Butcher City - (Detective in a Coma Book 2) gets reviewed by Mystery People

  

Published by Diamond Crime, 
28 September 2022. 
ISBN: 978-1-91564915-7 (PB)

DI Duncan Waddell is facing the most bizarre case of his career.  It seems that a killer is stalking victims on Glasgow’s streets.  Men unfortunate enough to be caught are being abducted, tied up, force-fed, then strangled and their livers removed. 

The first indication is a reported kidnap – the victim is Kevin Drummond, a well-known career criminal, who has been found unconscious near a hospital.  When he comes to, he claims that he had been abducted, but had managed to escape - his story is supported by physical evidence, but he is very confused and does not know who he is.  However, he does insist that his abductor apologised for making a mistake.  Then another victim is found - Daniel Adams.  The investigation into this murder reveals some unexpected information, but does it support the idea of a serial killer, or is there something else behind the killings? 

During the investigation, Waddell, as is his habit, visits his friend and colleague at the Intensive Care unit, where he has been since receiving injuries which had left him comatose.  Waddell updates Stevie on his current case and they talk things over.  Waddell seems at ease with this unusual and unlikely state of affairs, but no-one else, staff or family, knows about it.  For them the question is how long Stevie will be kept on life support if there no evidence of any improvement in his condition. 

The story moves forward with a number of unexpected events before the individual ribbons of evidence are neatly tied up and provide a disturbing solution.  The characters are well-developed, all adding their own flavour and knowledge to the investigation.  Waddell holds his team together and deals with the twists and turns confidently.  This is the second in the Detective in a Coma series and it will be interesting to see how the storyline involving the actual detective in a coma is handled.  
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Jennifer Lee Thomson is an award-winning crime writer who has been scribbling away all her life. She also writes as Jenny Thomson and is an animal and human rights advocate.

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.

Butcher City is available on Amazon and all good book shops. Click here for details 

Unsolved: The mysterious disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh and Mr Kipper (man in a kipper tie)

By Family members of Lamplugh or friends, distributed nationwide in the media by the Metropolitan Police*

The disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in July 1986, is a case that continues to be talked about. How could a bright young woman in the prime of her life go to meet a client in broad daylight and never be seen again? No trace of the 25-year-old has ever been found.

At the start it seemed as if the police had a good, solid starting point. Written down in the estate agent's diary was the name Mr Kipper. Next to his name was the address of a property she was going to be showing him.

It seemed a simple task for the police to trace this Mr Kipper and find out what he knew about her disappearance. Despite their efforts they couldn't find the man named.

I remember the 80s well. Women were more liberated then than they had been in the 70's. Jobs for women didn't mean just traditional job roles seen as women's like secretarial and nursing. Not to say that there is anything wrong with those jobs. 

Despite the progressiveness, I remember one of my teachers - a technical education teacher - who used to smack all the girl pupils on the bottom. These days you would be charged with sexual assault but in days gone by behavior like that was ignored. 

In the 1980s there was one other thing other thing from 70s that remained. Men often wore kipper ties.

What is a kipper tie?

Kipper ties are broad ties known for having horrendously garish patterns and colours. When I think of used car salesmen I think of kipper ties. 

The police at the time did consider the possibility that Mr Kipper wasn't the man's name at all - or even an alias - but did her killer definitely use that name? Or was it that he told Suzy he would be wearing a kipper tie so she would recognise him when they met? Hence, she wrote down Mr Kipper not bacuse it was his name but because he told her that's how she could recognise him? 

Shirley Banks - murdered by a psychopath

Convicted killer John Cannan, the coward who abducted and murdered newlywed Shirley Banks has been constantly linked to the Suzy Lamplugh case. In prison, he'd gained the name Mr Kipper because of the big ties he wore but what if he wasn't the Mr Kipper Suzy wrote about at all, which is possible? 

Cannan's MO doesn't match the Lamplugh crime 

Arrogant Cannan is hardly a criminal mastermind. He doesn't come across as a planner. Instead, his attacks were more opportunistic. He seems to have crossed paths with his victims rather than have planned his vile crimes and arranging to meet the estate agent at a house would have taken some planning. 

Consider his previous known crimes. 

1. He used a knife on a shop assistant at a dress shop. Thankfully, passers-by intervened. 

2. He tried to abduct a woman at gunpoint in a car park the night before he targeted tragic Shirley. 

3. When he abducted Shirley Banks, she was out shopping. He took her back to his own flat and held her hostage before he killed her. Then, he stupidly put the tax disc from her car in his glove compartment where it was later found. 

Dumb criminal 

It seems inconceivable that he could have abducted and killed Suzy without leaving any trace. He just doesn't come across as smart enough. 

In short, he's too stupid to have killed Suzy and gotten away with it without leaving a trace. 

I pray that I'm wrong because if he didn't kill Suzy that means someone else did and unlike Cannan they're still out there. Have they killed again? Once killer's escalate they don't tend to de-escalate to lesser crimes. 

Hopefully, one day Suzy's body will be found, and she can finally be laid to rest. 

Attributions 
- Lamplugh with her hair tinted blonde, as it was on the day she disappeared

Original publication: Distributed nationwide in the media, July 1986 onwardsImmediate source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/suzy-lamplugh-suspect-john-cannan-7178859, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71314872

WHO TOOK OFFICE WORKER SHELLEY CRAIG? Read an extract from Vile City (Volume 1 Detective in a Coma)

 

#VileCity #detectiveinaComa

#crimethriller #tartannoir 

DI Duncan Waddell is on the brink of a nervous breakdown – he thinks his best pal DC Stevie Campbell, who’s been in a coma since he was attacked by a suspect, is talking to him.

When office worker Shelley rushes to her boyfriend’s aid after he is attacked, she is abducted. She wakes up in a strange room with no memory of how she got there.

On the case, Waddell finds himself in a desperate race against time to uncover the truth behind the abduction or Shelley dies.

To do this, he and his team must delve into the seedy underbelly of Scotland’s swingers’ scene and a world where women are tricked into the sex business and traded like cattle.

Vile City is out now, published by Diamond Books in paperback and eBook. 

You can buy it by clicking here

 

~ Read an extract ~

Chapter 1

Stuart was hiding something. Shelley could tell. She was always the one who’d had to wake him because he could block out the shrill of the alarm clock. Nowadays, he was up before her, grabbing the mail whilst she slept. And he’d started making breakfast – nothing much, just tea and toast, more than he’d ever made her in their near three years together.

When she’d ask him if anything was wrong, he’d shrug his shoulders, give her a wee smile and say everything was fine. She knew he was lying because his face went even paler, making his freckles stand out as if they’d been drawn in by a kid with a coloured pencil. She never pushed it, maybe because deep down she was worried that he’d tell her he’d met someone else.

The No.76 bus was empty when they clambered on board – one of the benefits of working until eleven at night in a call centre, was that there was no need to scoot past a sea of legs and become a contortionist to get on and off a bus.

Their cold breath filled the air with ghosts as they walked towards Waterstones, Shelley pausing to peek at the new crime fiction releases showcased in the illuminated windows, whilst Stuart fidgeted with his watch. He was always footering about with something since he’d given up cigarettes and it drove her mad, but at least it didn’t fill his lungs with tar and make the house smell like an overflowing ashtray.

“I need to have a pee,” he announced, as they came to the dimly lit lane off Mitchell Street that reeked of eau de Glasgow: decomposing takeaway, urine and other bodily fluids.

She groaned. “Can’t you wait until we get home, Stuart?” She knew she’d pronounced his name “Stew-art” as she always did when she was annoyed with him. She couldn’t help it.

What made men think it was okay to urinate in public?

Stuart looked pained. “Sorry, I can’t. Too much coffee tonight.”

She let him walk on ahead of her and whilst he scooted down the alley, she stood outside the amusement arcade, pretending to look in so she wouldn’t be mistaken for a prostitute. It’d happened to her once when she’d got off the bus alone. Stuart hadn’t been working that night.

Five minutes later, she was so cold she couldn’t feel her nose and Stuart still wasn’t back.

She turned the corner to look for him, fully expecting to see him ambling back towards her with that jaunty walk that always made her smile. He wasn’t there.

Where was he?

Anger welled up in her chest. Had he started smoking again? He swore he wouldn’t.

There was one way to find out.

She headed down the alley. The sole light was provided from some nearby buildings, so visibility was poor.

She’d walked a few steps when she spotted a bundle of rags on the ground. Was someone sleeping there?

She moved closer, squinting into the dim light. Stuart was lying motionless on the ground. He must have tripped and knocked himself out as he hit the concrete.

She ran to him, calling out his name, the squeezing in her chest waning slightly when she knelt and heard him groan.

She pulled her mobile phone from her bag to call for an ambulance.

She didn’t make it to the third digit. A gloved hand clamped across her mouth and nose, cutting off her airways. The phone fell from her grasp, clattering onto the cobbles. Terror gripped her and she couldn’t breathe.

As she struggled, her assailant pressed his mouth to her ear. He was so close that it occurred to her that if anyone saw them, they would think he was her boyfriend whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

“Your man’s been given a strong sedative. He’ll wake up with a sore head and nothing more. If you scream, I’ll kick him several times in the head and he’ll never get up again. Do you understand?”

The voice was cold and emotionless She didn’t recognise it and there was an accent. Not from around here.

She nodded under his hand. Then did something he didn’t expect. Backheeled him in the groin.

There was a satisfying yelp as he released her.

She ran, arms pumping away like Usain Bolt, down towards the café at the end of the alley and safety.

She’d almost made it when he grabbed her arm and hauled her back. An electric shock shot from her elbow to her shoulder as she tried to pull herself free. He was too strong.

He dragged her towards him.

Before she could scream, he punched her in the face and she went down with a thud, jarring every bone in her body, momentarily stunning her.

As she fought to get up, he punched her in the back, and she fell again.

The last thing she saw was the pavement rushing towards her before she blacked out...