Perfectly Dead by Iain McDowall

Val Penny ♦ June 28, 2014 ♦ Leave a comment

Iain McDowall is a British crime writer. He was born near to where I now live, Kilmarnock, Scotland.  He worked as a university lecturer and reseacher before he took up a career as an author.  He now lives in the midlands of England and sets his series of novels featuring his character Chief Inspector Jacobson in the imaginary town of Crowby in the midlands.  These novels are police procedurals but they are different from many of this type in that the stories are told from the point of view of non- police protagonists.  McDowall’s books also often deal with controversial social and political issues.

I really enjoy crime thriller fiction and know most of the writers that can be classed as “Tartan Noire” (the Scottish authors who write books of this type).  So I was surprised when I discovered books by McDowall and was not familiar with his work.

Perfectly Dead is the third in the series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Jacobson.  In the book it becomes clear that Jacobson does not like working with the drug squad or working drugs cases.

However, this book deals with the gruesome death of, Dave Carter, a local drug dealer.  His body is found burnt and battered in a run down housing estate.  Jacobson has no choice but to work with the drug squad.

Only two days later Jacobson and his colleague Detective Sergeant Kerr find a family of five people dead in a salubrious suburb.  It is unusual to find this kind of crime here. Also, it is not clear that the witness will give evidence.

I really did enjoy this book and thoroughly enjoy McDowall’s style of writing.  I highly recommend Perfectly Dead by Iain McDowall and I will certainly look out for more novels by this author.

Valerie Penny