The #Bookvent Calendar 2022 – Day Eleven

#Bookvent – Celebrating my top reads of 2022

My day eleven #bookvent selection is the tenth book in a series which only really came onto my radar a few years ago but that has absolutely won a place in my heart. I listened to the full back catalogue of titles on audible last year and, whilst its fair to say that the events in book nine really did leave me in a state of complete and utter shock, book ten has equalled that and then some. Taking readers on a trip into the past as well as powering us through the present, it may well be the biggest challenge Kinloch’s finest have faced yet. My eleventh pick is …

The Death of Remembrance by Denzil Meyrick

The ghosts of the past will not be silenced.

Glasgow, 1983, and a beat constable walks away from a bar where he knows a crime is about to be committed. It is a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

In the present, an old fisherman is found dead by Kinloch’s shoreline and a stranger with a deadly mission moves into town.

As past and present collide, D.C.I. Jim Daley must confront old friends, new foes and ghosts who will not be silenced.

If you know this series, and you have read book nine (still reeling), then you will know why this particular book, the tenth outing for Jim Daly, Brian Scott, and the good folk of Kinloch, was always going to be an emotional one. Emotional and highly charged as it turns out, and a fitting way to lay some of the ghosts of our intrepid heroes’ pasts to rest. Now it’s hard to say too much about the plot because it does link back to the previous books, book nine especially, but I can say that it is an absolute classic Denzil Meyrick tale. Police investigation, dark humour, emotion, revenge, manipulation and friendships pushed to their absolute limits, the story has everything I look for in a crime read and more. It has so many layers and, much like an onion, has the capacity to make you cry – from sadness or laughter. Both are entirely possible in this series. I love the characters of Daly and Scott, but it’s fair to say that recent times have taken their toll on Scott, and seeing his decline in this book felt authentic but also tragic. The back and forth, between present day and events from the Detectives pasts which inform the investigation, is seamless, and reminds readers that even our intrepid heroes didn’t always walk on the right side of the thin blue line. With secrets revealed, and a lot of unspoken questions answered, this was the perfect anniversary gift to readers.

Intense, emotional and with the authors unique blend of humour and experience, all wrapped up in a wonderful sense of place that springs so vividly to mind you can almost feel the fog wrap itself around you as it rolls across the shore. It’s everything I didn’t know I wanted from the series and more.

You can read my full review here.

Happy #bookvent reading all

Jen