Book cover: the Crucifixion Killer is stalking Glasgow, leaving victims’ mutilated bodies in a Christ-like pose. DCI Alan McAlpine – a renowned and successful police officer – is drafted in to lead the hunt, supported by local officers DI Anderson and DS Costello. But the past holds horrific memories for McAlpine. He last worked this beat some twenty years earlier, when he was assigned to guard a woman – nameless and faceless after a sadistic acid attack – at a Glasgow hospital. An obsession was born in that hospital room that has never quite left McAlpine… and now it seems to be resurfacing. For a reason.
As the chase to halt the gruesome murders intensifies, so Anderson and Costello find chilling cause for concern uncomfortably close to home…

PRAISE ‘The dialogue crackles… A most auspicious debut’ OBSERVER
‘The terrific cast of characters keep the action and detection compelling’ TIME OUT
‘Dark, vivid and daring’ VAL MCDERMID

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Rip roaring read, and highly entertaining. Great cover too, Glasgow’s Necropolis such a distinctive graveyard on a hill, tough to see that, not recognise it and want to pick it up! It does get a bit too whirly in parts, there are a couple of, just too incredible coincidences for words, and too many folk going dolally, past memories clawing at their dreams, alcohol dulling their finer senses and exhaustion fuddling a lot of brains and confounding rational thought, but yet there are many engaging characters drawn here. Looking forward to some of these characters being present in other novels it wasn’t till I was close to the end of this book that I did some research and, discovered to my surprise, that this is the first of Caro Ramsay’s novels published. The feeling garnered from goodness knows where, that this was the fourth of fifth in a series, was quite confounded.

Set mainly, in a lively Glasgow, through the grimy city streets to the heights of the expensive side of town, that Ramsay freely admits pulling around a bit for the sake of the novel, its also punctuated with some runs out into the beautiful Ayrshire sea coast and countryside near by. There is a fun description of Edinburgh that I just have to quote, given the ever present frision between the two Scottish cities;
‘Edinburgh was shite; the office was too warm. After years of 23-hour shifts you think a nine-to-five will be fun.’ He [Anderson] drowned a mouthful of hot coffee. ‘But it’s boring, I couldn’t settle. I’m glad to be back. Edinburgh’s full of traffic lights and tourists. Bunch of chancers.’ He pulled a face. ‘The potato scones are iffy. There’s a hill with a castle on it, a high street with no lamp-posts, and that’s about it.’
Brilliant, I love Edinburgh but that description has an amusingly jaded appeal. Caro Ramsay’s next book, Tambourine Girl is getting popped onto my wishlist.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I plan ‘releasing’ this book at a meeting of BookCrossers taking place at the Edinburgh Book Festival, on Sunday 16th Aug around 2pm. If this book is not picked up at that meeting I plan taking it elsewhere to ‘release’. (That is I shall leave it in a public place for someone to find, take way to read & then pass on.)

IF IT’S FOUND BY ANOTHER BOOKCROSSER ~ thanks dear bookcrosser for picking this up, I hope you enjoy reading it then, picking it’s next release location. Happy travels wee book!

IF YOU ARE NEW TO BOOKCROSSING - WELCOME! ~ Thank you for catching this book! Please feel free to keep the book for as long as you wish, and whenever you are ready, pass it on. You could give it to a friend or leave it someplace, like a cafe, waiting room or wherever you think it might find a new reader! I hope that you enjoy reading the book and will consider exploring this site and find out more about the bookcrossing phenomena. It is free and loads of fun. Bookcrossers can track released books on their travels. Often books have exiting journeys, can and do turn up all over the world!

If you join - you'll be alerted by email each time someone makes a new journal entry. It is all confidential, fascinating and fun (and addictive - but in a GOOD way)! You may remain anonymous, and if you choose to join the site, I would be honoured if you would use rainbow3 ~ that's me ~ as the name of the person who referred you.

CONGRATULATIONS on finding a BookCrossing book and Happy Reading!!

ADDED 16 Aug 09: not having done my homework on the Edinburgh International Book Festival brochure until after our BookCrossing meeting I only found out shortly before she was speaking that Caro Ramsay was being interviewed at the book Festival that very evening! She and Lin Anderson were interviewed by Paul Johnson, all crime authors I have read so I rushed off to get a ticket and found the event interesting to attend. Apparently Caro Ramsay’s first two books, were taken from a manuscript she had written while on a long period of hospital recovery.

Now while, also still working as an osteopath, Ramsay is currently working on a third in this series. Research in the workplace sounds important for her and is very possible as she announced, a police officer will tell you anything while you have your elbow jammed up his bottom! Ramsey also works with solicitors, lawyers and judges and cross references her questions to obtain these various professions views on each others work. This gives her work, she says, insights into working conditions that members of these professions have complimented her on. Clear about hers being a seven book series Ramsay said her publishers projected that there will be seven books as the end of her original manuscript had situations the publishers felt would be better worked up to, by say, a seventh novel.

In addition I discovered that the follow up to Absolution is called SINGING TO THE DEAD not Tambourine Girl, which had been going to clash with another book title, [Tangerine Boy?] sounding too similar, for a proposed book by another crime author.

Caught at the Book Festival meet up.

Hmm, can't decide about this book. I didn't like McAlpine at all. In fact almost all of the relationships in this book were dysfunctional. Everyoen seemed to be avoiding their partners or in love with someone else. I probably would read more by this author if I came across them though. Will release soon.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Set free on the bookcrossing shelf downstairs. Happy reading!

I was on a training course in Edinburgh so decided to visit my first OBCZ and picked up this book!

I liked the style of this book but wasn't a big fan of McAlpine either! A good debut novel that wouldn't put me off reading more by this author.

Sending this book on to earthcaroleanne.

Thank you so much for this, and by the way, I hate you. It's a new series for me which is the last thing I need - another series to start. However, I have heard her speak and wanted to read the series so it's good to get the first one as I've been struggling to find her books (but not trying too hard because I have so many already). Interesting to see it started it's journey in Edinburgh with Rainbow3. Hopefully I'll be seeing her at our next meetup in February.

BTW - I love the bookmark. Thank you.