Bad Blood by Aline Templeton

 

 

First Line: She sometimes felt as if her writhing thoughts were a nest of snakes inside her head. From time to time one would raise its ugly head and hiss and spit venom.

 

All Marnie Bruce wants is answers. This young woman has hyperthymesia-- she can remember everything she has ever seen-- and she is completely frustrated that she can't remember a night twenty years ago when she woke up in an isolated cottage with a head injury and a mother who simply vanished into thin air. 

 

Now she has returned to the small town of Galloway in southwestern Scotland demanding an answer to one simple question: What happened to her mother? But Marnie's return sets off a firestorm and looks to tear open painful wounds for many of the locals. Detective Inspector Marjory "Big Marge" Fleming and her team will have to work hard to find the answers Marnie demands before total chaos ensues.

 

~

 

Aline Templeton's DI Marjory Fleming series is one that I've been slowly (almost glacially) savoring since I picked up the first book, Cold in the Earth. Since there's only one more book after Bad Blood, who knows when I'll make myself finish the time I've spent with Big Marge Fleming?

If you're a reader who likes reading mystery series that have strong ensemble casts, you need to make the acquaintance of DI Fleming and her team. Not only do readers become a part of the lives of her fellow police officers, but they also feel a part of Marge's own family. Her husband is a farmer whose livelihood suffered during the outbreak of mad cow disease, but he's rock solid and a salt-of-the-earth type of man who's always supported his wife in her career choice, no matter how often it keeps her away from home. Her son, Cam, wants everyone to get along which can't be said for her very contentious and headstrong daughter. 

Into this already strong mix of characters is added Marnie Bruce, a young woman with whom I totally sympathized. She's tired of being fobbed off by everyone who should care about her mother's disappearance (but doesn't). She's reached the end of her tether and demands answers. DI Fleming wants to help because she was a rookie at the time of the woman's disappearance and feels a sense of responsibility. Watching her learn how to glean clues from Marnie's hyperthymesia is a lesson in patience and determination.

What elevates Marnie's character is her reaction to how all hell breaks loose in that small Scottish town simply because she wants closure. She is one of the best, most nuanced, and memorable characters I've read about in a long time. 

Yes, indeed, if you like compelling mysteries with a strong sense of place and a great cast of characters, you need to pick up Aline Templeton's DI Marjory Fleming mysteries. I highly recommend them. (Yes, it is best if you start at the beginning.)

Bad Blood by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780749014025

Allison & Busby Ltd © 2013

eBook, 414 pages

Police Procedural, #8 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Evil for Evil by Aline Templeton

 

First Line: I think I'll go mad if I can't confess my guilt.

At first, it seems like a historical (although brutal) case-- a skeleton found shackled to the rocks inside a sea cave off the southwest coast of Scotland, and it should cause no undue difficulties. After all, it belongs firmly in the past. Well, it does until a modern wristwatch is found hanging on the bones of one shackled arm. With that one discovery, Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming knows this case is something else entirely.

The skeleton could tie into the strange goings-on in the nearby village of Innellan. Someone is staging a series of escalating crimes against the owner of the island on which the skeleton was found. Why is he being targeted? The villagers aren't any help. This is a small and introverted community, and no one is willing to speak out. Fleming senses there is a pattern, one that is not willing to come out into the light, but it could prove that the skeleton and the current series of crimes are connected. All she and her team have to do is find the one evil act that started it all.

~

I can always count on Aline Templeton to write an intelligent, compelling mystery, and her DI Marjory Fleming series has long been a favorite-- so much so that I only tend to pick one up when I need what I call a guaranteed good read. Evil for Evil is a bit slow at times, but once it builds up a good head of steam, time flies by. 

The mystery itself is a strong one, as well as being surprising and quite disturbing. The village setting is atmospheric... claustrophobic... and so well drawn that most city folk could point to it as convincing proof that no one should step one single toe out in the country. When secret after secret is exposed to the light, one character describes it as "omertà Scottish style," which I think is a perfect description.

But this series isn't all about the mystery. The major reason why I keep coming back for more is due to the excellent cast. I always like watching "Big Marge" Fleming's mind work as she pieces things together. Her personal life plays a role in each book, too. In Evil for Evil, both of her children show us what parents must deal with when youngsters think with their emotions instead of their brains. Fleming's second-in-command, Tam MacNee, has to deal with a secret or two in his own life, and we get to watch newcomer Detective Constable Louise Hepburn try to apply her classroom knowledge to real-world situations in order to make a big impression on the boss.

There are always things to learn in Templeton's books, whether it's raising deer as a commercial business or finding out what a Croydon facelift is. I like learning things. I like trying to solve mysteries. I like feeling a part of the family with a multi-faceted cast of characters. There's just no way around it: I like the way Aline Templeton writes, and I'll always go back for more (especially when Big Marge Fleming is involved).

Evil for Evil by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780749013509

Allison & Busby © 2012

eBook, 480 pages

 

Police Procedural, #7 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Cradle to Grave by Aline Templeton

First Line: She had no idea how long she had been walking, though such light as there was had begun fading into an ominous twilight.

Nanny Lisa Stewart has been accused of murdering the baby in her care, and she steadfastly maintains her innocence. Found not guilty, she changes her name and her hair color and tries to find a place where she's not known, but the horrible threats always follow her. At her wit's end, she finally decides to "hide in plain sight"-- within a mile or two of her most persistent accuser. Is she an innocent victim or a calculating murderer? Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, fresh back from a four-month suspension, will have a chance to find out when a murder occurs where Lisa has gone to ground.

When I saw that it had been over two years since I last read one of Aline Templeton's Marjory Fleming mysteries, I was ashamed of myself. "Big Marge" is one of my favorite characters in all of crime fiction, and Templeton not only knows how to create marvelous characters, she's equally skilled with plot and action. Before I go any further, I'm going to tell you right now-- if you like police procedural series set in the UK and you haven't read Aline Templeton, well... you need to correct the oversight as soon as possible. (And start with the first book, Cold in the Earth.)

Templeton's characters are real. Marge isn't perfect (which can be seen by her recent suspension), but she is a good police officer. Her marriage to a farmer is solid but not without its occasional problems, and her two teenage children alternate between being angels and demons, as all good teenagers do. Marge's righthand man, Tam MacNee, is an odd little man who observes all, voices strong opinions whenever he feels like it and is excessively proud of his Glaswegian heritage. But he's off his feed in Cradle to Grave, and one of the mysteries readers must solve is why. Added to the team is newcomer Detective Constable Kim Kershaw, who began working while Fleming was out and doesn't know quite what to expect from her new boss.

The synopsis of the book makes you think that there's only one mystery in Cradle to Grave, and that is quite misleading. There's a lot going on besides the innocence or guilt of Lisa Stewart. A music festival is scheduled to be held at Rosscarron House if the torrential rain ever lets up, and everyone who's gathered there-- including one of Marjory's old flames-- is up to something... including the eight-year-old boy. The trick is trying to figure out what each of them is doing, and that's amidst all the weather-related action, instances of sabotage, and one very scary killer wandering around the countryside.

Templeton's characters always feel so true and grounded in the here and now that it's a pleasure to immerse myself in their lives while trying to untangle all the threads of the mystery. I came very, very close to giving Cradle to Grave my highest rating, but in the end, I had to admit that there was a bit too much going on. Not to the point where I'd completely lost the plot, but there was a time or two when I'd read a character's name and ask myself, "Now, who's he when he's at home?" Except for that memorable eight-year-old boy....

Aline Templeton is a British author whom I believe should be much better known here in the United States. I can always rely on her to carry me away to Scotland in the midst of characters I love and plots that are a pleasure to unravel. I urge you to give her books a try.

Cradle to Grave by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780062301819

HarperCollins © 2014

eBook, 410 pages

Police Procedural, #6 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Dead in the Water by Aline Templeton

First Line: "Well, I think we could confidently state this has been a complete disaster, DI Fleming."

Acting Procurator Fiscal Sheila Milne doesn't like Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, so when a case "Big Marge" worked on doesn't go to Milne's plan, she extracts a bit of revenge. Fleming is given a twenty-year-old cold case involving the death of a pregnant young girl-- a case Fleming's own father worked on in 1985.

The trail has long ago grown cold. The girl's father is dead, and her mother refuses to say a word about what went on back then. When Marjory begins to dig deeper, it becomes crystal clear to her that her own father kept secret some of the details of the case. Fleming idolized her father, and this information is a stunning blow because-- by all accounts-- her father was strictly a "by the book" police officer. Once she uncovers the truth, is she going to be able to handle it?

Aline Templeton's Marjory Fleming series is one of my very favorite character-driven crime fiction series, and Dead in the Water is yet another strong entry. This is a book about mistakes. Mistakes people may have made back in 1985-- including Marjory's own father. Mistakes involving the ever-perfectionist Sheila Milne. And Marjory's own mistakes made both on the job and in her private life.

Naturally once Fleming gets to work on the cold case, the local bad boys get busy so more work gets thrown on her desk. It's like kicking open an anthill. There's a stalker at the estate where there's a film shoot on location. An area thug who likes to use knives is busy. There are short-fused Polish laborers working for a couple with too much time and money on its hands. And when all of this comes to a head, Marjory's personal life goes into a tailspin. Yes, there are a lot of plates spinning in the air, but Templeton is an expert at keeping them all going, keeping them all interesting, and keeping them all from getting tangled up and confusing.

She's also an expert at creating three-dimensional characters that readers really grow to care about. For instance, one of the decisions Marjory makes practically had me frothing at the mouth in agitation, and in fact I was talking out loud. Yes. Talking out loud. To a fictional character. I wanted to get hold of her and shake some sense into her. When I get this involved with characters, I know they're good-- and I know the story is good as well. 

And Marjory isn't the only character who could sit down at my kitchen table. There's her husband, her children, her mother, and Detective Sergeant Tam MacNee, he of the infuriating behavior and brilliant flashes of deduction. I can always count on Tam for a little comic relief when a situation becomes too deadly serious.

After yet another satisfying ending to a puzzling mystery, I have to ask myself why I read these books so slowly. They are so good, you'd think I'd swallow them all whole, one after another. Ah-- but that's the reason why I read them slowly. They are "go-to" books for me. I know I can depend on them for their consistent high quality-- and you can, too. Dead in the Water reads well as a standalone, but if you like this type of mystery, I'd suggest you begin at the beginning (Cold in the Earth). You are definitely going to like Big Marge.
 

Dead in the Water by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780062301796

Witness Impulse © 2014

(Originally published in 2009)

eBook, 388 pages

Police Procedural, #5 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon 

Lamb to the Slaughter by Aline Templeton

First Line: "No," the woman said.

There is trouble brewing in Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming's small community of Kirkluce in southwestern Scotland. The town is fiercely divided over the plans of a superstore chain to open there. Half the citizens welcome the convenience and the possibility of more jobs; the other half knows that it would sound the death knell to most of the small shops on the High Street. Even farmers would be affected, since they would be forced to accept the much lower prices the new superstore would insist upon in exchange for their meat and produce.

If that's not enough, there's a group of teenaged boys who have too much time on their hands and not enough direction given them at home. They've taken to terrorizing an elderly lady on the outskirts of town, running amok on their motorcycles and doing damage.

When an old man who was opposed to the superstore is found gunned down on his doorstep and a second villager is the apparent victim of a random shooting, the press fans the flames of panic by announcing that there's a sniper on the rampage in Kirkluce, and the once bustling streets become deserted.

"Big Marge" has a lot on her plate trying to find the killer... or could it be two killers? Her right hand man is still out on sick leave, although the Robbie Burns-spouting Tam MacNee is doing his own investigating on the sly (and creating even more problems for his boss as a result). The most likely suspects seem to have iron clad alibis, while those who appear guilty simply cannot be. It's all down to good, solid, meticulous police work to get all the facts and put them together to find the truth.

For those of you who tend to steer clear of police procedurals or private detective stories because of blood and gore, there's no need to do that here. Aline Templeton depends upon character, motive and situation, not a proliferation of dismembered bodies, to weave a tale that will keep you up till the wee hours of the morning.

Her characterization is one of the main reasons why I enjoy her books so much. Her DI Marjory Fleming stands alongside Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope, Judith Cutler's Fran Harman, and Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway as my favorite British female crime fighters. Marjory is a force to be reckoned with on the job, but she has a husband who's a hardworking farmer, two teenaged children who can have her ripping out her hair, and elderly parents she wants to keep a loving eye on. Her constables and sergeants are also an interesting lot with their own foibles and intrigues. Watching all these characters work together is a delight.

Templeton does such a great job of misdirection that, by book's end, I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen the solution coming. But wait! Two of her most trusted investigators don't agree with Marjory's conclusions? Could Marjory be wrong? No, she can't be-- all the pieces have finally locked into the right pattern. Up until the very last sentence, the ending is an emotional rollercoaster-- and absolutely brilliant.

If you haven't read one of Aline Templeton's Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming books, you're, without doubt, missing some seriously good writing.

Lamb to the Slaughter by Aline Templeton

ISBN: 978034092293

Hodder and Stoughton ©2008

Paperback, 320 pages

Genre: Police Procedural, #4 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Paperback Swap

 

Lying Dead by Aline Templeton

Title: Lying Dead
Author: Aline Templeton
ISBN: 9780340922279, Hodder & Stoughton, 2007
Genre: Police Procedural, #3 DI Marjory Fleming mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen

First Line: The wind had dropped with the sunrise.

When "Big Marge"-- Detective Inspector Marjorie Fleming-- of the Galloway Constabulary Headquarters in Kirkluce walks onto the scene, the only sound to be heard is the ringing of the murdered girl's cell phone. When confirming the victim's identity proves to be trickier than expected, and when another body turns up, DI Fleming knows that the task of finding the murderer in the well-heeled village of Drumbeck is going to take plenty of patience and diplomacy.

I've been a fan of Aline Templeton's Marjory Fleming series from book one. I feel as though I'm getting to know an area of Scotland that I keep bypassing on the way to Glasgow (and on to the Highlands). Wigtown, the horrors of foot and mouth, sheep herding trials... Templeton describes the area with knowledge and affection.

But there's more to the series than its setting. Big Marge and her detectives are multi-faceted and don't always do what you expect of them. We also get to see how they are when they're at home, which I always think leads to characters that are well "fleshed out".

This time around, Marjory is saddled with a detective who's on the fast track to promotion. As a result, he's much more interested in finding a suspect that fits his pet theories than he is in finding the actual murderer. Nothing like a detective making a difficult investigation even tougher! Add to that the fact that Marjory and her detectives are teasing one thread at a time loose from a tapestry of money and privilege in a small village that's been turned into weekend homes for the wealthy, and it's easy to see that this case is a nightmare.

Templeton always has an excellent plot and setting populated with some of my favorite characters in crime fiction. Lying Dead is no exception. If you haven't made the acquaintance of "Big Marge", I sincerely hope you do.