"The contrasting viewpoints create a plot that is fast, forceful, and absorbing" - Vile City review from Dot Marshall-Gent

A new review for Vile City on Promoting Crime

"the writer creates two intriguing characters who often defy readers’ expectations."

Thursday, 15 September 2022

‘Detective in a Coma: Vile City’ by Jennifer Lee Thomson

Published by Diamond Books Ltd,
24 November 2021.
ISBN: 978-1-83840268-6 (PB)

When Detective Sergeant Stevie Campbell is assaulted on duty, he cheats death, but only just, and whilst he languishes in hospital, DS Brian McKeith has taken his place on Detective Inspector Waddell’s team.  McKeith has yet to impress his new boss who is wading through the in-tray from Hell that includes a spate of robberies as well as two missing women. To make matters worse, the new DS has just informed Waddell that another woman has disappeared.  This time, however, there is a witness.  Shelley’s boyfriend was also attacked, and the detectives are hoping that he might be able to give them a lead.

The third person narrative moves primarily between the perspectives of Waddell and Shelley, though other points of view are also related.  This juxtaposition creates an almost cinematographic feel to the story as it flips from the police investigation to the description of the imprisoned woman.  Waddell’s team must first determine whether there is a link between the women who have disappeared. Shelley on the other hand does not wait for the cavalry to arrive and makes a series of valiant attempts to escape her captives.  By foregrounding these two points of view, the writer creates two intriguing characters who often defy readers’ expectations.

The contrasting viewpoints create a plot that is fast, forceful, and absorbing. There are several scenes of brutality and some graphic depictions of sex trafficking, that are hard to read.  Crucially, though, the writer has provided female characters who are combative and resourceful.  There are also moments of poignancy.  For example, when Waddell visits Stevie in hospital he is clearly traumatised to see his erstwhile partner’s condition; sometimes he believes he is conversing with his old pal, and this causes him to doubt his sanity.  Similarly, Shelley’s valiant attempts to escape provoke empathy as well as admiration.

Detective in a Coma: Vile City is a tough Scottish thriller that explores the appalling trade in human beings.  It also examines how resilience and determination can carry us through the worst of times.  If gritty crime is your thing, you’ll enjoy this book.  I did, particularly the deliciously, dark twist at the end.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent

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.

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.  

Thanks to Mystery People and Dot Marshall-Gent. You can check out the Mystery People website here

"The plot is full on intense" - Donna's Book Reviews on Vile CIty

Delighted with this review from Donna's Book Reviews for Vile City.

Thanks, Donna for such an insightful review😀

Review 

I'm a big fan of Scottish crime, and the crime writing standard in Scotland is particularly high. I had never heard of this author, but the title and blurb sounded intriguing, and I was right to take the plunge. The story follows Di Waddell, who has to investigate missing women in the city of Glasgow. His partner and friend is lying in hospital in a coma, so he has to work with McKeith. He is already up against it, not being the man Waddell wants, but his is also gangly and clumsy, but luckily does provide some useful insights. Their pairing made for an entertaining read. Waddell alone is exactly the type of character I love to read, he has a sarcastic humour and it certainly endeared me to him almost immediately.

Shelley is the woman who is abducted, and you follow a lot of the story through her eyes. It shows the abduction and captivity from her point of view. It was difficult to read at times, but Shelley's strength shone out. She was determined to survive the ordeal and wouldn't be broken no matter how much they tried.

"The plot is full on intense"

The plot is full on intense, it goes all over the place, not confusing, just breathtaking in its speed and multi layer. approach. You are kept guessing, and even when you think the case is finished and passed over, the author laughs and throws a grenade in to blow everything wide open again. It covers the sex trafficking trade, and discusses many of the awful acts that are inflicted on women, but on the other hand there are a cast of incredibly strong women to balance this out.

The detective in the coma remains so throughout the book, and does rather make you wonder why he gets the title, but it does intrigue me as to what will be done with his character as the series progresses. He will clearly have been able to hear what has been discussed with him, but whether his condition leads to any useful outcome remains to be seen.

Whatever happens I will be reading more from this author, I will look forward to re-inserting myself in the tough Glaswegian streets, amongst this great team, to see what they get up to next.

What's it about then?

Detective Inspector Duncan Waddell has his hands full. A wave of burglaries in Glasgow has targeted the elderly. Two young women have gone missing, and a report has just come in about a third victim. He is training his new partner, DC Brian McKeith. He and his wife are raising their children. It is no wonder that he visits and talks often with his former partner.

His former partner, DC Stevie Campbell, is lying comatose in the hospital, with no sign that he will ever recover enough to wake up. Stabbed by a criminal with a broken bottle, he now lies inert, fed intravenously, turned regularly to prevent bedsores. Waddell visits him, shares details of cases with him, jokes with him and reads to him, hoping against hope that he can somehow hear him despite there being no evidence of this.

Until the day that Stevie sits up and talks to him! Except, no one else can see him. There is no medical sign that he ever moved, no one else heard him, and when the nurses come into the room to check on him he is as deep in his coma as ever. Only Duncan can hear him.

 Read an extract here 

Buy it on Amazon here

Book 2 in the series that was once called Cannibal City will be out soon under the new name of Butcher City. Also from Diamond Books. 

You can see more of their titles at https://diamondbooks.co.uk/library/ and on Twitter @diamond_crime