Random Things Tours: Dead to Me by Pamela Murray

 

One of the main gains of the many lockdowns and other adventures in bad health I had to go through in the last 12 month is my rekindled love for mysteries. Any kind of them: from the hausfrau turned into a serial killer to the political thrillers populated with characters rotten by bad intentions and corruption to the bones. No matter the language and the country, how long or how short - hint: the longer the better - I will happily put my worries aside and got myself entinced in the search for the culprit(s). The only condition: good crime novels, please, with great entangled reasons and a big cast of characters.

Dead to Me by Pamela Murray is my top crime book of the week. And it was not the only one I´ve read this week. But this book, was such a journey and the change of events are surprising in their entirety. Plus, the lovely couple of detectives Burton&Fielding - a couple in real life as well - is the salt and pepper of a search for the truth.

Maria Turnbull dies suddenly on her way home, after a girls night out which involves a short visit to an astrologer. Maria had a previous heart condition but the coronarian results are in fact showing something different and it involves poisoning. Maria is not the only victim as there are more corpses discovered in the following days. All cases seem to have an astrological hint and are connected with the first victim. 

So many pieces of the puzzle, many possible culprits, but what is the motivation. The details are spread all over the Manchester-based story and the more one advances into the mystery the more complicated it becomes. Personally, I had in mind several possibilities but was not expecting the extent of the final revelation.

What I liked even more, was the constant smart exchange between Burton and Fielding, always an intellectually pleasant experience which is an important asset to the story. 

I´ve read this book in one long seating and I can´t wait to read more adventures in revealing crimes by those interesting investigative couple. The only thing that I´ve found a bit clumsy was the encounters with the media. I can understand that no authority or public institution loves to be under the pressure of the media, but the inspectors looked too openly hostile and unprepared for the press conference and seem to partially understand the importance of the media for a healthy society. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered part of the blog tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own.