Aftershock by Quintin Jardine

Val Penny ♦ January 23, 2014 ♦ 1 Comment

Quintin Jardine is a major Scottish crime writer who hails from Motherwell in Scotland.  He was born there on 29th June 1945 and educated at University of Glasgow.  He now lives in Scotland and in Spain.

Quintin Jardine writes a number of serial style books about recurring characters.  The one I like best is Bob Skinner, the Deputy Chief Constable for the Edinburgh area of Scotland.   Other Quintin Jardine books reviewed on this site are Lethal Intent, https://bookreviewstoday.info/2014/05/21/lethal-intent-…uintin-jardine/, Pray for the Dying, https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/pray-for-the-d…uintin-jardine/, Dead and Buried,  https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/dead-and-burie…uintin-jardine/,  Funeral Notes, ‎: https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/funeral-notes-…uintin-jardine/

Skinner bends rules when he needs to, and breaks them when he has no alternative.  He is also respected and liked by those he works with. However, this is not my favourite Bob Skinner book.  The problem with this novel is that Skinner does not appear in much of the book.

This book focuses on police procedure.  Skinner’s subordinates are investigating the deaths of two Edinburgh artists who have been shot.   The boyfriends of one of them, and a mutual friend of theirs has also been killed.

While the police investigate this, they have to contend with the multi-millionaire father of one of the victims.  He has put a bounty on the head of the murderer at a press-conference organised by the police.
The book is not too bad.  However, for me, it has some issues. It feels like a story that the reader just walked into, part way through. It is interesting, but there is a sense that there is a whole back story missing.   Also, for me,it is too procedural. Anyone who has read more than a couple of detective novels in the past 10yrs (or watched one of the many tv dramas) will know that there are things the police have to do. This novel covers those police procedures and that slows down the pace of the story.  Lastly, the story is largely missing Bob Skinner, who would normally be the central character.

In short, this is not a bad book but due to Skinner’s absence if you want to “get into” the Bob Skinner series by Quintin Jardine, I would not suggest you start with this book.

Valerie Penny