Book Review: James Oswald's No Time To Cry (First in his brand new series with the protagonist Constance Fairchild)

Available here

The Blurb

Undercover ops are always dangerous, but DC Constance Fairchild never expected things to go this wrong.

Returning to their base of operations, an anonymous office in a shabby neighbourhood, she finds the bloodied body of her boss, and friend, DI Pete Copperthwaite. He's been executed - a single shot to the head.

In the aftermath, it seems someone in the Met is determined to make sure that blame for the wrecked operation falls squarely on Con's shoulders. She is cut loose and cast out, angry and alone with her grief... right until the moment someone also tries to put a bullet through her head.

There's no place to hide, and no time to cry.

So let me introduce you to James Oswald's new lead character. Her name is Constance (Con to her friends but never Connie) Fairchild and she has a raft of demons from her own past to come to terms with but the murder of her firend Pete has left her bereft. The biggest issue at the moment is the fact that she has just discovered her boss and mentor murdered in an undercover operation gone badly wrong.  Constance is immediately under suspicion and the entire team turn against her.  From a monied background, Connie is estranged from her parents, dismissive of her brother and has only one true ally - her aunt.  Con is gutsy, outspoken and brave. She has an innate sense of justice that is not sugary sweet or piously annoying.  Her vulnerability makes her stronger (although she may not admit it), her personal experiences make her empathetic and her ability to divorce her loyalties from the 'job' make her interesting.  I think Oswald has done a cracking job in creating this new character.  After so many McLean books, it must be hard to swing a new character past your existing readers but I think he's pulled it off with bells on.

The plot was deliciously twisty with Con facing enemies from within and outwith the police.  As the story progresses we find out more and more about Con and as this impacts on her investigation into her mentor's death we see her tenacity, loyalty and vulnerability.The plot is fast paced  and takes us the length and breadth of the country, which again appeals to me.  nothing like a bit of Scotland in a novel to bring out the homesickness ... and the bagpipes - (only joking about that last bit). Th gradual unraveling of the storylines had me gripped. The combination of Con's grief, past occurrences and the immediacy of having to react instantaneously were compelling.

So what did I like most about No Time To Cry?

Con herself was a massive draw for me.  Oswald employed just the right amount of brush strokes throughout the novel to keep us invested in finding out more about her.  He wasn't scared to show her vulnerability which made her all the more authentic.  Through her interactions with subsidiary characters we were privy to insights into her character.

I also loved the fact that Oswald included a smidgen of 'supernatural' throughout the book. I loved that about the McLean books and although it is less obvious in No Time To Cry, the addition of 'sixth sense' stuff is skillfully inserted.  By the way, if you're a McLean fan then you're in for a treat as one of my favourite characters from the series makes a wee appearance in No Time To Cry.

So - toddle off an buy it (the link is above) you'll love it!