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Maggie Bainbridge #8
The Loch Lomond Murders
IT'S BEAUTIFUL....BUT VERY DANGEROUS
Barrister-turned-private-eye Maggie Bainbridge and her ex-army sidekick Jimmy Stewart have landed their most high-profile case so far - to find out what happened to the attractive daughter of a prominent politician, two year after the failure of the original police investigation. Meanwhile Jimmy's brother, DI Frank Stewart of the Met, has been offered promotion to DCI - but there's catch. A secret government initiative is looking to smoke out corrupt public servants and coppers - and Frank's been put in charge of the toxic pilot operation. All roads lead to the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond, where the community is struggling to recover from an unspeakable tragedy. As their investigations uncover a sickening web of corruption, it becomes clear that the beautiful loch is a very dangerous place to be....
Barrister-turned-private-eye Maggie Bainbridge and her ex-army sidekick Jimmy Stewart have landed their most high-profile case so far - to find out what happened to the attractive daughter of a prominent politician, two year after the failure of the original police investigation. Meanwhile Jimmy's brother, DI Frank Stewart of the Met, has been offered promotion to DCI - but there's catch. A secret government initiative is looking to smoke out corrupt public servants and coppers - and Frank's been put in charge of the toxic pilot operation. All roads lead to the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond, where the community is struggling to recover from an unspeakable tragedy. As their investigations uncover a sickening web of corruption, it becomes clear that the beautiful loch is a very dangerous place to be....
391 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 6, 2023
49 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 16, 2023
Really wanted to give this five stars because the story had a lot of twists and I enjoy Maggie, Jimmy, Frank, and Lexie. I took away one star because I was constantly editing this while I was reading.
Towards the end, Caroline Connor is called Caroline Cramond; Cramond was the last name of a couple of other characters. Someone should have caught this.
Most of the book is set in Scotland, but the number of times the writer uses “wee” is beyond excessive. Many sentences needed to be tightened.
I did not understand the epilogue. It was unnecessary and had nothing to do with the main story, although it involved Jimmy and the situation had been mentioned in the book. Can’t really explain it without spoiling it.
I will continue to read this series with the hope that the next book is better edited than this one.
Towards the end, Caroline Connor is called Caroline Cramond; Cramond was the last name of a couple of other characters. Someone should have caught this.
Most of the book is set in Scotland, but the number of times the writer uses “wee” is beyond excessive. Many sentences needed to be tightened.
I did not understand the epilogue. It was unnecessary and had nothing to do with the main story, although it involved Jimmy and the situation had been mentioned in the book. Can’t really explain it without spoiling it.
I will continue to read this series with the hope that the next book is better edited than this one.
May 29, 2023
Oh dear, this book really could have done with a good editor. It was full of spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes, several paragraphs that were over a page long, and had a few continuity problems that should have been picked up too.
The author is apparently Scottish, but now lives in England. I suspect he's been there rather a long time, as phrases the occasional Scottish youngster used dated back to the 90's (it was an amusing trip down memory lane, but screamed 'I haven't listened to a Scot of that age in decades') I might also suggest he went to Glasgow Uni, because their students are the only ones I know who might revere the place.
The author was also relying on a faulty memory in terms of locations, which a quick Google search could have sorted - Byres Road rather than Byers Road, for example, or the fact that anyone travelling from Milngavie to the Gorbals would get off the train at Argyle Street or Bridgeton (depending on where in the Gorbals the fictional police station was), not Queen St. I'd also like to see anyone bring a motor boat by stealth all the way down from Ardlui to Inchcailloch without every bugger driving up the A82 spotting them - it's almost the entire length of the 22 mile long loch, and it's exposed to the road almost the entire way.
In terms of the story, the author was oddly preoccupied with the looks of his cast. A disproportionate number were amazingly good looking, with the only others rating a mention in this regard being big fat lumps. In the case of the girl from the agency it didn't make any difference to the story, so I'm not sure why it was even mentioned.
There was also a very dated set of tropes in the technical area - as someone in their mid-40s, let me tell you I don't know anyone my age who is unable to use a computer or smart phone, so having Frank be useless in this area was a really weird choice. Eleanor was also an annoying stereotype, lurking in a dark hole to do her programming all by herself. I think the author was also trying to shove in a suggestion of neurodivergency for no apparent reason. Software developers are actually (relatively) normal people, and to write something as complex as this imaginary UWIPO program would have taken a large team to deliver.
As for where he decided to house Frank and Maggie, they might have to run that UWIPO program on them. Given that they both still have properties in London, putting them up in one of the most expensive areas of Glasgow was ridiculous, especially with one of them working in the Gorbals and the other in the west end.
Finally, calling it a Maggie Bainbridge mystery was a stretch, as so many other characters got air time, with what felt like Frank dominating it.
The author is apparently Scottish, but now lives in England. I suspect he's been there rather a long time, as phrases the occasional Scottish youngster used dated back to the 90's (it was an amusing trip down memory lane, but screamed 'I haven't listened to a Scot of that age in decades') I might also suggest he went to Glasgow Uni, because their students are the only ones I know who might revere the place.
The author was also relying on a faulty memory in terms of locations, which a quick Google search could have sorted - Byres Road rather than Byers Road, for example, or the fact that anyone travelling from Milngavie to the Gorbals would get off the train at Argyle Street or Bridgeton (depending on where in the Gorbals the fictional police station was), not Queen St. I'd also like to see anyone bring a motor boat by stealth all the way down from Ardlui to Inchcailloch without every bugger driving up the A82 spotting them - it's almost the entire length of the 22 mile long loch, and it's exposed to the road almost the entire way.
In terms of the story, the author was oddly preoccupied with the looks of his cast. A disproportionate number were amazingly good looking, with the only others rating a mention in this regard being big fat lumps. In the case of the girl from the agency it didn't make any difference to the story, so I'm not sure why it was even mentioned.
There was also a very dated set of tropes in the technical area - as someone in their mid-40s, let me tell you I don't know anyone my age who is unable to use a computer or smart phone, so having Frank be useless in this area was a really weird choice. Eleanor was also an annoying stereotype, lurking in a dark hole to do her programming all by herself. I think the author was also trying to shove in a suggestion of neurodivergency for no apparent reason. Software developers are actually (relatively) normal people, and to write something as complex as this imaginary UWIPO program would have taken a large team to deliver.
As for where he decided to house Frank and Maggie, they might have to run that UWIPO program on them. Given that they both still have properties in London, putting them up in one of the most expensive areas of Glasgow was ridiculous, especially with one of them working in the Gorbals and the other in the west end.
Finally, calling it a Maggie Bainbridge mystery was a stretch, as so many other characters got air time, with what felt like Frank dominating it.
May 23, 2023
a gripping read
Kept my attention to the very end loved all the descriptive pictures In My mind of the area beautiful LochLomondn
Kept my attention to the very end loved all the descriptive pictures In My mind of the area beautiful LochLomondn
March 28, 2023
love this series!
Maggie and Frank, Jimmy and Ollie- all in Glasgow, investigating corruption (Frank) and a missing girl (Maggie and Jimmy).
Characters we have grown to love are not stagnant in this series.
Maggie and Frank, Jimmy and Ollie- all in Glasgow, investigating corruption (Frank) and a missing girl (Maggie and Jimmy).
Characters we have grown to love are not stagnant in this series.
October 18, 2025
I made the mistake of listening to this book, which had artificial narration. The inflections were wrong in many places, and ruined the book. Audible, if you’re reading this, get rid of the AI narration!
March 30, 2023
Nice twist moving the characters to Scotland. Love how the stories intertwine. Not sure where this is going to go with the latest revelation.
February 11, 2025
Brilliant
Twists and turns all the way, Maggie, Jimmy, and of course Frank, have solved the cases again. Well done Rob.oomkng forward to the next one
Twists and turns all the way, Maggie, Jimmy, and of course Frank, have solved the cases again. Well done Rob.oomkng forward to the next one
May 17, 2023
Well, where to start?? This is a good book spoiled, I'm afraid. I found myself wondering if it had been proofread or run past an editor so the constant errors (low & behold; Monro instead of Munro; coiffered instead of coiffured + many, many more) really distracted me from what should have been a great story. The use of "wee" in front of several female characters' names diminishes and demeans them. That along with some sexist descriptions and the insistence of Frank to refer to his fiancée (note the spelling - not 'fiancé' as repeated several times) as "my Maggie" suggests the author is a trifle misogynistic or totally out of touch with the times. One would expect an author to know the difference between principle/principal and practiced/practised and get the spelling of a major street (Byres Rd. not Byers) in the story correct - the list goes on. I was really disappointed as the story was good, the twist in the plot was a surprise I didn't see coming but everything was wrapped up too quickly without a lot of explanation. I won't read any more by this author I'm afraid.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews