Crap, I Forgot One: "The Unburied Dead" by Douglas Lindsay

Crap, I Forgot One: The Unburied Dead by Douglas Lindsay

An Ebook that I'm pretty sure I got for free from the publisher, Blasted Heath. Blasted was an ebook only publisher in Scotland that shut down a few months ago. That's too bad. Anthony Neil Smith spoke highly of the company. I finished this in June. I think.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Hutton is 44 years old, drinks too much, screws around with most any women, has three ex-wives, and lingering trouble with PTSD and guilt from his time as a British Army peacekeeper in the Balkans. So, now you know we're all set up for some standard British gritty noirish noiring in Noir Town.  (But, tell me, what is noir?)

Hutton mostly chose police work while reading newspaper articles about the the daring do of Inspector Bloonsbury, Manly Cop Hero. Several years later Hutton is a detective himself and he knows that Bloonsbury has turned into a bloated, drunken mess.  Bloonsbury did have a brief career resurgence about five years ago after solving a big case but he has now gone back to rock bottom.

Anyhoo.

A killer is on the loose in small(ish) town Scotland. He is slashing women who look like his ex-girlfriend. Well, he slashed one so far. Meanwhile, Hutton is at the police department Christmas bash trying to bed the young lady constables. He fails in his sexual efforts but joins the investigation and also learns of some nefarious goings on from a few years ago. Turns out that Bloonsbury's cop victory five years ago was due to he and his equally despicable co-worker setting up a crime, accidentally killing a victim, and then framing an innocent man to go to prison.

More things happen. Hutton starts juggling women as he shags his superior officer and tries to get on better terms with his second ex-wife. When a couple coppers are killed Hutton wonders if Bloonsbury is killing off his co-conspirators. Or, is the serial killer to blame? Was one cop really killed in a legitimate hit-and-run?

A fun book. I enjoyed the visit with Scottish culture and language. Hutton is well drawn. He's your standard Detective With Issues Who Makes Bad Decisions and I enjoyed it. A couple killings in the novel were a surprise because Lindsay spent enough time with the characters that I felt an impact from their deaths.

There are a couple other books in this series and I should try them out. That or Lindsay's Barney Thomson series.