Tag Archives: David J. Gatward

Fiction, Reviews

‘One Bad Turn,’ by David J. Gatward

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It was shortly after I started reading David J. Gatward’s latest Inspector Grimm book, One Bad Turn, that I recalled my earlier decision to stop reading the series. The writing’s good, and I like Grimm and his team. But the author’s insistence on bringing God (or spirituality) into the books by way of a lesbian vicar just doesn’t work for me.

Having started the book, though, I figured I might as well carry on. Maybe my perception has been altered by my religious intolerance, but I wasn’t entirely happy with this one.

Harry Grimm, you may recall, is a former paratrooper, facially scarred by an IED. Then he became a policeman in Bristol, but now he has been transferred to bucolic Wensleydale in Yorkshire. In the great tradition of English small-town copper stories, though, the troubles of the big city follow him.

In One Bad Turn, Harry is recalled from holiday when a body is found in a house in a nearby town. Though terribly decomposed, the body shows clear signs of having been subjected to torture. And then a claymore mine concealed with the body explodes, killing two crime scene technicians. The dead woman herself is something of a mystery – beautiful, but not well known to her neighbors. Her identity, it turns out, is a false one, and her means of support unknown. Not long after, another torture murder will be discovered, and another mine will explode.

I felt, personally, that One Bad Turn was kind of predictable. It’s a story we’ve run into before, and is objectively a little far-fetched. It’s not a bad book, but I’m going to try to remember not to buy the next Harry Grimm adventure.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Cold Sanctuary,’ by David J. Gatward

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I’ve been following, and generally enjoying, David J. Gatward’s Inspector Grimm mystery series, about a war-scarred police detective in rural Yorkshire. But I have to say I found Cold Sanctuary, the eighth volume, something of a disappointment.

The book opens in a memorable and – I must say – heartbreaking manner. On a beautiful morning, Bill Dinsdale, a Yorkshire farmer, bids goodbye to his loving wife and sets out to do one of his favorite jobs, baling hay. But we are warned from the start that this is the last day of his life. The dramatic tension builds to a shocking murder scene.

When Inspector Grimm comes to investigate with his team, they are quickly convinced that what looks like an accident is murder. In a particularly cruel form. Who would want to do this to Bill, a cheerful and popular member of the community? Could the murderer possibly be Bill’s son, who recently fought with him and is acting suspiciously? Or the mysterious person who’s been sending him threatening notes?

There were two elements of Cold Sanctuary that displeased me. One was a scene where Grimm makes an arrest, rather callously, which is treated as important – and yet turns out to be a mistake. A mistake for which Grimm does not apologize. Nor does he seem much concerned about the distress he caused.

The other element was the final solution. The puzzle all through the book was “Why would anyone kill Bill Dinsdale?” The problem is treated as mysterious and baffling. But it didn’t baffle me at all. It was plain as a pikestaff, based on the evidence. Not only was it obvious, it was actually a common trope. We’ve all seen it a hundred times before in novels, TV shows, and movies.

There’s the lesbian cop married to an Anglican woman priest, too. But when a novelist only inflicts lesbians on you these days, it’s a mercy.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the Inspector Grimm books or not. I came away kind of annoyed this time.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Blood Sport,’ by David J. Gatward

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David J. Gatward’s Harry Grimm books are not great literature, but they’re entertaining “English rural” police stories. Harry, you may recall, is a former English paratrooper who joined the police in Bristol after surviving an IUD explosion in Afghanistan. His wounds left him with rather severe facial scarring, which he cheerfully exploits in intimidating suspects. Transferred to a town in the Yorkshire Dales, he’s finding himself – to his own surprise – settling in comfortably with the laid-back, eccentric local force.

In Blood Sport, one of Harry’s colleagues is still smarting from the death, in a previous book, of a close friend who turned out to be a criminal involved in sheep rustling.  When a dog is found dead, torn to pieces, in an abandoned barn, the ensuing investigation into illegal dog fighting leads to links with that sheep rustling operation. It’s all part of a large, organized conspiracy run by greedy and cruel people, something no one had looked for out here in the country. The worst part is that no one can be sure whom to trust.

As the mystery gets resolved, we also get to see Harry Grimm make some surprising new connections in his own life.

Blood Sport is plagued by a few misspellings and typos, but is nevertheless quite enjoyable to read. Only mild cautions.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Death’s Requiem,’ by David J. Gatward

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Returning to the church, Gareth made his way back inside, through the paneled porch, and was aware immediately of the smell of the building, the tang of cold stone mixing with the sweet scent of varnished wood, of candles and books and history. He breathed deep, secretly hoping to take in some of the ancient peace that he always sensed buildings like this contained, as though they somehow saved up humanity’s prayers, acting as great spiritual batteries where people could go to be recharged somewhere.

In the previous five books of David J. Gatward’s Harry Grimm series, we have seen how Inspector Grimm transferred from Bristol to the idyllic Wensleydale area of Yorkshire. A hulking, facially scarred veteran paratrooper, Harry was prepared to experience (and exploit) the natural fear he inspires in most people. But the easygoing crew in the town of Hawes resolutely refused to be intimidated by him. They welcomed him into their circle and their community, and he’s beginning to enjoy the life – and even the food. Death’s Requiem picks up the story during the worst snowstorm in years.

The nearby town of Askrig is the home of an internationally famous pop singer, Gareth Jones, who recorded “that Christmas song – you remember.” Following the death of his wife and a scandal that marred his clean public image, he has chosen to launch his new album with a concert in the church, where he used to be a choir boy. All his old friends gather for the concert, as well as a standing-room-only crowd of other locals. The concert is disrupted at one point by intruders dressed as Satanists, but they are soon gotten rid of. Otherwise, the concert is a triumph.

But the next morning, the female vicar finds a body hanging from a bell rope in the tower, surrounded by Satanic graffiti on the walls. Inspector Grimm and his team will need to untangle old relationships and long-buried secrets to solve the case and avert further murders.

The Grimm books are reliably enjoyable, and Death’s Requiem was no exception. My only problem with it was that it raised a familiar issue – it seems as if every form of entertainment is required to supply a minimum quota of homosexual characters today. In most cases, the creators choose to make them lesbians, because lesbians are less icky to many readers. That is the case in this book – and it’s mixed up with the issue of homosexuals in the church.

But I suppose I should be grateful anytime the church gets any positive mention at all.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Restless Dead,’ by David J. Gatward

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David J. Gatward’s Detective Chief Inspector Grimm series continues with Restless Dead. It’s a small mystery, the kind that couldn’t actually happen, in the same way, in an urban setting. But Harry Grimm, facially-scarred war veteran, is settling in in the relatively bucolic Wensleydale region, and in these parts they give the public more personal service than cops did back in Bristol.

Retired Col. James Fletcher is devastated by the death of his wife, killed in an auto accident while driving him home on his birthday, because he’d been drinking. Although his two daughters, his son-in-law, and his grandson have rallied around him, he’s profoundly depressed. Lately he’s started imagining he’s seeing his wife again around the estate (already rumored to be haunted); the family reports it to the police, who find no sign of an intruder. Col. Fletcher is not mollified, and things are about to get deadly.

Also, somebody is rustling sheep in Wensleydale, and the father of one of Grimm’s team members is a victim.

The Grimm series is semi-cozy and character-driven. I like it a lot (in spite of the injection of a “genuine” spiritualist). Restless Dead ends with a cliffhanger, but the major mystery was solved, and I look forward to the next book, coming in June.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Shooting Season,’ by David J. Gatward

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I read and reviewed the first three Inspector Harry Grimm novels previously, and liked them. Somehow the series fell off my radar. But I picked up the fourth book, Shooting Season, recently, and found it still worked for me.

Harry Grimm has a face that literally scares people – due to an IUD explosion during his service as a paratrooper. He was a detective in the city of Bristol, but was seconded up to rural Wensleydale in Yorkshire when the local inspector went on leave. That leave has been extended, and Harry is discovering he quite likes the place. He likes the fresh air, the scenery, and the people. His team (they have no actual police station, but operate out of the community center) is low-key but smart and professional, and they’ve taken to him.

Charlie Baker is a bestselling thriller writer, famously arrogant and hard to work with. Because his latest work is set in a shooting lodge in Yorkshire, his agent (and former lover) has set up a “shooting” (clay pigeons) weekend in the area. But at a kick-off bookstore reading, a fan stands up to accuse Charlie of using a ghost writer. What makes this even more awkward is that it happens to be true – Charlie’s “editor,” also visiting at the lodge, does in fact do most of the work. Also present are Charlie’s elderly accountant, his young female assistant, and a couple shabby-nobility hangers-on.

After the fiasco at the reading, Charlie gets more drunk than usual, and clashes with most of his “friends.” In the middle of the night he’s seen driving off, and the next day his body is found in a field near his crashed Porsche, his head literally blown off by a shotgun. At first it looks like suicide, but the mechanics of this shotgun make that impossible.

There’s no lack of plausible suspects, but everybody has an alibi. Inspector Grimm will need to do some heavy thinking on this one. But he’ll also need to think about his own greatest mystery – what to do about his criminal father, who killed his mother.

These books are pretty low-key, almost “cozy,” but with an edge. I like them a lot.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Corpse Road,’ by David J. Gatward

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There are three books so far in David J. Gatward’s Harry Grimm police detective series. Corpse Road is the most recent. In this book we see Harry, battle-scarred former paratrooper and current Yorkshire police detective, come up against a world he knows nothing about – online culture.

When a woman, celebrating her divorce by camping on the Wensleydale moors, is found stabbed to death, the obvious suspect is her ex-husband. But the man suddenly disappears, and gradually Harry’s team begins to realize they’re dealing with a serial killer. Not the sort of thing they’re used to in Wensleydale. And when one of their own team disappears, it will be a race against time.

I am very much enjoying this series – the characters are interesting and amusing (the author makes excellent use of a puppy as a social lubricant here), and the setting is beautiful and well-described. However, this is the second book in a row in this series in which I’ve figured out whodunnit before I was supposed to. What’s worse, I figured it out based on a point of online culture of which I, an old fart, was aware while (apparently) Harry’s young team members were not.

So, recommended for entertainment, with points deducted for plotting.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Best Served Cold,’ by David J. Gatward

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Book Two in David J. Gatward’s Harry Grimm series is Best Served Cold, a story which (as I’m sure you’ve guessed, because you’re smart) is about revenge.

Harry Grimm, scar-faced former police detective from Bristol, is settling in (at least tentatively) in his “temporary” secondment in Wensleydale, Yorkshire. It’s beautiful country, where the people are genuine and honest, the air is fresh, and Harry – in spite of himself – is beginning to enjoy himself. Except for the inexplicable local mania for eating fruitcake with cheese.

When a foul-natured and unpopular local farmer is found crushed under the wheels of one of his own wagons, it looks like an accident at first. But investigators quickly realize that the set-up is impossible. This was murder, and of a cruel sort. Not long after, another farmer – one of the first victim’s few friends – is found drowned to death in a slurry pit. Eagle feathers are discovered in the mouths of each.

The fact that nobody misses the victims much doesn’t mean the police can relax. There has to be some incident in the past that accounts for such terrible revenge. Harry hunts through the records and talks to old schoolmates of the victims, gradually piecing together the story of a horrible cruelty long forgotten by most.

I am enjoying these books for their setting, characters, and mood. I have to admit, though, that I figured out whodunnit before I was supposed to. Fairly obvious, I thought. Maybe I’m just really smart, but I think author Gatward needs to work on his plotting.

Still, recommended. Only minor cautions.

Fiction, Reviews

‘Grimm UP North,’ by David J. Gatward

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‘It’s a secondment. Think of it like an exchange programme if you want. We’re sending you there in exchange for, well, for you not being here, if I’m honest.’

A new English police series with a fairly original hero. I’m up for that.

Harry Grimm, the hero of Grimm Up North, looks kind of like Frankenstein’s monster, due to scarring from an IUD explosion during his service as a paratrooper. Now he’s a detective in Bristol. He’s pretty good at it too (his face actually helps), but his superiors don’t like him, partly because of his hostile attitude, and most particularly because he never lets up on his personal search for the man who killed his mother and destroyed his family – his own father.

So his boss sends him off on a “temporary” secondment to Wensleydale in Yorkshire, an area made famous by All Creatures Great and Small. It’s a whole other world – clean air, friendly people, tiny towns, an agricultural economic base. Not much crime, to be honest, and certainly very little serious crime.

Except that the very day Harry shows up, a young girl goes missing. And not long after, a murdered body is found beside a lake.

It would be ridiculous to blame this sudden crime wave on Harry, but that doesn’t stop his Yorkshire superior from doing just that. His learning curve will be steep, but in the end he’ll unmask the killer and save a couple lives.

Grimm Up North was an enjoyable fish-out-of-water mystery. The writing was good and the characters were amusing. Cautions for the usual.