EXCERPT: As he had reached the spot where he was standing now, a car had driven up the path and parked not far in front of him - a sporty yellow Cooper S. He remembered feeling irritated - what was wrong with people? They had legs, didn't they? If everyone started bringing cars up here it wouldn't be long before it was all a churned up mess.
The car door opened and a young woman jumped out. The wind snatched at her long blonde hair, sweeping it back from her face. She slammed the car door behind her and took off, running with a springing step straight to the cliff edge twenty feet away.
Then she jumped.

ABOUT 'BLIND EYE': DCI Kelso Strang is led to believe that something very odd is going on around the prosperous fishing port of Tarleton on Scotland’s south-east coast. Firstly, a young Detective Inspector is traumatised after witnessing a doctor throwing herself off a cliff, and accusations of extortion have riven the local community.

And when the ugly death of a young farmer sets off a murder investigation, Strang finds himself caught in a spider’s web of criminality. He is entirely unprepared when he is struck by the worst tragedy of his career, even though it has also brought him into contact with a young advocate’s assistant called Catriona, daughter of DI Marjory Fleming.

MY THOUGHTS: Although Blind Eye is #5 in the Kelso Strang series, it is easily read as a stand-alone. I have read, and did enjoy the previous book in this series, Old Sins.

And like Old Sins, Blind Eye is an easy read and the plot compelling. The characters are well developed, and there's a good mix of mystery and police procedural.

Templeton captures the atmosphere of this seaside Scottish village brilliantly, bringing both the landscape and the characters to life, exposing the many tensions seething under the surface of the small town as people go about their ordinary lives, including an extortion racket and the unrelenting harassment of the mother of the doctor who leapt from the cliff.

Templeton has expertly woven many different threads into this rich tapestry of a story - the difficulties of making a living from a small-holding, organic vs traditional farming, and the insular nature of small villages where newcomers are treated with suspicion and would never be regarded as locals until the second or third generation. They also turn a 'Blind Eye' to many of the goings on and activities of other villagers, forming a protective circle of silence around anyone being enquired about.

The DI Kelso Strang series is a good solid one, and I am adding the earlier books to read. I see the author has also written a series featuring DI Marjorie Fleming, who makes an appearance in Blind Eye. An interesting woman, so I'm also adding that series to my reading list.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.2

#BlindEye #NetGalley

I: #alinetempleton @allisonandbusby

T: @alinetempleton @AllisonandBusby

#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #mystery #policeprocedural #suspense #thriller

THE AUTHOR: Aline Templeton grew up in the fishing village of Anstruther, in the East Neuk of Fife. She has worked in education and broadcasting and was a Justice of the Peace for ten years. Married, with a son and daughter and four grandchildren, she lived in Edinburgh for many years but now lives in Kent.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Allison & Busby via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Blind Eye by Aline Templeton for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

I read a few Aline Templeton books a number of years ago and enjoyed then, but this is the first one I've read in a long while. I did have a vague memory of the police detective from those books, Marjorie Fleming - "Big Marge" and it's nice to see her pop up here, now retired, as the mother of another character.

This story is the fifth in the Kelso Strang series, but the first I've read. It concerns a small Scottish coastal town where, post-pandemic, a certain lawlessness appears to have become the norm, people turning a "blind eye" and the hapless local police officer unable to make anything stick. Murder, though, is another matter, and when a man is found hanged, DI Strang is called in to investigate.

I liked Strang and his DS, Livvy Murray - I do love a police procedural and this was a very good one, the setting and characters engaging and believable. I'll definitely look out for more in the series.

Complex and interesting police procedural. Great characters in Kelso and Light and a story with many secrets and lies.

Aline Templeton is a new crime fiction author for me, and with praise from the likes of Val McDermid, I knew I would be in good hands! I will definitely look out for more, her style of writing is right up my street.

Set in a small Scottish harbour town where the crime rate is so low they don't have a full time police officer, when a resident is found murdered, the town is aghast. The investigation by officers from the rural crime squad uncover hidden secrets in the town, though everyone is keeping their cards close to their chest

A great police procedural - I'll definitely be back for more from Aline Templeton/ Thanks to Netgalley and Allison and Busby for the chance to read the ARC

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery.
There's a solid plot that kept me guessing, the story of a small town, and an excellent storytelling.
The sense of place and the fleshed out characters are a plus in this well plotted mystery.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Set in the small harbour town of Tarleton in Scotland where the local police station is only manned part time, it has become a place where crimes don’t stick, leaving stressed DI Gunn unable to do much about it.

When DCI Kelso Strang and DS Murray from the Rural Crime Squad are called to Tarleton to investigate the murder of a farmer who runs a small organic farm, DCI Strang discovers the partner of which was involved in one of his previous cases.

Centred around the farming community, the story is dotted with plenty of town history, ‘hush-hush’ going’s on and interesting characters all interweaved to the murder enquiry and I read eagerly to find if and how they were all connected.

Blind Eye is the first book I’ve read written by Aline Templeton and it will not be my last - It is the fifth in a series involving DCI Kelso Strang so I will be adding his previous cases to my TBR pile!

I’d like to say ‘Thank you’ to NetGalley and Allison and Busby for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Allison & Busby for an advance copy of Blind Eye, the fifth novel to feature DCI Kelso Strang of Police Scotland’s Rural Crime Squad.

Kelso is sent to Tarleton, a small town in southeast Scotland, to investigate the murder of a young farmer. It’s not the first time he’s visited as he has been investigating the theft of farm equipment and a case of extortion. This time he finds a DI traumatised by a suicide he witnessed and a feeling of toxicity and lawlessness in the town.

I thoroughly enjoyed Blind Eye, which is an engrossing read, full of surprising turns and a certain amount of helplessness as it’s hard to investigate when nobody will provide pointers.

The novel is quite slow to start with a fair amount of scene setting and character introduction. The author, however, has a way with words so I didn’t find it boring or feel impatient to get to the main event, rather it whetted my appetite to learn more. The murder investigation is also slow, due to a lack of witnesses and information, but there’s many other things going on that keep the reader focused, not least a meeting between Kelso and DI Marjory Fleming, the protagonist of Ms Templeton’s other series. I’m intrigued to see where the author takes this as they are a formidable duo in this novel alone. As ever in a police procedural the novel ends in a flurry of activity and arrests. I was impressed by the way it comes about, dramatic but realistic.

I really like this series, although I have only read one other novel in it. It has its feet firmly planted on the ground and in reality. In this case criminality seems to have set in like rot in the town and despondency in the officers trying to stop it. What with budget cuts and part time policing it seems all too likely. Apart from the murder it seems like low level crime only, but it’s endemic and permeating, and who knows what lies beneath. I found it fascinating, wondering whose will was stronger, like a low key battle between good and bad.

Blind Eye is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Not set amongst the familiar roads and hills of my local area, but on the east coast, it matters little as Aline Templeton produces another hugely enjoyable page turner.
If you haven’t already read anything by this author, I recommend that you give her a try, as you will not be disappointed.

A mystery set in Scotland where a DCI must investigate after strange things keep happening. It took a while to get to the mystery, but then it picked up from there!

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Blind Eye by Aline Templeton
Blind Eye (DI Kelso Strang Book 5)
by Aline Templeton
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Read in January 2023
Things to know about me.

1. I read over 200 books per year.
2. I am always on Goodreads looking for new books.
3. I love crime fiction
4. I am Scottish.

So why have I never heard of Aline Templeton before? I thought at first that this might be a debut novel given she had never come across my radar before so I was surprised to see she has a number of books written previously.

In this one, Kelso Strang is investigating some low level crime a small, Scottish coastal town. That all changes when a body is found and the stakes get much higher. With little confidence in the local police, Strang takes charge of the investigation and uncovers far more complex goings-on than is first apparent.

What I did enjoy about this novel was that the storyline wasn't far fetched, suspension of disbelief nonsense but was instead a great description of what could reasonably be happening in such a local place.

She does a great job of bringing to life the town and it's inhabitants whilst wrapping up the story nicely with a very satisfying ending.

Although I haven't heard of this author before, I am glad I have now.

Thanks to Netgalley and Allison & Busby for an ARC in exchange for an honest review