Blog Tour ~ From the Shadows by G R Halliday

 ✨✨ Happy Publication Day ✨✨

 From The Shadows 

Harvill Secker
18 April 2019

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the Blog Tour

A stunning, atmospheric police procedural set against the grit of Inverness and the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands, this is the first book in the DI Monica Kennedy series. 

Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again.

A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy stands by the victim in this starkly beautiful and remote landscape. Instinct tells her the case won’t begin and end with this one death. 

Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days.

As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim.

My thoughts..

DI Monica Kennedy is the lead detective in the hunt for a killer who seems to be targeting young boys but with very few clues to go on she and her team have to work really quickly in order to piece together the few clues they have. However, the deeper they get into the enquiry and the more questions the investigation throws up, especially when social worker, Michael Bach, gets involved and secrets from the past start to be revealed.

This new police procedural series gets off to a tense and dramatic start and right from the beginning of the investigation the shadow of an ever present danger pulls you into the centre of the action. Of course with any new series there’s a certain amount of getting to know the characters and this team all have of the individual quirks which makes a team interesting, but even as they work well together there are certain tensions which threaten to engulf them. Our initial introduction to DI Monica Kennedy shows that whilst she’s no push-over she’s also quite vulnerable and this flaw in her personality is interesting to observe as it allows her to sometimes make some questionable decisions.

The story moves along at a rapid pace but it’s not all plain sailing for the investigative team as things get more and more complicated. The author writes well using the remoteness of the Scottish landscape to give the story its dark edginess, and there are more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing right until the end. 

From The Shadows is an commendable debut by a talented new crime voice and it is an interesting start to what, I am sure, will become a compelling police procedural series.

About the Author

G.R.HALLIDAY was born in Edinburgh and grew up near Stirling in Scotland. He spent his childhood obsessing over the unexplained mysteries his father investigated, which has proved excellent inspiration for From the Shadows. He now lives in the rural Highlands outside of Inverness, where he is able to pursue his favourite pastimes of mountain climbing and swimming in the sea, before returning home to his band of semi-feral cats.

Twitter @gr_halliday #FromTheShadows

@HarvillSecker