British mystery writer Scott Hunter is known for his Irish Detective series, featuring Brendan Moran of the Thames Valley Police. Hunter has published nine novels and a collection of short stories about the detective, recovering from a near-fatal automobile accident, and his police colleagues. One thing you can be assured of in a Brendan Moran story is lots of action, lots of bodies (sometimes including the police officers themselves), and a dark view of the human character and mind.
With his latest novel, The Fragile Cage, it's 1968, and Hunter introduces a new detective, Detective Constable Cameron Kyle. Except we almost don’t get to be introduced – Kyle has suffered a bullet injury to the head (grazed but part of the bullet entered the skull) and his partner killed outright. The two were investigating a house after a tip-off, and they walked into something of n ambush. The story begins in the hospital, where Kyle is spending several weeks recovering physically and psychologically. The detective his colleagues knew – the policeman almost too nice and unassuming to be a cop – has taken on something of an alpha-male, aggressive, and borderline psychotic personality.
While he’s officially on leave and almost at the point of leaving the force permanently, he finds himself drawn into a case involving an imprisoned crime lord, who’s made his escape from prison with what looks like the help of a social worker – Kyle’s ex-girlfriend. Then Kyle’s supervising officer is killed – in Kyle’s apartment. And a shadowing Italian from London seems to be inserting himself into the escaped crime lord’s fiefdom.
Scott Hunter
If you like a mystery story with considerable action, a good dollop of violence, police often operating on both sides of legality, and a few cliffhanging scenes that will make you claustrophobic even if that’s never been a problem, then A Fragile Cage is just right for you.
Simply put, Hunter spins a good story. This one was difficult to put down.
The Irish Detective series includes Black December, Creatures of Dust, Death Walks Behind You, A Crime for All Seasons, Silent as the Dead, Gone Too Soon, The Enemy Inside, When Stars Grow Dark, The Cold Light of Death and Closer to the Dead. Hunter has also published the novels The Trespass, The Ley Lines of Lushbury, Long Goodbyes, and The Serpent & the Slave, and the memoir Rattle and Drum. In addition to writing fiction, Hunter is an IT consultant and musician. He lives with his family in England.
Related:
My review of Black December by Scott Hunter.
My review of Creatures of Dust by Scott Hunter.
My review of Death Walks Behind You by Scott Hunter.
My review of Silent as the Dead by Scott Hunter.
My review of Gone Too Soon and A Crime for All Seasons by Scott Hunter.
The Enemy Inside by Scott Hunter.
When Starts Grow Dark by Scott Hunter.
The Cold Light of Death by Scott Hunter.
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