4/5 Very Good

Book 3 in the Westphall series and again it’s a slow moving Murder mystery spliced with Westphall unique ability,

You probably need to read the first books as I have to fully enjoy and appreciate both this book and indeed the main protagonist himself.

Lindsay has a unique style all of his own and this series really shines and has become a favourite of mine over the 3 books so far,

Highly Recommended

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.
I had not read a book by Douglas Lindsay previously but definitely will again
This had everything I want in a book a good detective, a disturbing story and gory crimes with many different and plenty of twists.
Definitely recommend

Published digitally in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton/Mulholland Books on August 22, 2019

The Art of Dying is the third novel in a series set in Scotland, premised on the protagonist’s early retirement as a spy who now works as a homicide detective. Detective Inspector Westphall’s history as a man who has seen too much of the world’s ugliness positions him as a reliable noir character. He is haunted by people who have died, people he has hurt. His dreams may be portents of deaths to come.

Westphall begins the novel by investigating the beating death of a man at a football (soccer) game. The murder is witnessed by the victim’s stepson, who is clobbered while trying to intervene despite his belief that his stepdad is an asshole. The stepdad had challenged a racist comment that someone made about a member of the home team, making that unidentified fan the only initial suspect.

What appears to be a routine killing by a football hooligan turns into a complicated investigation when other suspects enter the picture. The victim was CEO of a rapidly expanding funeral business. He was despised by his sister but apparently loved by his wife. He regularly visited an infirm grandmother who squandered the family wealth on a painting. A Russian woman had an affair with him and then, acting on her father’s behalf, invested in his business. And so the list of suspects grows, even before a hedge fund guy who sits on the board of the victim’s business is disemboweled.

After another, and seemingly unrelated, disemboweled murder victim is found in a care home, Westphall has a mystery on his hands. The mystery compounds when another recent death in the care home is determined to have been caused by strangulation. And yes, this is the same care home where the grandmother who spent the family fortune on a gruesome painting of infanticide resides. She spends every day staring at the painting, oblivious to everything else in the world. The connection between art and death gives the novel its title.

Douglas Lindsay creates a strong noir atmosphere — rain and wind and the sea endlessly crashing against Scottish shores, a landscape that might drive anyone to commit murder. He also creates strong characters. The elderly residents of the care home have varying personalities. A blind man who plays chess against himself contributes a philosophical perspective that aids the investigation. The reason the grandmother stares at the painting without speaking a word, revealed only at the end, adds a poignant note to the story, as do the other seniors living isolated lives, surrounded by a beautiful landscape they never notice.

The mystery is resolved by one reveal after another until the final secret is uncovered. The story is built on intelligence rather than action. This is the kind of plot, complex but credible, that mystery lovers crave. Capping it off is Lindsay’s prose, graceful but not flashy, not a word out of place. Fans of British police procedurals (which are typically a good bit more interesting than their American counterparts) should seek out this series.

RECOMMENDED

A very for detective and a very disturbing tale. Set in northern Scotland we have a mixture of gory crimes and a mixture of villains to choose from plus plenty of twists.

Hi,
My Next review is:-

“The Art Of Dying:An Eerie Scottish Mystery (DI Westphall 3)”, written by Douglas Lindsay and publishedin paperback by Mulholland Books on 22 Aug. 2019. 368 pages ISBN-13: 978-1473696990

I have not read any of the previous books of this very exciting novelist and was intrigued by references that he writes to a similar standard as James Oswald whose books I love. I was not disappointed by his protagonist DI Westphall.

When businessman Thomas Peterson is killed outside a football ground in the Scottish Highlands, there are several witnesses. Yet the hunt for the killer is proving as futile as the search for a motive. Possible connections to Russian money and an eerie retirement home are soon thrown into the mix. To further complicate things, DI Westphall's MI6 past is coming back to haunt him. Guilt stalks his dreams, but could there be a message in these nightmares? Westphall is in danger of losing his head just when he needs it the most. He must find answers, and fast, before the murderer strikes again.

I enjoyed it tremendously and hope to read many more similar stories in the not too distant future.

Best wishes,

Terry

This book with its Scottish setting was very atmospheric. Starting out with a murder after an altercation at a football stadium, it appeared to be one of those type of random murders. We then get involved in big corporations, the Russians, forgery of paintings, retirement homes with people getting murdered there as well.

All seemingly random, all seemingly unconnected but our detective knows that there are dots that just have to be connected. It comes about through the most unlikely candidate - a woman who is considered psychotic, never having spoken for years who sits in front of one of the most horrific paintings imaginable, and just stares at it all day.

How the detective connects the dots and finds out the solution to the puzzle is amazing and this is what makes this thriller so good.

With touches of spirits in the form of ghosts from past experiences the Detective combines them all into a very good read.

This was a brilliant read, a very involved story that got more complicated by the minute. I loved all the police officers involved, particularly, of course, the hero. The story line was certainly very original, if not gory and the characters in the nursing home were very entertaining particularly the blind man playing chess who could see and feel a lot more than some sighted people. I constantly felt that there could be no simple explanation for these initially non linked murders, particularly as the string that held them together was so thin. I would definitely read more by this author and highly recommend this book.

Complex Scottish mystery!

At first I thought what have I let myself in for. A few pages in and I was hooked. I was knee deep in vicious murders, Corporate concerns and Russian intervention. Opening with a litany of deaths caused by the hero seemed a tad daunting, but as I progressed I realized their import.
This is DI Westphall's "line-up of guilt," from his MI6 days. Now they're joined by ghosts from his cases.
This latest investigation begins with a football match death, links somehow to an up market care home and seems to have a whiff of Russian assistance.
Westphall's church attendance is an interesting twist. Is he looking for absolution? Maybe. Release from his guilt? Who knows? His attention is caught by the line from the service, "My blood of the Covenant." My attention is grabbed by the inclusion of one of my favorite hymns, "I the Lord of sea and sky." Oh yes, there's more to this novel than your run-of-the-mill murder mystery story.
A question perhaps? Where shall the man within the police uniform, haunted by his past retreat to?
There Westphall sits looking at a stained glass window portraying the death of Saint Sebastian, "Haunted by a man in a dream who sees everything without being able to see anything at all." And when the minister startles him by commenting on the window with the murmured phrase, ‘The art of dying,' well I'm there!
I'm well and truly caught in the web that is Westphall and that of the intricately layered crimes he's investigating.
A compelling read!

A Hodder & Stoughton ARC via NetGalley

The Art of Dying is the third DI Westphall procedural by Douglas Lindsay. Due out 22nd Aug 2019 from Hachette on their Mulholland imprint, it's 416 pages and will be available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

This is an incredibly well written, very dark and atmospheric Scottish procedural (tartan noir, indeed). The protagonist is haunted by the ghosts of people from his past as a spy and as a policeman. It's not entirely clear from the sort of unreliable 1st person narrator if he's disturbed or dreaming these interactions or synchronizing facts subconsciously. Whatever the reason, the writing is razor sharp and the way the author has written in these interludes adds a lot of tension and atmosphere to the whole.

DI Ben Westphall has to solve the case whilst dealing with Russian money laundering and spy involvement, multiple murders in a posh retirement home, sexual and relationship minefields with a female vicar friend and confidant, as well as office politics with his superiors all without causing an international incident.

There is a lot of graphic violence. There are several murders and they run the gamut from a sudden beating death after a football (soccer) match, to evisceration, beheading, intentional stifling (smothering), etc. There is also a fair amount of sexual tension and longing. The main protagonist is psychologically quite damaged and lonely, but also very intelligent and aware of his unhealthy mental state and unwilling to try to form a lasting relationship.

The language is rough, strongly R rated. It is used in context and not egregiously. I would say it's about average for a gritty police procedural. Despite being the third in the series, it works well enough as a standalone.

This book will definitely appeal to fans of modern police procedurals who don't need to have every single plot thread tied up in a neat bow by the end. One of the most fascinating things about this book for me was watching Westphall sort through and disentangle the relative truth from all the lies all of the witnesses he interview were telling him.

Five stars for fans of gritty procedurals. I can definitely see this one being made for TV (with David Tennant, please, thank you)!

Part three is the series so well written chilling tense multi layered.A new favorite series looking forward to the next in series already. #betgalley #hodderstoughton

The Art of Dying is the third book in the DI Westphall series by Douglas Lindsay and like the previous two books it is an excellent police procedural set in Scotland.

A murder after a football match is followed by a number of other seemingly linked deaths that leave Westphall and his team flummoxed

Slowly they manage to piece the strands together as the twists and turns build towards the end.

This series is one that I enjoy and The Art of Dying is thoroughly recommended