Coldharbour

It becomes a very busy time for the Met Police's Major Investigation Team East, as a heavily mutilated body turns up, just as they are already investigating a housewife who was strangled in the shower and gang-related stabbings. For newly-promoted Chief Inspector Matthew Merry, the distraction is larger - the man who raped his wife is on trial for the attack on her and others, and not all is rosy at home.

This book is very well-written, but the crimes do not really tie into one another. The strangled housewife investigation is treated as a bit of an afterthought, and only really remembed in the last twenty pages of the book. It's also a very heavy book - it deals with people smuggling, female circumcision, torture and rape, so be prepared! I think it could do with a bit more of a conclusive ending, but I understand that not all books can have that!

I'm so impressed I want to tell everyone: this is a high-octane, multi-cultural, international thriller that at times masquerades as a police procedural but don't be fooled this is more, much more.
John Mead looks uncomfortable truths about the world in which we live straight in the face. It's a compelling plot with an unsettling social commentary.
There is an addictive intelligence and honesty in the way the author writes. This is an important book tackling tough issues in the guise of fiction.

I have been a fan of John’s work for a while now. I read the synopsis for ‘Coldharbour’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of crime thriller sort of book that I particularly enjoy. So without further ado, I grabbed my Kindle, grabbed a cup of tea and settled down for an interesting afternoon of reading. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Coldharbour’ but more about that in a bit.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into ‘Coldharbour’. In fact by the time I got to the bottom of the first page, I knew that I was in for a treat and then some. I was intrigued by the characters and I wanted to see in which direction the story was going to take them. Reading ‘Coldharbour’ became addictive. I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in half an hour but I would end up becoming so wrapped up in the story that I would still be sat there reading over an hour and several chapters later. My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me as I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. I found ‘Coldharbour’ to be a gripping read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘Coldharbour’ is well written. John certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be a compelling read. That’s how I felt at any rate. For me the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly fast pace throughout. There were a few different strands to this story and I did wonder if I might get confused and lose track of what was happening but I needn’t have worried because the strands interlink well and the story flows seamlessly. Reading ‘Coldharbour’ felt a lot like being on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. ‘Coldharbour’ is certainly an unputdownable page turner of a read and then some.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Coldharbour’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of John’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Synopsis/blurb ....

The Met Police’s Major Investigation Team East has its hands full: a rash of tit for tat gang related stabbings, a strangled housewife, the decomposed remains of a woman found in a ditch and more to come. Adding to their woes is their boss, Chief Inspector Matthew Merry, being distracted by his problems at home.

For Matthew’s wife, Kathy, her only concern is dealing with the aftermath of being drugged and raped by a co-worker. Will the trial of the man responsible be enough to give her the justice she demands. Or, as her therapist states, is it revenge she really desires. She doesn’t know. As her emotions see-saw from elation to depression, her only certainty is that her husband seems more concerned about his work than her.

And Matthew is only too aware of his failings both at home and work. But the police machine grinds on, seeking information and sifting evidence — justice is not their concern.
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My take ....

My second outing with author John Mead, after enjoying The Hanging Women a couple of years ago. I liked it. It's mostly a London set police procedural, which as the story develops adopts a European and African flavour. There's also a bit of a kitchen sink drama going on, as a lot of personal issues for the lead detective, Matthew Merry intrude and temporarily overlap the big case he is working on.

Murder, an unidentified corpse, an off-page rape and subsequent court case, acquital and aftermath, gang criminality, undercover ops, European links, inter-agency and overseas police cooperation, refugee camps, people trafficking, prostitution, career opportunities, infidelity, marital strife, investigations, surveillance, an informer, local politicians, historic abuse, revenge and more.

It's quite a busy little book, plenty going on and some food for thought. Post-Brexit, you have crime still traversing borders, and a kind of political element added to the mix with British authorities dealing with European counterparts.

I didn't find the main character Matthew Merry especially sympathetic. He's caught between a rock and a hard place. Either be a supporting husband and father or a career policeman. He doesn't seem to have the ability to be both. I didn't dislike him though.

There's a decent support cast of other cops and some capable villains. I liked the European cops and their involvement and intreraction with Matthew and the British authorities. We get to go on a bit of a European tour, while trailing some criminal elements. The bad guys aren't too picky about a spot of violence and intimidation to keep their enterprises running. That said the resolution to the murder came a bit from left field which I liked.

I enjoyed the flow of the book. There's a decent story which evolves and develops with maybe the author a little bit reliant on some heavy handed arrangement of some pawns in the plot. Kathy, Merry's wife travels to a distant city and just so happens to sleep with a French policeman, undercover who gets killed by a gang, connected by a couple of degrees of separation from the big case her husband is involved in back in London. It wasn't enough to bump me out of the plot at all, but it did seem a little bit too contrived to be totally believable.

Overall a lot more to like than take issue with.

3.5 from 5

Read - June, 2021
Published - 2020
Page count - 226
Source - review copy via Net Galley and Troubador Publishing Ltd
Format - Kindle

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2021/07/john-mead-coldharbour-2020.html

This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.