan fry lemon sole but being distracted by the arrival of an agitated and unspecified individual who attempts to to knock seven bells out of him under the misnomer that he has been received a flash drive, sent from whom and containing exactly what is left undisclosed. Leaving Priest a little worse for wear, the man heads into the night only for a sore Charlie to be visited by the next morning in his offices by the sweating and incapable ‘tool’ that is DI McEwen. Showing Priest a picture of his visitor of the previous night and detailing his excruciatingly painful death by impalement on a greased shaft, Charlie is informed that the man's identity is Miles Ellinder - black sheep and step-son of Kenneth Ellinder, CEO of a powerful pharmaceuticals company. DI McEwen’s first question is to ask Charlie just why his business card was found amongst the clothes stripped from Miles prior to his extremely painful demise. The unexpected arrival of Kenneth Ellinder and his daughter, Jessica, to the offices of Priest & Co requesting Charlie’s assistance in discovering just what motivated Mile’s murder and citing their scepticism of DI McEwan acumen, which all seems very sensible to Charlie, presents him with an opportunity to clear his name. But just as Charlie starts to make headway in discovering what lies behind the sordid affair, the news that the Attorney General, Sir Philip Wren, has hung himself and his only daughter has gone missing see the stakes raised significantly higher.
London based Priest & Co. are staffed by an assortment of quirky oddballs, all endearing in their own right and very distinctive, from eager associate Georgie Someday, with her remarkable processing capacity to the OCD encumbered and likely autistic accountant, Solly. The characters who proliferate Priest’s time away from the office are also equally memorable, from his PhD serial killer and now certified criminally insane brother, William, his ever forgiving sister, Sarah, her layabout husband and his vindictive ex-wife, Assistant Commissioner Dee Auckland. With his ex police contacts, an Attorney General godfather and his derealisation - an alternative manifestation of his dissociative disorder than makes real life even foggier - Charlie Priest is a humorous and beleaguered central character in the world of crime fiction that offers something new.
Despite the rave reviews from many friends, I was reluctant to try this novel due to its split timeline, one strand of which was related to the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945 and continues with the interrogation of a Nazi doctor, Dr Kurt Schneider, responsible for some horrific experiments on prisoners of war. However, James Hazel never lingers on these scenes and they merely provides a wider context for the overarching premise of his wider story.
Brilliantly researched, with some obvious attention to detail, the background of information that is conveyed is enormous, but it never feels for a minute like an overload or information dump. There is so much detail conveyed between the characters in the simple course of general conversation and banter, that makes this book is child's play to get pulled into. And suddenly, despite the suspension of disbelief required, it makes gloriously irresistible reading matter. The Mayfly is a pure adrenaline rush with a hatful of great characters and a tightly knotted plot with no obvious loose ends or lingering questions, except, what is next for the irrepressible Charlie Priest? Either way, I shall be following closely behind. Fast, furious and fresh, The Mayfly is a crackerjack of a thriller which hangs together so well and is characterised by a devilishly scathing humour.