Obtain Absolution (Anderson Costello, #1) Generated By Caro Ramsay Issued As Version

first book in a series by an author I hadn't heard of before, This was an enjoyable police procedural set in legacy Strathclyde police area involving a serial killer targeting women with no apparent links to each other,

The writing standard is good and moved along at a great pace keeping the reader interested in what happens next, Good use of red herrings and a number of twists along the way,

The main character to begin with is DCI McAlpine who we first meet as a young cadet who is tasked to babysit the victim of an acid attack someodd years before and this has a profound effect upon him.
We next meet him when he takes over the SIO role for the second murder and he is immediately a disagreeable character, but apparently a very gifted detective, To be honest I found him fairly annoying and I wondered why the series of books was called Anderson amp Costello D, I and D. S. respectively as they weren't as well defined as McAlpine, Hopefully that will change as I read the rest of the series,

The author seemed intent on describing police cars with yellow flashing lights which I found strange and at one point Costello introduces Mulholland as a D, I. to a witness when actually he is a D, C. This may have been a misprint but things like that annoy me! There is a character in the book who is a bit obsessed, I know what that is like, I was obsessed with this book, I started reading on the weekend, I took my time, but when I got to Monday and had to work, I could only think about when work was done so I could get back to the book! I had that same feeling today, Tuesday.
When could I knock off work and finish my book Well, I did get my work done and then I could settle down with my book and finish it, The last bits were agonising, I was afraid my eyes would flick ahead and reveal something a bit too soon, I wanted to savour every single word in the right order, I held a bit of chocolate wrapper over the page and almost read line by line, : Not quite, but I was desperate to turn the pages and find out what would happen next,

And all the time I could see Caro Ramsey in my mind's eye because I had the pleasure of listening to her, in the company of Abir Mukherjee and Craig Robertson, talk at the Bloody Scotland festival in September.
That was a great session, Right now, I am worried there won't be a Bloody Scotlanddue to corona, Biting my nails over that one, Despite the bloody circumstances, I did enjoy visiting Glasgow and Scotland in this my first crime novel by Caro Ramsay, but definitely absolutely not my last, Holed up at home due to corona, my Libby app has been brilliant at bringing me full entertainment from my libraries, Many thanks go to a friend who tipped me about this book after my last book was such a disappointment, Now the dilemma is do I go on to book, or do I read one of my own paper books, So many books, so little time!! Decisions, decisions, I did enjoy Ramsay's writing and I

do enjoy Anderson and Costello who don't dominate the pages like many protagonists seem to do, I think I will see if Libby has book numberready for me, . . ABSOLUTION Pol. ProcAlan McAlpineGlasgow, ScotlandCont Okay
Ramsey, Carost book
Michael Joseph,, UK Hardcover ISBN:

First Sentence: White,

In, PC Alan McAlpine, working out of Partickhill station, was assigned to stand guard over a young woman who had been attacked with acid, McAlpine becomes obsessed with the young woman and devastated when she commits suicide,

Now in, is a Detective Chief Inspector and back at Partickill, He and his team are faced with a killer who chloroforms woman, lays them out as though crucified and eviscerates them, McAlpines past obsession becomes linked with his current case,

I had seriously mixed feelings about this book, The writing was strong and I enjoyed the book being set in Glasgow, which is somewhat different,

I liked McAlpine, his wife Helena and some of his fellow detectives, But as I think about it, I was put off by the feeling that huge pieces of information relating to the characters was missing and that there was very little actual character development.


The story kept me turning the pages in spite of the fact that I had identified both the killer and the motive very soon into the book, But it was the fact that I hated the ending that really clinched my rating, It felt as though it were a cheat,

So while the book held me for a straightthrough read, I dont know that I shall read another by Ms, Ramsey.
It looked like a simple job, Guarding a woman nameless and almost faceless after a savage acid attack at a Glasgow hospital, PC Alan McAlpine has no idea that this simple job will haunt his career and change his life forever,: Two decades later, Alan steps into Partickhill police station and back in time, Now a celebrated Detective Chief Inspector, McAlpine has been drafted in to lead the hunt for a man the press are calling 'the Crucifixion Killer', With his distinguished reputation, McAlpine's team are confident their new DCI will lead them to the killer, But the obsession that was born in a hospital room twentytwo years earlier has never quite left Alan, And now, it seems, it's come back for a reason, . .
It was ok a bit too much of a coincidence Trude being Anna's daughter
loved this bit though "He found no cigarette, no alcohol, no chocolate he decided he wouldn't have like Elizabeth Jane Fulton
ABSOLUTION has two major themes.
One is the hunt for a serial killer the Crucifixion Killer that is rather a dud, I spotted him the first time he appeared on the page, So there was no mystery the killer was simply too obvious,

The other theme is far more interesting, the development and consequences of “obsession”, While a young intern,years prior to the “Crucifixion” killings, DCI McAlpine developed an obsessive fantasy about a young woman he was assigned to guard, She had been splashed with acid, and so had no face and could not talk, But McAlpine, emotionally drained by recent deaths in his family, spent hours talking to her, He knew she could hear him they communicated in a primitive way but not about anything that showed what she was really thinking, Soon she committed suicide in order to protect her newborn baby girl, Later, after her death, he saw a photo of the now dead woman and fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful fantasy,

Nonetheless he marries Helena, a practical and accomplished woman whom he met around the same time that his fantasy woman died, Helena was a substitute mother periodically McAlpine uses prostitutes who look like the dead woman to act out his sexual fantasies, but these activities did not interfere with his practical marriage to Helena.
However, the Crucifixion killings reawakened memories relating to his obsession with his fantasy woman and, as the case proceeds, McAlpine psychologically disintegrates his behaviour becomes very erratic, The killings are connected in a roundabout way to the longdead woman, McAlpine and his colleagues solve the case, but McAlpine loses his gripe on reality in the process,

This story of psychological obsession is definitely worth four, but the mystery part of the novel, which is worth only one star, is too drawn out, and so overall I felt this was a threestar read.

A thoroughly good mystery!

Alan McAlpine is a young rookie when he's given the 'babysitting' job of a young, oncebeautiful, very pregnant woman who had the misfortune of being the target of someone with a vat of acid.
The baby is delivered, but the woman who has not been identified cannot speak and thanks to the acid she has no face, Alan spends a lot of time with her, knows she is dying, and falls forever in love,

Skip forwardyears later, DCI McAlpine is called in to head the investigation into the deaths of two young women, stabbed, brutally butchered and left in a crucifixion pose.


How these murders are connected to the young woman he once loved is a heartbreaking journey for McAlpine,

I thought it was very good, I really liked all the characters, They ran true to form throughout the book, Lots of clues to follow, I cannot say I was happy with the ending, but the ending was the right one,

in my book! I'm not sure if my expectations for crime fiction have changed in theyears between when this was written and now that I've read it, but this book was a mess! It possibly didn't help that the Kindle edition I read started on the first page of chapter, but didn't mention the 'years earlier' thing I think Kindle tries to skip what it considers to be 'non book' at the start, like title and copyright pages, but that's not always helpful as it often misses things like the 'Part' or date pages! so I was a bit caught out when it went toyears later and took me tofor some reason when I picked it up on Kindle Unlimited I thought it was a recent publication too, so that threw me further

Anywho, I had a number of issues with the story:

.
The author was very clearly in love with her DCI, Her obsession with his 'almond eyes' and his good looks was weird and unnecessary, and frankly he was a selfcentred arsehole who didn't do his job, and broke the law with impunity while his fellow officers and wife indulged him.
His DS was also apparently meant to be obsessed with him, but other than a couple of looks his way, there was no more mention of it, and again his DI was apparently obsessed with his wife, with the same lack of evidence, which made both plot points entirely superfluous.


. The detectives who should have been under the DCI's command seemingly did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, with or without whoever they wanted, The beat polis at least got briefings and seemed more organised in the background,

. Vik Mulholland went through a range of ranks throughout the book, from DC to DI, and regardless of rank, apparently got paid a lot more than his colleagues either then or now, given that he had a BMW and expensive suits.


. It was kind of obvious who the serial killer was near the start of the modern day section, but the author carried gaily on casting loose ends to the wind, which really just slowed the whole thing down.
I kept waiting for the 'thriller' part though, I'm still waiting.

I don't think I'll bother revisiting any more of this series, .