Fatal Last Words by Quentin Jardine

Val Penny ♦ January 30, 2015 ♦ 1 Comment

I really enjoy the Bob Skinner series written by Quintin Jardine. Fatal Last Words was one of his new books that I discovered in a book exchange in a hotel while I was on holiday. I was thrilled. Quintin Jardine is one of my favourite Scottish authors. He was born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and educated there and in Glasgow where he attended Glasgow University. He now writes crime fiction and is the author of two much-acclaimed and best-selling series of detective novels However, I have never got into his series where the protagonists are the Primaveras. I like his Bob Skinner novels and Fatal Last Words is the nineteenth book in this series.

It is August and the Edinburgh International Book Festival is in full swing. So it is a considerable embarrassment when one of Scotland’s most successful crime writers is found dead in the author tent. The victim’s phone was tapped. This is another in the Bob Skinner series which I discovered several years ago and have enjoyed. The setting of the Edinburgh International Book Festival is inspired. A famous mystery author and member of the Scottish Parliament is murdered. He is part of a trio of mystery writers, another of whom is killed shortly thereafter in Australia. The killing methods are taken from plots in the first author’s books. Bob Skinner, on the verge of a promotion to the top job and engaged to Scotland’s attractive First Minister, must pull out all the stops to track down the killer.

I liked the plot of this book and, as always Mr Jardine has some clever lines. I also liked the setting as I lived in Edinburgh for many years. However, I felt there was rather a lot of expository dialogue, primarily when the cops were talking about their co-workers or people they knew for the benefit of the reader. I did not manage to guess the culprit, but that’s par for the course for me so it does not affect my rating. Nevertheless, I will certainly continue to read this series and recommend the book. Other books by Quintin Jardine reviewed on this site include: https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/pray-for-the-d…uintin-jardine/ https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/dead-and-burie…uintin-jardine/ : https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/aftershock-by-quintin- jardine/ ‎: https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/funeral-notes-…uintin-jardine/ ‎https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/lethal-intent-…uintin-jardine/.

Valerie Penny‎