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Nowhere to Run combines great storytelling with well-drawn characters and a tense, fast-moving plot. Trouble seems to follow Con wherever she goes, and she has a tendency to act first and think later, but she will not stop until the case is solved. There were appearances from some old friends from the two previous books, particularly her neighbour in London who brings her coffee and delicious food, but the star of the show, without a doubt, was the deerhound, Gelert. I am not normally a dog person, but I would definitely like one just like him. Natural Causes, The Book of Souls, and The Hangman’s Song are the three best books in the bibliography of James Oswald. Natural Causes and The Book of Souls have just been described and thus no need to revisit them. Nowhere To Run’ is the third outing for James Oswald’s Constance Fairchild but it can be read as a standalone book. Cons mum seems to always be attracted by cult leaders who she donates money too. As we find again in this story.
Her mother introduces her to an imposing figure, The Reverend Dr Edward Masters of the Church of the Coming Light. She knows their name because she has seen them taking some of the homeless and drug addicts off the streets in London, near where she lives. The launching pad in the first book in the series, Natural Causes, is the murder of a renowned Edinburgh figure. The local police view it as godsend when they nab the murderer within a day. Unfortunately for the police, the murderer commits suicide shortly thereafter before it can go trial. However, it becomes more than a mere coincidence when the process is re-enacted. There is another murder and, by the same token, the murderer, owns up before taking his own life! As J D Oswald, James has written a classic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro. Inspired by the language and folklore of Wales, it follows the adventures of a young dragon, Sir Benfro, in a land where his kind have been hunted near to extinction by men. The whole series is now available in print, ebook and audio formats. James Oswald also writes complex characters. While you can’t help but root for Constance in her battles with her superiors, her family, the paparazzi and the books villain; I’m not a hundred percent sure she sometimes doesn’t deserve what she gets. Perhaps that’s what makes her such an interesting heroine. The incidental characters in Oswald’s books are never just that. Mrs Feltham, Con’s neighbour – a favourite from the first book with her kindness and curries gets to play a great role in Nothing To Hide and I look forward to the possibility of her playing a bigger part in future books. The Hangman’s Song, which is the third book in the Inspector McLean series, was initially published in February 2014. In this book, there is a series of seemingly suicide cases wherein three Edinburgh residents take their own lives. But their suicide notes point to a creepy helical trail, implying that a murderous person or thing is on the loose. Detective McLean is on the quest for reconciling the suspicious murders and sleuthing organized crime all the while.But she does her best to ignore them and finds allies in Karen Eve, Bain and Diane Shepherd. They do their best to include her in the investigation that concerns the young man she found and others that have died from their injuries. She’s been suspended since then, awaiting her opportunity to testify at the trial of wealthy businessman Roger De Villiers and D.S. Gordon Bailey who between them ran a murky business empire. However, my main problem was with Con herself. A lot of the action was a result of her acting really stupidly again and again. She didn't let people know what was happening, she failed to pay attention and constantly got captured, and she ended up with more concussions than a rugby prop! On compassionate leave following the death of her mother, Detective Constable Constance Fairchild thought renting a cottage near Aberystwyth, Wales would get her far enough from London to finally relax. But trouble always seems to find Con, and it's not long before she is cooling off in a police station cell after defending herself from two would-be rapists.
As we meet her again at the beginning of Nowhere to Run, she is sorely in need of positive energy. Battered and bruised from everything she has experienced, she is suffering from PTSD and has taken compassionate leave combined with a sabbatical. She’s now camping out in a cottage on the rugged coat of Ceredigion, hoping that nature’s positive energy will work its own brand of magic on her troubled soul. I powered through this book. Ate it up. Gone in a day, much to my delight and my regret. There are so many elements of the book that I loved. It possibly helps that I know some of the area the book is set, Aberystwyth and it's surrounds being one of my 'local' beach resorts. It's familiar to me and many of the references made me smile. Then there are the elements of the mythological which permeate the series. It's not quite supernatural, it's not a ghostly presence we experience, but there is something ... otherworldly which informs the story. The knowing glances between certain characters, the kind of sixth sense that comes to the fore. The local legend, the folklore which is beautifully blended into the tale in a way which didn't even make me bat an eyelid. Folklore and legend in a book set in Wales? Well, duh. That whole concept just fits. This is Book 3 in Oswald’s D.C. Constance Fairchild series of police procedurals. These stories exist in the same fictional universe as his Edinburgh based Inspector McLean series and there is the occasional overlap of characters.As it turns out, this is the latest in a spate of such bodies being found across the country, and she starts to get involved in an investigation into a mysterious religious cult, who it turns out she has a family connection with. I really enjoy James Oswald's writing and love the Inspector McLean series and had high hopes for this one after the first book but what happened in the second half of this novel. The plot was well set up and the characters laid out and then it was as if the author lost his direction or interest. Hopefully a blip and I fully intend to continue reading both the McLean and Fairchild series. Ardent readers of the Inspector McLean series penned by James Oswald also sought these book series. On her way she calls in home and stays with her Aunt Felicity. Her brother Ben is getting married to Charlotte shortly and Con needs to tell her mother that she won’t be attending. The last thing Charlotte and Ben need is a bunch of paps turning up at their wedding in search of the ‘Posh cop’ and her family. There’s some interesting secondary characters as well including her always cooking neighbour Mrs Feltham from the first book, and two new characters - PC Karen Eve who helps support her in dealing with the paparazzi and a new Detective Superintendent, Diane Shepherd. (both of whom we assume might appear in future books).
Trouble always seems to find her, and even if she has nothing to hide, perhaps she has everything to lose . . . If you’ve never read any of Oswald’s books before, this is not a good place to start – not only is this not the first in the series (although it will stand alone) but the McLean books are a much better display of the author’s talent.Six decades previously, a young girl died a grisly death; her murderers disfigured her body, disemboweled her, and preserved her body organs in containers. Fast forward to sixty years later, the young girl’s decades-old murder has been noticed and the old murder case has been assigned to police detective Anthony McLean. The death has the hallmarks of an age-old ritual wherein people sought immortality by trapping demons in a girl’s corpse. Detective McLean, who has so much on his plate, is juggling other cases of murders, burglar cases wherein cats are stolen from recently deceased people’s homes, and is striving to reconcile these all the while. My first J.Oswald read was a McLean story, at least it was more tightly written as a police procedural, this was a combo of circus, Indiana Jones crypt cliche and new world religion folks. I really, really wanted to love this. James Oswald is one of my favourite authors, and although I didn’t enjoy the first Con Fairchild book as much as his Inspector McLean series, I hoped that this second Con Fairchild book would be different.
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