The Darkest Goodbye by Alex Gray

Val Penny ♦ July 23, 2017 ♦ 1 Comment

I enjoy the crime novels that Alex Gray writes. She is surely the crown princess of Tartan Noir. The Darkest Goodbye is both tense and topical. It is the thirteenth book in Alex’s DCI Lorimer’s series and starts when young DC Kirsty Wilson, whose father is soon to retire from the force, is faced with two apparently unrelated deaths. Then another vulnerable person is murdered in their sleep, the police realise that it is only a matter of time before the next victim emerges and Detective Superintendent William Lorimer is called in to help DC Wilson investigate. Lorimer has worked with her father for years and DC Wilson respects him. She has less confidence in her appointed mentor, Len Murdoch.

This case is big and it is about to get more personal than either of DC Wilson or Lorimer could have imagined. The Darkest Goodbye opens with two very different murders, one a slashing and the other an injection of morphine. The slashing victim, Francis Bisset, is a drug dealer and the morphine death of terminally ill Jane Maitland is first assumed to be natural until the toxicology reveals dangerously high levels the drug. More deaths are discovered and suggest the existence of a euthanist. 

Giving Kirsty Wilson, an almost fresh face in the series, equal billing in the narrative is a clever move as it moves the series on to a younger generation and brings a new, less jaded perspective as we watch her learning through some hard and fast experiences. I hope we see more and more of her as the series continues as she is smart, resourceful and clearly set to be going places.

I really enjoyed this crime novel and the topical plot. The Darkest Goodbye is darker than most Alex Gray novels, so, with that proviso, I recommend the fast paced police thriller.

Valerie Penny