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DS Aector McAvoy #1
The Dark Winter
McAvoy lets his mind drift back to the chaos and bloodshed in the square. To that moment when the masked man appeared from the doorway of the church and looked into his eyes.
‘Is there anything distinctive, Sarge?’ asks Nielsen.
‘Yes’, he says, with the sudden sense that memory is important.
‘There were tears in his eyes.’
DS Aector McAvoy is a man with a troubled past. His unwavering belief in justice has made him an outsider in the police force he serves.
When three seemingly unconnected people are brutally murdered in the weeks before Christmas, the police must work quickly to stop more deaths. It is only McAvoy who can see the connection between the victims. A killer is playing God – and McAvoy must find a way to stop the deadly game.
‘Is there anything distinctive, Sarge?’ asks Nielsen.
‘Yes’, he says, with the sudden sense that memory is important.
‘There were tears in his eyes.’
DS Aector McAvoy is a man with a troubled past. His unwavering belief in justice has made him an outsider in the police force he serves.
When three seemingly unconnected people are brutally murdered in the weeks before Christmas, the police must work quickly to stop more deaths. It is only McAvoy who can see the connection between the victims. A killer is playing God – and McAvoy must find a way to stop the deadly game.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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3210 people want to read
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August 14, 2016
This is a dark, bleak and atmospheric police procedural with a strong sense of location in Hull. It is a rain sodden, grim and rundown city in economic decline with high unemployment. It is the first in the series and we are introduced to DS Aector McAvoy, a happily married man with a young son, Fin. He is a man with an immense physical presence, but is a gentle with an inner geek and a strong intuition. After a turbulent past as a whistleblower, which has made him few friends, he is looking to keep his head down, but that plan soon goes up in smoke.
It is coming up to Christmas and there are some horrific and gruesome murders, one of which McAvoy is at the scene of and gets knocked over by the killer. The police have a suspect and are wanting to leave it at that. Trouble is McAvoy is convinced the suspect is not guilty, and being a principled man, cannot help but dig deeper. He finds connections between the apparently unrelated murders. Each victim dies in a scenario which they had previously escaped from. There turns out to be a truly twisted killer on the loose.
This is a well written and plotted debut novel. The cast of characters is well developed, I particularly liked Detective Superintendant Trish Pharoah, Aector's boss and his son, Fin. The writer has utilised his background as a experienced crime reporter to deliver a gritty and gripping crime story with sufficient mileage to run as a series. Thanks to Quercus for an ARC.
It is coming up to Christmas and there are some horrific and gruesome murders, one of which McAvoy is at the scene of and gets knocked over by the killer. The police have a suspect and are wanting to leave it at that. Trouble is McAvoy is convinced the suspect is not guilty, and being a principled man, cannot help but dig deeper. He finds connections between the apparently unrelated murders. Each victim dies in a scenario which they had previously escaped from. There turns out to be a truly twisted killer on the loose.
This is a well written and plotted debut novel. The cast of characters is well developed, I particularly liked Detective Superintendant Trish Pharoah, Aector's boss and his son, Fin. The writer has utilised his background as a experienced crime reporter to deliver a gritty and gripping crime story with sufficient mileage to run as a series. Thanks to Quercus for an ARC.
October 8, 2021
I recently learned about David Mark's thrillers on Goodreads and was very impressed by his standalone books. I was reluctant to begin reading his DS Aector McAvoy police procedurals, knowing there were already 8 books in this series, and I was so far behind. 'The Dark Winter' book was published in 2012 as the first of an ongoing series. Recently, this summer(2021), a prequel, 'When Darkness Falls'was published. It fills in some important background information, only briefly eluded to in Book 1. This gave me a great starting place to begin the entire series.
'The Dark Winter' (2012) is set in the bleak, damp, impoverished Hull, a city in economic decline. This was atmospheric police procedural with grim, dark, disturbing, violent elements. It involves three puzzling deaths, with one similar crime still to be uncovered and the feeling that more may be on the way.
DS McAvoy is not popular with some lazy and corrupt detectives who still remain in the police force. Some are quick to close a case by charging someone who may be innocent while appearing guilty on the surface. He is regarded with scorn by some members of the department. He is a good, decent family man with a beloved wife and child and a baby on the way. He is physically imposing but considered odd and weak and a whistleblower. He is regarded as a computer geek interested in building databases and looking for overlooked or ignored connections in cases. He has a driven sense of justice with high moral principles. He has a strong sense of intuition and the ability to find new clues. He is determined to find the true guilty party and avoid the tendency to quickly close cases after a person has been unjustly charged. He has a tough supportive boss who lets him follow his beliefs despite conflicts within the force.
There are three seemingly unconnected crimes. A man disappeared off the coast of Iceland 40 years ago while working on a new trawler. All onboard perished in the cold waters except for this young man found alive after floating on a lifeboat. Now, as an old man, he has returned to the scene of the long-ago sea disaster for a film documentary and dies under mysterious circumstances. McAvoy witnesses the aftermath of the death of a 15-year-old black girl hacked to death in her church. A crowd has gathered in front of the church, drawn by hearing the girl's screams. The perpetrator, dressed in black with a balaclava covering his face, knocks McAvoy over as he rushes from the church.
McAvoy notices the man's eyes. A man is burned to death in his hospital bed. A woman who survived a previous knife attack is found severely wounded in a bathroom of a bar. These grim deaths and attacks can't possibly be connected, or can they?
When someone is arrested, McAvoy feels a strong suspicion that they have the wrong man. He learns that all these victims were sole survivors of earlier atrocities. He discovers another lone survivor of an explosion in Iraq is in hospital in a coma. He is now on track to discover what victims may be chosen next by the warped killer whose identity and true motivation remain elusive. Will he learn who is committing these deranged crimes and save the next victim?
This was an excellent crime story with a complex, violent and disturbing plot. The characters were well-drawn and intriguing. I plan to follow further stories in this gripping series and more of the author's standalone books that are now waiting on my Kindle.
'The Dark Winter' (2012) is set in the bleak, damp, impoverished Hull, a city in economic decline. This was atmospheric police procedural with grim, dark, disturbing, violent elements. It involves three puzzling deaths, with one similar crime still to be uncovered and the feeling that more may be on the way.
DS McAvoy is not popular with some lazy and corrupt detectives who still remain in the police force. Some are quick to close a case by charging someone who may be innocent while appearing guilty on the surface. He is regarded with scorn by some members of the department. He is a good, decent family man with a beloved wife and child and a baby on the way. He is physically imposing but considered odd and weak and a whistleblower. He is regarded as a computer geek interested in building databases and looking for overlooked or ignored connections in cases. He has a driven sense of justice with high moral principles. He has a strong sense of intuition and the ability to find new clues. He is determined to find the true guilty party and avoid the tendency to quickly close cases after a person has been unjustly charged. He has a tough supportive boss who lets him follow his beliefs despite conflicts within the force.
There are three seemingly unconnected crimes. A man disappeared off the coast of Iceland 40 years ago while working on a new trawler. All onboard perished in the cold waters except for this young man found alive after floating on a lifeboat. Now, as an old man, he has returned to the scene of the long-ago sea disaster for a film documentary and dies under mysterious circumstances. McAvoy witnesses the aftermath of the death of a 15-year-old black girl hacked to death in her church. A crowd has gathered in front of the church, drawn by hearing the girl's screams. The perpetrator, dressed in black with a balaclava covering his face, knocks McAvoy over as he rushes from the church.
McAvoy notices the man's eyes. A man is burned to death in his hospital bed. A woman who survived a previous knife attack is found severely wounded in a bathroom of a bar. These grim deaths and attacks can't possibly be connected, or can they?
When someone is arrested, McAvoy feels a strong suspicion that they have the wrong man. He learns that all these victims were sole survivors of earlier atrocities. He discovers another lone survivor of an explosion in Iraq is in hospital in a coma. He is now on track to discover what victims may be chosen next by the warped killer whose identity and true motivation remain elusive. Will he learn who is committing these deranged crimes and save the next victim?
This was an excellent crime story with a complex, violent and disturbing plot. The characters were well-drawn and intriguing. I plan to follow further stories in this gripping series and more of the author's standalone books that are now waiting on my Kindle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2017
I really liked Aector McAvoy. He's a Scotsman, a gentle giant, pensive. He deeply loves his wife and absolutely knows how lucky he is that she loves him, too. A past incident involving bringing down a superior is alluded to that caused Aector to become mostly tied to his desk. His current supervisor, Trish Pharaoh, believes in him, calls him “natural police” because he has good instincts and a strong sense of justice.
There are three seemingly unrelated murders until Aector susses out the connection. He feels his fellow cops were too quick to arrest a man who Aector thinks is innocent.
This was an introspective book about miracles and mercy. Much was made of Aector's married life, and I felt some impending doom waiting for something to ruin his happiness. I enjoyed Pharaoh's antics; she’s an interesting character.
I will definitely be reading the next book in the series soon.
There are three seemingly unrelated murders until Aector susses out the connection. He feels his fellow cops were too quick to arrest a man who Aector thinks is innocent.
This was an introspective book about miracles and mercy. Much was made of Aector's married life, and I felt some impending doom waiting for something to ruin his happiness. I enjoyed Pharaoh's antics; she’s an interesting character.
I will definitely be reading the next book in the series soon.
December 30, 2012
Christmas is approaching in the middle of a bleak, depressing winter. Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy works in Hull, a bleak, depressing town in East Yorkshire. While braving the outdoors with his young son one afternoon, Aector hears screams coming from the town's cathedral. He races to the church doors only to be bowled over by an assassin wielding a machete. Aector, though a large man himself, is momentarily incapacitated and the assassin escapes, leaving behind in the cathedral the body of a young girl who has been savagely hacked to death.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the victim was the sole survivor of an attack in her native Sierra Leone in which every other member of her family was killed in a similar fashion. Virtually at the same time, an elderly seaman who was the sole survivor when his ship sank forty years earlier, is lured back out to sea and murdered in virtually the exact same place where his ship sank.
McAvoy senses a connection between these crimes and while other members of the force simply want a quick and easy solution to the murders, he is determined to get to the real truth. It won't be easy, and McAvoy's mission is clouded by his own mysterious past that has put him at odds with many of his fellow cops.
David Mark is a very good writer and the premise behind this book is intriguing. I'm giving it three stars instead of four because, try as I might, I never really warmed up to Aector McAvoy and because I found the resolution to the story to be a bit implausible. That said, the book was good enough that I'd be willing to give Aector a second chance, assuming that there is another Aector McAvoy novel to follow this one.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the victim was the sole survivor of an attack in her native Sierra Leone in which every other member of her family was killed in a similar fashion. Virtually at the same time, an elderly seaman who was the sole survivor when his ship sank forty years earlier, is lured back out to sea and murdered in virtually the exact same place where his ship sank.
McAvoy senses a connection between these crimes and while other members of the force simply want a quick and easy solution to the murders, he is determined to get to the real truth. It won't be easy, and McAvoy's mission is clouded by his own mysterious past that has put him at odds with many of his fellow cops.
David Mark is a very good writer and the premise behind this book is intriguing. I'm giving it three stars instead of four because, try as I might, I never really warmed up to Aector McAvoy and because I found the resolution to the story to be a bit implausible. That said, the book was good enough that I'd be willing to give Aector a second chance, assuming that there is another Aector McAvoy novel to follow this one.
April 1, 2018
I'm sure that it will come as a total and complete shock to all of my friends and followers who have endured the tsunami of updates about this book as I read it, that I did not enjoy it. I know! Crazy! Who would ever have thought, with writing like this??
(By the way, let me just apologize for the aforementioned storm of updates to any of you who were annoyed by them. I don't usually bombard people with updates as I read, but since this was an actual physical book that didn't offer the ability to make notes in it (I'm not a heathen!) I had to vent my frustration and annoyance somehow. I hope you'll all forgive me, and I'll get a note taking app on my phone so as to not overstay my welcome on your feeds. :D
OK... Back to our regularly scheduled review!)
Oh, one more thing. This will probably be a spoiler-filled rant, so... you know, continue at your own risk.
Anywho, so, I had some issues with this book, clearly. And when I say some, I mean, all. I had all the issues with this book.
There's a bunch of glowing blurbs of praise adorning this book, including a Val McDermid quote which is probably what inspired me to purchase it in the first place, but I could not disagree more with all of them. Having finished The Mermaids Singing by McDermid earlier this year, I'm especially let down by her quote, because McDermid's book was everything this was not: suspenseful, exciting, well-written, logical, and had characters that were true to themselves, had issues that made them human and flawed and identifiable, if not likable, and romance elements that didn't make me want to puke in my mouth from the overwhelming saccharine marital "perfection"... a plot. More on these last two items to come.
Let me start with the number one problem that I had with this book, and the reason that I will most definitely never read another word of this series. Aector McAvoy. Initially, I liked him. I liked the way that he was described, as a huge Scottish mountain of a man, but soft-natured, considerate, puts other people before himself, etc. One of the lines that really spoke to me about him was when he was thinking about how love is defined, and that you can tell you love someone if you'd put their life before your own. McAvoy dismisses this as his definition of love, because he's the type to put EVERYONE'S life before his, and proves it almost immediately by running into a scene of chaos and screaming without a second's (initial) hesitation - and that afterthought hesitation was only because he'd left his 4 year old son alone at a cafe table to go charging in to save the day, or try.
I initially was all set to pin James McAvoy's face on him and fall in love, because I love that type of man... Large and powerful but caring and sweet. But I soon came to realize this was no good, and James absolutely could NOT be Aector's avatar in my mind. Because Aector McAvoy is a fucking doormat. He is whiny and weak and servile and insecure and... Well, he is essentially Slug Jerry from Rick and Morty, in human form. It is an insult to James McAvoy that they even share a surname.
I get that perhaps the goal was to get away from the brash and jaded detectives, the men who don't follow the rules, the ones who drink and curse and womanize and don't care who gets hurt along the way, and always seem to be right on the edge (or beyond) of alcoholism/lawsuits/demotion or termination/death. I understand that, but there's a difference between playing by the rules and being a cringing, apologetic, nobody that has to be pep-talked into eye-contact, retreats from overly talkative secretaries barring his way while in the course of an investigation into a suspicious death, and won't even eat when he's hungry because his wife already made him breakfast and on the off chance she finds out that he had 2nd breakfast, she might "pout" about it, and he'd rather suffer the hunger than have her feel bad IN HIS MIND. OK, probably he would apologize for the eating. It's a betrayal of her wifely breakfast, of course he would apologize and tell her how he cheated on her with a breakfast sandwich. The fact that either of those possibilities (to eat & apologize, or not eat because of imagined hurt to her) are viable should tell you how pathetic this guy is.
I wish I was making this up.
This guy should not be a detective. He doesn't have the backbone for it. He should be a fireman or a paramedic. He will still get to be the hero, but wouldn't have to deal with all the politics and power plays and bureaucracy that he's unable or unwilling to stand up to.
But let us continue on to his family life, because... I have to. I'll make it as quick and painless as I can.
1) Pregnant wife is pregnant.
2) 4 year old son is 1 year old. Three examples:
- First scene we're intro'd to Aector and he's feeding cake to his 4 year old son. Not "eating cake with", but feeding, and the son is opening his mouth "like a baby bird".
- Second, the first time Aector comes home late after a really long day (same day of the cake), 7 month pregnant wife is "cradling" 4 year old son in her arms and swaying at the front window, waiting for daddy to come home. Son then reacts as a 1 year old, running around all crazy, hitting dad with his toy cow, etc.
- Third, kid's mom stopped wearing lots of hoop earrings because "in the past few weeks" the 4 year old has taken to pulling on them.
What? Sorry, I have a 4 year old nephew, and I know for a FACT that by 4, their kid should be eating his own food, not being fed, and should have been taught not to hit and pull on earrings. They treat him like he's a baby.
3) The amount of lovey-dovey, touchy feely, we're-so-close-you-need-a-crowbar-to-pry-us-apart, we-don't-fight, we-are-utter-perfection-at-love crap made me want to hurl. Some people get off on clingy co-dependence. I am not one of them. I read every one of these sections with a grimace on my face like I'd just bit into a lemon. I would've rather had the lemon and been spared this saccharine bullshit.
I hoped that, after Aector forgot he had a kid he was responsible for and left him unattended as he ran into chaos, that mom would be pissed. Aector mentioned that he was probably in the doghouse with her, and with the waitress that apparently stepped up to babysit. Instead, she 7 months pregnant & holding a 4 year old, waits up for him to lovingly welcome him into their home and hearth and hug hug hug ...hurl. No "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU LEAVING OUR SON ALONE WHILE YOU GO PLAY HERO??" argument. Just "Yes dear, everything is fine, everything you do is right. I love you, let me comfort you after your trying day and forget all about the fact that I came back from shopping for YOUR Christmas present to find all hell broke loose, you're on a stretcher, our kid is unattended except for a waitress and there's a MURDERER IN THE AREA." All that's just swept under the rug because LOVE. Blah blah blah. VOMIT.
I hope they divorce in the next book just because I'm spiteful like that.
I thought that their relationship was likely author inexperience, or maybe even wish fulfillment, but no... it was worse than that. It was a key plot point, because the same type of "love" as Aector has for his family is the driving force behind the killer's actions. He is literally trying to steal away the "miracles" doled out to sole survivors of tragedy, so that those miracles can be reallocated to the person he loves and wants a miracle for.
Um. 'Kay. I mean, I guess that makes sense in a deranged mind.
Ehh... There is so much more I could complain about, but I'm over this book and all the time I will never get back from having read it, so I'll make the rest quick.
The writing was... unimpressive. Characters acted differently as needed for the scene they were in, and even Aector suddenly grew a voice around 80% into the book. Wonder of all wonders.
The motive (aside from the love bit) was obvious to me from SUPER early in the book, and honestly after like 2 or 3 different witnesses literally described what was going on, and Aector took AGES to put it together, I didn't hold out hope that the resolution would be satisfying. I didn't find it to be, and pegged it as soon as the character was introduced, though I guessed the wrong method. (Mine was better. )
There were a bunch of convenient plot leaps, and a lot of telling and not showing. For all that Aector is apparently this whiz with databases, I never once saw that. He was on a desk answering phones, and claims to need order for his notes etc, but not even once did he actually enter them anywhere into a database. He handed in a typed report to his superior. The one time he used a computer he used regular old Google and SHOCK! got a ton of results, before "using his computer wizardry" to search more specifically. You know, like by location. SIGH.
So many things that I did not like about this book. It is obviously a debut, and if it was just the plotting or the writing, I could probably give it another shot... but I cannot abide the main character or his wife/family AT ALL, and given that the series is about him, that's enough to turn me off for good.
[...]The era that had both made and ruined McAvoy's name. Nailed him as the copper who a detective superintendent his job and sparked an internal investigation that scattered a crooked team of CID officers to the four winds.I read that sentence probably 27 times, and it still doesn't make sense as written. Probably it's supposed to be "Nailed him as the copper who COST a detective superintendent his job..." but it isn't. That's page 19. Off to a promising start!
(By the way, let me just apologize for the aforementioned storm of updates to any of you who were annoyed by them. I don't usually bombard people with updates as I read, but since this was an actual physical book that didn't offer the ability to make notes in it (I'm not a heathen!) I had to vent my frustration and annoyance somehow. I hope you'll all forgive me, and I'll get a note taking app on my phone so as to not overstay my welcome on your feeds. :D
OK... Back to our regularly scheduled review!)
Oh, one more thing. This will probably be a spoiler-filled rant, so... you know, continue at your own risk.
Anywho, so, I had some issues with this book, clearly. And when I say some, I mean, all. I had all the issues with this book.
There's a bunch of glowing blurbs of praise adorning this book, including a Val McDermid quote which is probably what inspired me to purchase it in the first place, but I could not disagree more with all of them. Having finished The Mermaids Singing by McDermid earlier this year, I'm especially let down by her quote, because McDermid's book was everything this was not: suspenseful, exciting, well-written, logical, and had characters that were true to themselves, had issues that made them human and flawed and identifiable, if not likable, and romance elements that didn't make me want to puke in my mouth from the overwhelming saccharine marital "perfection"... a plot. More on these last two items to come.
Let me start with the number one problem that I had with this book, and the reason that I will most definitely never read another word of this series. Aector McAvoy. Initially, I liked him. I liked the way that he was described, as a huge Scottish mountain of a man, but soft-natured, considerate, puts other people before himself, etc. One of the lines that really spoke to me about him was when he was thinking about how love is defined, and that you can tell you love someone if you'd put their life before your own. McAvoy dismisses this as his definition of love, because he's the type to put EVERYONE'S life before his, and proves it almost immediately by running into a scene of chaos and screaming without a second's (initial) hesitation - and that afterthought hesitation was only because he'd left his 4 year old son alone at a cafe table to go charging in to save the day, or try.
I initially was all set to pin James McAvoy's face on him and fall in love, because I love that type of man... Large and powerful but caring and sweet. But I soon came to realize this was no good, and James absolutely could NOT be Aector's avatar in my mind. Because Aector McAvoy is a fucking doormat. He is whiny and weak and servile and insecure and... Well, he is essentially Slug Jerry from Rick and Morty, in human form. It is an insult to James McAvoy that they even share a surname.
I get that perhaps the goal was to get away from the brash and jaded detectives, the men who don't follow the rules, the ones who drink and curse and womanize and don't care who gets hurt along the way, and always seem to be right on the edge (or beyond) of alcoholism/lawsuits/demotion or termination/death. I understand that, but there's a difference between playing by the rules and being a cringing, apologetic, nobody that has to be pep-talked into eye-contact, retreats from overly talkative secretaries barring his way while in the course of an investigation into a suspicious death, and won't even eat when he's hungry because his wife already made him breakfast and on the off chance she finds out that he had 2nd breakfast, she might "pout" about it, and he'd rather suffer the hunger than have her feel bad IN HIS MIND. OK, probably he would apologize for the eating. It's a betrayal of her wifely breakfast, of course he would apologize and tell her how he cheated on her with a breakfast sandwich. The fact that either of those possibilities (to eat & apologize, or not eat because of imagined hurt to her) are viable should tell you how pathetic this guy is.
I wish I was making this up.
This guy should not be a detective. He doesn't have the backbone for it. He should be a fireman or a paramedic. He will still get to be the hero, but wouldn't have to deal with all the politics and power plays and bureaucracy that he's unable or unwilling to stand up to.
But let us continue on to his family life, because... I have to. I'll make it as quick and painless as I can.
1) Pregnant wife is pregnant.
2) 4 year old son is 1 year old. Three examples:
- First scene we're intro'd to Aector and he's feeding cake to his 4 year old son. Not "eating cake with", but feeding, and the son is opening his mouth "like a baby bird".
- Second, the first time Aector comes home late after a really long day (same day of the cake), 7 month pregnant wife is "cradling" 4 year old son in her arms and swaying at the front window, waiting for daddy to come home. Son then reacts as a 1 year old, running around all crazy, hitting dad with his toy cow, etc.
- Third, kid's mom stopped wearing lots of hoop earrings because "in the past few weeks" the 4 year old has taken to pulling on them.
What? Sorry, I have a 4 year old nephew, and I know for a FACT that by 4, their kid should be eating his own food, not being fed, and should have been taught not to hit and pull on earrings. They treat him like he's a baby.
3) The amount of lovey-dovey, touchy feely, we're-so-close-you-need-a-crowbar-to-pry-us-apart, we-don't-fight, we-are-utter-perfection-at-love crap made me want to hurl. Some people get off on clingy co-dependence. I am not one of them. I read every one of these sections with a grimace on my face like I'd just bit into a lemon. I would've rather had the lemon and been spared this saccharine bullshit.
I hoped that, after Aector forgot he had a kid he was responsible for and left him unattended as he ran into chaos, that mom would be pissed. Aector mentioned that he was probably in the doghouse with her, and with the waitress that apparently stepped up to babysit. Instead, she 7 months pregnant & holding a 4 year old, waits up for him to lovingly welcome him into their home and hearth and hug hug hug ...hurl. No "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU LEAVING OUR SON ALONE WHILE YOU GO PLAY HERO??" argument. Just "Yes dear, everything is fine, everything you do is right. I love you, let me comfort you after your trying day and forget all about the fact that I came back from shopping for YOUR Christmas present to find all hell broke loose, you're on a stretcher, our kid is unattended except for a waitress and there's a MURDERER IN THE AREA." All that's just swept under the rug because LOVE. Blah blah blah. VOMIT.
I hope they divorce in the next book just because I'm spiteful like that.
I thought that their relationship was likely author inexperience, or maybe even wish fulfillment, but no... it was worse than that. It was a key plot point, because the same type of "love" as Aector has for his family is the driving force behind the killer's actions. He is literally trying to steal away the "miracles" doled out to sole survivors of tragedy, so that those miracles can be reallocated to the person he loves and wants a miracle for.
Um. 'Kay. I mean, I guess that makes sense in a deranged mind.
Ehh... There is so much more I could complain about, but I'm over this book and all the time I will never get back from having read it, so I'll make the rest quick.
The writing was... unimpressive. Characters acted differently as needed for the scene they were in, and even Aector suddenly grew a voice around 80% into the book. Wonder of all wonders.
The motive (aside from the love bit) was obvious to me from SUPER early in the book, and honestly after like 2 or 3 different witnesses literally described what was going on, and Aector took AGES to put it together, I didn't hold out hope that the resolution would be satisfying. I didn't find it to be, and pegged it as soon as the character was introduced, though I guessed the wrong method. (Mine was better. )
There were a bunch of convenient plot leaps, and a lot of telling and not showing. For all that Aector is apparently this whiz with databases, I never once saw that. He was on a desk answering phones, and claims to need order for his notes etc, but not even once did he actually enter them anywhere into a database. He handed in a typed report to his superior. The one time he used a computer he used regular old Google and SHOCK! got a ton of results, before "using his computer wizardry" to search more specifically. You know, like by location. SIGH.
So many things that I did not like about this book. It is obviously a debut, and if it was just the plotting or the writing, I could probably give it another shot... but I cannot abide the main character or his wife/family AT ALL, and given that the series is about him, that's enough to turn me off for good.
March 12, 2019
A gritty police procedural featuring a detective with a determined sense of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, justice vs. injustice. One thing I really liked about this story is his immediate supervisor actually supports her detective instead of creating obstacles thwarting him in performing his job to actually catch the true perpetrator and not some convenient one to solely satisfy top brass or public opinion.
January 11, 2013
Three bodies are in the morgue in Hull, East Yorkshire; each of them a sole survivor of a past tragedy. Someone is playing God, targeting the people who have once cheated death. It is up to Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy to try and stop them. In the depths of The Dark Winter, driven by need for justice will he find himself on the wrong side of the killer’s blade?
Aector McAvoy is an unlikely hero; he is more of an office worker than an investigator and you get the feeling he would more comfortable on a computer working than pushing his weight around as lead detective of this case. He is also appears very compassionate which makes for an interesting situation. The dark gruesome nature of this crime mixed with the ‘niceness’ of the protagonist never really worked for me; it felt like cosy crime trying to break into a noir novel.
There are secrets and complexity to this case that really didn’t translate well in the writing. I can see what the author was trying to do but I never felt like it came across well. There are the twists in the case and I was glad for them because I was often close to abandoning this book as it wasn’t working for me.
While Aector was too compassionate and nice to be a decent protagonist solving these horrific murders, the rest of the characters in the book were too one dimensional that I couldn’t really get a sense of their personalities.
When it came to the plot I think David Mark has some great ideas and with his journalism background he did know how to make these macabre crimes feel realistic, but I felt there were too many hole in the story. Mark has the potential to be a good crime writer, with better character development and more practice in weaving a complex plot together. But in the end this book didn’t work for me, I struggled off and on with the book and in the end had to really force myself to finish it.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
Aector McAvoy is an unlikely hero; he is more of an office worker than an investigator and you get the feeling he would more comfortable on a computer working than pushing his weight around as lead detective of this case. He is also appears very compassionate which makes for an interesting situation. The dark gruesome nature of this crime mixed with the ‘niceness’ of the protagonist never really worked for me; it felt like cosy crime trying to break into a noir novel.
There are secrets and complexity to this case that really didn’t translate well in the writing. I can see what the author was trying to do but I never felt like it came across well. There are the twists in the case and I was glad for them because I was often close to abandoning this book as it wasn’t working for me.
While Aector was too compassionate and nice to be a decent protagonist solving these horrific murders, the rest of the characters in the book were too one dimensional that I couldn’t really get a sense of their personalities.
When it came to the plot I think David Mark has some great ideas and with his journalism background he did know how to make these macabre crimes feel realistic, but I felt there were too many hole in the story. Mark has the potential to be a good crime writer, with better character development and more practice in weaving a complex plot together. But in the end this book didn’t work for me, I struggled off and on with the book and in the end had to really force myself to finish it.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
May 3, 2015
I won Sorrow Bound, book 3 in this series, last summer, and liked it. This is book 1 in the series and the debut novel for this author. I enjoyed this one also. I give it 3.5 stars(rounded up to 4).
This book revolves around a series of murders which only Detective Aector McAvoy puts together. The 1st murder takes place in Hull and McAvoy is just outside the church/murder scene. He rushes into the church upon hearing a scream, only to be attacked by the killer.
There is some character development that helps me understand book 3. McAvoy is a tortured soul and a determined policeman, who realizes that the wrong person has been arrested. The real killer is not revealed until almost the end.
This book revolves around a series of murders which only Detective Aector McAvoy puts together. The 1st murder takes place in Hull and McAvoy is just outside the church/murder scene. He rushes into the church upon hearing a scream, only to be attacked by the killer.
There is some character development that helps me understand book 3. McAvoy is a tortured soul and a determined policeman, who realizes that the wrong person has been arrested. The real killer is not revealed until almost the end.
November 3, 2012
not quite 4 stars -- like 3.5, but only because I felt the epilogue in this novel was so not necessary. The rest of the novel, for the most part, was very well done, considering that this book is the author's first foray into the world of novel writing. I've done a longer review elsewhere if you're interested, but here's the gist:
The more crime fiction I read the more I think I'm starting to see it all, but that's not at all the case in The Dark Winter, by David Mark. Sure, you'll find some of the same character tropes in this novel as you might in any other, but the original premise of this book, the main character and the setting are the things I found most appealing here. Despite a couple of things to whine about, I liked this book and I think this guy has got a future in writing considering that this is his first novel.
The action of this novel takes place largely in and around Hull, West Yorkshire, where Aector McAvoy is a detective sergeant with Humberside CID. It's just coming up on Christmas and McAvoy is out with his little son Fin while his wife Roisin does some shopping. They're sitting at a cafe and McAvoy is captivated by the sound of a choir in nearby Holy Trinity church. While he's listening, lost in thought, from the church comes screaming, the sound of "terror unleashed." He reaches the church just in time to watch a figure emerge from the doors carrying a knife -- which is promptly raised against him. As the man flees, someone yells "He's killed her. She's dead. She's dead!" The victim is a young girl dressed in a white choir cassock, half of which is saturated with blood, killed in front of everyone during the service. Even though McAvoy is a witness, and the senior duty officer, the case will not be his. The powers that be have decided it's going to be handled by acting Detective Superintendent Trish Pharaoh, while Aector is sent out on a mission to break the news of a man's death to his sister, the wife of the vice chair of the Police Authority.
There's a reason behind this thinking: McAvoy is a cop with a troubled past. Because of him, a senior officer was relieved of his duties and other crooked cops were "scattered ...to the four winds," but what actually took place is kept under wraps within the department. The officer's dismissal and McAvoy's involvement have made Aector the target of some of the other officers' derision; refusing to take a transfer that would remove him from all of this only made things worse for him. Now on the Serious and Organized Crime Unit, he now serves in a more administrative, ambassadorial kind of role. But when McAvoy's visit to the vice chair's wife leads him to suspect that something is not at all right with the manner of her brother's death, he can't help but to get involved, and as more people begin to turn up dead, he slowly begins to discern a connection among these seemingly-random killings. Trouble is, can he convince the others, some of whom have already made up their minds who the killer might be?
I came into this novel after much time away from UK crime fiction, and I started it hoping that there would be something setting it apart from many of the other hundreds of novels in this category. I was rewarded with Mark's fresh premise and storyline that kept me glued and guessing the entire time, as well as his thoughts on the economic decline of local industry, his take on the negative sides of journalism and the publishing industry, and especially the character of McAvoy. But as much as I liked this book, there are a few things that made this novel less than perfect for me. First, I've said this before and I'll say it again...why oh why do authors feel they have to include the obligatory sex scene when it has absolutely zero to do with the plot or with character development? Second, the clue that cracks this case wide open and leads McAvoy to the killer is based more on coincidence than on detection. Third, and my biggest complaint, is the epilogue -- had the author ended the book prior to that short section, even with the coincidental link to the killer it would have finished on a much more realistic note. But as I'm also fond of saying, I'm an incredibly tough crime fiction audience.
On the whole, though, if The Dark Winter is any hint of what's to come, I'll be interested in the rest of the series as well. Super first effort! Recommended.
The more crime fiction I read the more I think I'm starting to see it all, but that's not at all the case in The Dark Winter, by David Mark. Sure, you'll find some of the same character tropes in this novel as you might in any other, but the original premise of this book, the main character and the setting are the things I found most appealing here. Despite a couple of things to whine about, I liked this book and I think this guy has got a future in writing considering that this is his first novel.
The action of this novel takes place largely in and around Hull, West Yorkshire, where Aector McAvoy is a detective sergeant with Humberside CID. It's just coming up on Christmas and McAvoy is out with his little son Fin while his wife Roisin does some shopping. They're sitting at a cafe and McAvoy is captivated by the sound of a choir in nearby Holy Trinity church. While he's listening, lost in thought, from the church comes screaming, the sound of "terror unleashed." He reaches the church just in time to watch a figure emerge from the doors carrying a knife -- which is promptly raised against him. As the man flees, someone yells "He's killed her. She's dead. She's dead!" The victim is a young girl dressed in a white choir cassock, half of which is saturated with blood, killed in front of everyone during the service. Even though McAvoy is a witness, and the senior duty officer, the case will not be his. The powers that be have decided it's going to be handled by acting Detective Superintendent Trish Pharaoh, while Aector is sent out on a mission to break the news of a man's death to his sister, the wife of the vice chair of the Police Authority.
There's a reason behind this thinking: McAvoy is a cop with a troubled past. Because of him, a senior officer was relieved of his duties and other crooked cops were "scattered ...to the four winds," but what actually took place is kept under wraps within the department. The officer's dismissal and McAvoy's involvement have made Aector the target of some of the other officers' derision; refusing to take a transfer that would remove him from all of this only made things worse for him. Now on the Serious and Organized Crime Unit, he now serves in a more administrative, ambassadorial kind of role. But when McAvoy's visit to the vice chair's wife leads him to suspect that something is not at all right with the manner of her brother's death, he can't help but to get involved, and as more people begin to turn up dead, he slowly begins to discern a connection among these seemingly-random killings. Trouble is, can he convince the others, some of whom have already made up their minds who the killer might be?
I came into this novel after much time away from UK crime fiction, and I started it hoping that there would be something setting it apart from many of the other hundreds of novels in this category. I was rewarded with Mark's fresh premise and storyline that kept me glued and guessing the entire time, as well as his thoughts on the economic decline of local industry, his take on the negative sides of journalism and the publishing industry, and especially the character of McAvoy. But as much as I liked this book, there are a few things that made this novel less than perfect for me. First, I've said this before and I'll say it again...why oh why do authors feel they have to include the obligatory sex scene when it has absolutely zero to do with the plot or with character development? Second, the clue that cracks this case wide open and leads McAvoy to the killer is based more on coincidence than on detection. Third, and my biggest complaint, is the epilogue -- had the author ended the book prior to that short section, even with the coincidental link to the killer it would have finished on a much more realistic note. But as I'm also fond of saying, I'm an incredibly tough crime fiction audience.
On the whole, though, if The Dark Winter is any hint of what's to come, I'll be interested in the rest of the series as well. Super first effort! Recommended.
February 24, 2015
“Dark Winter” by David Mark, is a debut novel and the first in a series! A British police procedural mystery set in Hull, a port city in North Eastern England, this series features a protagonist who has the character to see us through several books…. I only hope he does.
Aector McAvoy (Hector) is a transplanted Scot, a family man with a pregnant wife and a young son. He is larger than life, both in physical size and moral character. Blessed with a fine tuned acuity for noticing connections between events, he is excellent at his job. Set just a few weeks before Christmas, the novel fairly brims with atmosphere.
The summary from Penguin.com (USA) reads:
“A teenage girl adopted from Sierra Leone is chopped down with a machete in front of the entire congregation. A retired trawlerman is found dead at the scene of a tragedy he escaped, the only survivor, forty years ago. An ugly fire rages in a working-class neighborhood, and when the flames die away, a body is discovered, burned beyond recognition.
Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is sure there is a connection between these crimes, but his fellow officers are not convinced—they would rather get a quick arrest than bother themselves with finding the true killer. Torn between his police duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his pregnant wife and young son, McAvoy is an unlikely hero: a family man more obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases that being gung-ho with his muscle. Compelled by his keen sense of justice, McAvoy decides to strike out alone—but in the depths of the dark winter, on the hunt for a murderer, it’s difficult to forget what happened the last time he found himself on the wrong side of a killer’s blade…”
The author, David Mark, though a debut novelist, is a seasoned journalist, so he is well versed in writing and does it superbly. Highly recommended!
Aector McAvoy (Hector) is a transplanted Scot, a family man with a pregnant wife and a young son. He is larger than life, both in physical size and moral character. Blessed with a fine tuned acuity for noticing connections between events, he is excellent at his job. Set just a few weeks before Christmas, the novel fairly brims with atmosphere.
The summary from Penguin.com (USA) reads:
“A teenage girl adopted from Sierra Leone is chopped down with a machete in front of the entire congregation. A retired trawlerman is found dead at the scene of a tragedy he escaped, the only survivor, forty years ago. An ugly fire rages in a working-class neighborhood, and when the flames die away, a body is discovered, burned beyond recognition.
Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is sure there is a connection between these crimes, but his fellow officers are not convinced—they would rather get a quick arrest than bother themselves with finding the true killer. Torn between his police duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his pregnant wife and young son, McAvoy is an unlikely hero: a family man more obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases that being gung-ho with his muscle. Compelled by his keen sense of justice, McAvoy decides to strike out alone—but in the depths of the dark winter, on the hunt for a murderer, it’s difficult to forget what happened the last time he found himself on the wrong side of a killer’s blade…”
The author, David Mark, though a debut novelist, is a seasoned journalist, so he is well versed in writing and does it superbly. Highly recommended!
September 11, 2017
I almost gave The Dark Winter 5 stars, but something bothered me about the ending of the book that I can't quite figure out-yet! It may be because I read book #4 in this series, Taking Pity, first. I regret that now! Most of the books I read are in ebook form and borrowed via the Overdrive library app. I will have to exercise more patience and put books on hold in order to read them in sequence.
I also wondered why the back story of Aector McAvoy's conflict with other detectives wasn't dealt with in more detail. Maybe this plot line will become a prequel as it certainly seemed worthy of a whole novel.
All that being said, The Dark Winter left me mulling over the many great characters like Trish Pharoah, McAvoy's boss, and wanting to read others in the series.
I also wondered why the back story of Aector McAvoy's conflict with other detectives wasn't dealt with in more detail. Maybe this plot line will become a prequel as it certainly seemed worthy of a whole novel.
All that being said, The Dark Winter left me mulling over the many great characters like Trish Pharoah, McAvoy's boss, and wanting to read others in the series.
September 10, 2012
3.5 For a debut fiction novel this is a very good police procedural. Definitely character based as the main character McAvoy has a very moral sense of right and wrong, he is not satisfied with east answers but wants the truth. Has an interesting home life as well. Different threads of the story eventually connect and the trail McAvoy follows is not without personal cost. Really enjoyed following the trail and I did not guess the who done it. Look forward to his next outing which I will be watching for.
ARC from Netgalley
ARC from Netgalley
August 14, 2020
4+ stars
Thank you to Jannelies for introducing me to this series. This is just the first one, so I have several more to read-such a good feeling. Serious British crime fiction series are my very happy place.
This was immediately absorbing. It features a fresh, imperfect, complicated protagonist that I felt I quickly knew enough to engage with and never enough that I wasn’t still curious and intrigued. The location in the north of England felt distant, unknown, and interesting.
The mysteries were fairly complex and I didn’t guess the whodunnits. The ending was a bit quirky in comparison to the tone of the rest of the book, but it wasn’t a barrier to finishing feeling satisfied.
Now begins the gentle tug of war—how long to wait before diving into the next one in the series.
Thank you to Jannelies for introducing me to this series. This is just the first one, so I have several more to read-such a good feeling. Serious British crime fiction series are my very happy place.
This was immediately absorbing. It features a fresh, imperfect, complicated protagonist that I felt I quickly knew enough to engage with and never enough that I wasn’t still curious and intrigued. The location in the north of England felt distant, unknown, and interesting.
The mysteries were fairly complex and I didn’t guess the whodunnits. The ending was a bit quirky in comparison to the tone of the rest of the book, but it wasn’t a barrier to finishing feeling satisfied.
Now begins the gentle tug of war—how long to wait before diving into the next one in the series.
November 6, 2017
3 ++ stars
I really enjoyed this book, the first of my December holiday reads for 2016. Had never heard of it before someone nominated this debut novel for a group read for one of the GR groups I belong to. Christmas plays a very minor role in this murder mystery, or I should say "murders" mystery. Several seemingly unrelated murders are committed around Christmastime. Some take place in Hull, Yorkshire, England where DI McAvoy works and some are further afield. He is witness to one for which he is then asked to be part of the investigative team. But he then gets involved in all the other murders, some formally and some because his strong sense of justice compels him to connect the dots and find the murderer.
I really liked the story, the writing, the cast of characters and the relationship dynamics in this police procedural. McAvoy, a Scot, is an outsider with something to prove, as is his superior who is in her assignment as an "acting" Superintendent. Will this go down in history with some of my favorite series? I doubt it, but I liked it well enough to explore the series further and hope the same players are in the next book. Excellent in audio!
I really enjoyed this book, the first of my December holiday reads for 2016. Had never heard of it before someone nominated this debut novel for a group read for one of the GR groups I belong to. Christmas plays a very minor role in this murder mystery, or I should say "murders" mystery. Several seemingly unrelated murders are committed around Christmastime. Some take place in Hull, Yorkshire, England where DI McAvoy works and some are further afield. He is witness to one for which he is then asked to be part of the investigative team. But he then gets involved in all the other murders, some formally and some because his strong sense of justice compels him to connect the dots and find the murderer.
I really liked the story, the writing, the cast of characters and the relationship dynamics in this police procedural. McAvoy, a Scot, is an outsider with something to prove, as is his superior who is in her assignment as an "acting" Superintendent. Will this go down in history with some of my favorite series? I doubt it, but I liked it well enough to explore the series further and hope the same players are in the next book. Excellent in audio!
June 12, 2013
I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publishers- Blue Rider Press.
McAvoy, works in the North England city of Hull as a Detective Sergeant. While on an outing with his young son, McAvoy witnesses the brutal murder of a young black girl. As a witness and a detective, McAvoy wants to plunge right into the case. But, there are some issues. First of all he is called away to inquire about a man that disappeared on a voyage. This is mere political stuff since the man's sister's husband has some pull. The other issues are that McAvoy is just starting out in this new position. He was at the center of a corrupt police inquiry as the chief whistleblower. In the end, he got left flapping in the wind. So, all he wants at the moment is to put his head down and do whatever is asked of him.
But, when his missing persons case, turns into what appears to be a suicide, he begins to see some connection between the murdered girl and this case, as well as other cases where each victim happened to be the sole survivor of a tragic incident.
McAvoy is a wonderful character. He is a large, barrel chested man, with the heart of a tech geek. He is happily married with a small son and another child on the way. He is honest and principled, even when he faces challenges that puts temptation in his face.
The mystery is very unique, and you will NOT guess the ending.
The secondary characters are also interesting and they all want to crack McAvoy and get him to reveal what happened to him in the past. Hopefully, we will see all these characters again in the near future. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially to those that like British mysteries and detectives.
McAvoy, works in the North England city of Hull as a Detective Sergeant. While on an outing with his young son, McAvoy witnesses the brutal murder of a young black girl. As a witness and a detective, McAvoy wants to plunge right into the case. But, there are some issues. First of all he is called away to inquire about a man that disappeared on a voyage. This is mere political stuff since the man's sister's husband has some pull. The other issues are that McAvoy is just starting out in this new position. He was at the center of a corrupt police inquiry as the chief whistleblower. In the end, he got left flapping in the wind. So, all he wants at the moment is to put his head down and do whatever is asked of him.
But, when his missing persons case, turns into what appears to be a suicide, he begins to see some connection between the murdered girl and this case, as well as other cases where each victim happened to be the sole survivor of a tragic incident.
McAvoy is a wonderful character. He is a large, barrel chested man, with the heart of a tech geek. He is happily married with a small son and another child on the way. He is honest and principled, even when he faces challenges that puts temptation in his face.
The mystery is very unique, and you will NOT guess the ending.
The secondary characters are also interesting and they all want to crack McAvoy and get him to reveal what happened to him in the past. Hopefully, we will see all these characters again in the near future. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially to those that like British mysteries and detectives.
April 30, 2012
Received from Goodreads First Reads. Let me state by way of context that I am a fussy crime reader, it’s a genre I enjoy but find I can often be disappointed by what I pick up.
Having read a couple of let-down crime novels recently I gave myself a bit of a breather before reading this, as I wanted to approach it with a properly open mind. I am glad I did because it is a really good read. David Mark has an excellent writing style and has crafted his characters with a lot of enjoyment and empathy, refusing to fall back on clichés (which in my opinion too many crime authors are guilty of). The plot is truly gripping, and you are pulled in right from the beginning. The plot is fairly unique and what makes it enthralling right from the prologue is how can a death at sea and a murder in Hull possibly be connected? The crimes are kept grounded enough to feel realistic, not becoming too sensationalist, presumably due to the authors time spent as a crime reporter.
David Mark obviously believes that his readers and intelligent people, and leaves enough of the plot under the surface for the reader to ponder over and work through. There are really good connections between the characters and the setting – basically all elements of the writing sit together well.
I will conclude by saying that it’s quite obvious that a significant amount of time and enthusiasm has been put into creating this book, and I sincerely hope it does go into a series.
Having read a couple of let-down crime novels recently I gave myself a bit of a breather before reading this, as I wanted to approach it with a properly open mind. I am glad I did because it is a really good read. David Mark has an excellent writing style and has crafted his characters with a lot of enjoyment and empathy, refusing to fall back on clichés (which in my opinion too many crime authors are guilty of). The plot is truly gripping, and you are pulled in right from the beginning. The plot is fairly unique and what makes it enthralling right from the prologue is how can a death at sea and a murder in Hull possibly be connected? The crimes are kept grounded enough to feel realistic, not becoming too sensationalist, presumably due to the authors time spent as a crime reporter.
David Mark obviously believes that his readers and intelligent people, and leaves enough of the plot under the surface for the reader to ponder over and work through. There are really good connections between the characters and the setting – basically all elements of the writing sit together well.
I will conclude by saying that it’s quite obvious that a significant amount of time and enthusiasm has been put into creating this book, and I sincerely hope it does go into a series.
March 13, 2013
David Mark has done a terrific job with his first novel, creating a likeable and compelling hero in DS Mcavoy. Rather rare for crime fiction, Mcavoy is a happily married family man, a "gentle giant" and from the start you are rooting for him to crack the case - the case being several murders. The victims have all previously survived horrific incidents and are now being killed in the manner in which they would have died originally. The case itself is intriguing and the pacing of the novel is spot on. The peripheral characters, including Mcavoy's wife Roisin and his superior officer Pharoah - who herself manages to avoid being a cliche - are very well drawn and you quickly become part of the world the author is creating.Mcavoy does have a past - an intriguing one that I'm sure we will hear more about in later novels. The setting - Hull - is well described and I could almost imagine being there. All in all I enjoyed it thoroughly and I look forward greatly to Mcavoy's further adventures which I am hoping will follow - indeed, if there were one available now, that would be next on my list to read. More please.
July 7, 2013
It got off to a very promising start with the initial murder in the church. The introduction of characters were drip fed through, and we grew to know them quite well.
For me, however, everything to do with the trawler accident bored me a little, but that's just personal taste, it just isn't my bag. The atmosphere and settings were captured well, it was grey, very grey, all different shades of grey!! Just as you would imagine. It did slow down, which is probably why it took me as long as it did to read, but the second half I raced through, at this point I was completely captured. It was heart racing stuff!
I did like the main character of the novel, and hope there is more of his story to come. Bless his big, generous, soft heart!! Overall, well written, good storytelling and would certainly read more.
For me, however, everything to do with the trawler accident bored me a little, but that's just personal taste, it just isn't my bag. The atmosphere and settings were captured well, it was grey, very grey, all different shades of grey!! Just as you would imagine. It did slow down, which is probably why it took me as long as it did to read, but the second half I raced through, at this point I was completely captured. It was heart racing stuff!
I did like the main character of the novel, and hope there is more of his story to come. Bless his big, generous, soft heart!! Overall, well written, good storytelling and would certainly read more.
January 24, 2013
This would make a good movie if you moved the setting to somewhere in the U.S. with similar topography.
The lead detective with an unpronounceable and unspellable first name makes a very sympathetic character married to a fascinating gypsy woman and fighting off his boss' amorous attention.
Good stuff with a surprise, but trite, ending.
The lead detective with an unpronounceable and unspellable first name makes a very sympathetic character married to a fascinating gypsy woman and fighting off his boss' amorous attention.
Good stuff with a surprise, but trite, ending.
May 11, 2020
I normally don't read mystery series books but I've been in the mood for one & stumbled across this. While this probably wouldn't stand up to too much introspection, it was a good enough book from the genre to keep me entertained & turning the pages while I sat with a sick relative.
November 3, 2012
David Marks debut novel about a series of seemingly unrelated murders that are being investigated by, among others, Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy, is a a winning police/detective novel in the tradition of Ed Mcbain, but set in Hull, England. Like many a police procedural, Marks has the police follow the clues to the killer by old fashioned police work and intuition. Reading the flyleaf may clue us into the plot of the story, but the detectives must follow the actual clues to find the murderer.
McAvoy is a giant of a man, but remarkably soft spoken and mosstly unknown by his current colleagues. Alluded to early in the novel, but not spelled out in great detail, McAvoy foiled a plot by a would be killer and exposed a corrupt situation at his last posting, and received unspecified wounds as a result, but the police hushed up the affair and transferred him to a new division, where he is relegated to errands for the boss and computer tasks. When a murder happens of a young girl at a church almost right in front of McAvoy and he is knocked over by the murderer, he cannot help but get involved in the investigation under the leadership of Trish Pharaoh, but midst stream he is tasked by his boss to go investigate the apparent suicide of a old trawlerman, who fell off a ship into a lifeboat and died of exposure and his wounds.
McAvoy soon impresses Pharaoh by making a connection between the trawlerman and the young girl as they both seemed to have survived an terrible previous situation.
McAvoy follows clues about the trawlerman to Fred Stein, who seems to know both victims, and when a third victim shows up with ties to Fred Stein as well, it is McAvoy who figures out the awful connection between the victims and the terrible aim of the killer.
McAvoy is winning combination of a character, with earthy lust for his young pregnant wife, a boundless intellect harnassed to a huge frame. He uses both in this entertaining mystery. He pursues the killer in this tautly plotted novel, where Mark makes few missteps.
Its a good tale and at an easy 292 page length, easily digestible book. Personnally, I like a cop who follows the clues and uses intuition and smarts to figure out the killer and where the author does not waste our time reading about obvious red herrings.
Its an auspicious debut. I look forward to Marks next offering.
McAvoy is a giant of a man, but remarkably soft spoken and mosstly unknown by his current colleagues. Alluded to early in the novel, but not spelled out in great detail, McAvoy foiled a plot by a would be killer and exposed a corrupt situation at his last posting, and received unspecified wounds as a result, but the police hushed up the affair and transferred him to a new division, where he is relegated to errands for the boss and computer tasks. When a murder happens of a young girl at a church almost right in front of McAvoy and he is knocked over by the murderer, he cannot help but get involved in the investigation under the leadership of Trish Pharaoh, but midst stream he is tasked by his boss to go investigate the apparent suicide of a old trawlerman, who fell off a ship into a lifeboat and died of exposure and his wounds.
McAvoy soon impresses Pharaoh by making a connection between the trawlerman and the young girl as they both seemed to have survived an terrible previous situation.
McAvoy follows clues about the trawlerman to Fred Stein, who seems to know both victims, and when a third victim shows up with ties to Fred Stein as well, it is McAvoy who figures out the awful connection between the victims and the terrible aim of the killer.
McAvoy is winning combination of a character, with earthy lust for his young pregnant wife, a boundless intellect harnassed to a huge frame. He uses both in this entertaining mystery. He pursues the killer in this tautly plotted novel, where Mark makes few missteps.
Its a good tale and at an easy 292 page length, easily digestible book. Personnally, I like a cop who follows the clues and uses intuition and smarts to figure out the killer and where the author does not waste our time reading about obvious red herrings.
Its an auspicious debut. I look forward to Marks next offering.
August 27, 2014
There's a new cop in the English city of Hull. No sooner does he start his job than he views a 15 year old Somalian adopted girl being slash down in their central church. He has even seen the hooded slasher. But is he a serial killer? Seems that survivors of fatal incidents are being murdered. Thus starts this gruesome murder mystery with a unique plot for a murderer.
Perhaps some of the best parts are the development of the characters. Aector McAvoy is definitely an experienced cop, and rumors abound about his past with a dirty cop and a paid killer. Now he's supposed to be relegated to computer work because of his unique talents in finding information from a desk. His female supervisor tries to untangle his skills through his quiet personality. Aector is profoundly in love with his beautiful wife and young son. Through all this is the description of a dank and wet city of Hull.
This was a great start for a continuing mystery series. Aector is not reminiscent of any policeman that I've previously read about. I also appreciated the twisted motive that was also unique to this story. Definitely will read more from this author. Listened to this on Audible and really appreciated the dramatic affect, especially Aector's Scottish accent amongst the English.
Perhaps some of the best parts are the development of the characters. Aector McAvoy is definitely an experienced cop, and rumors abound about his past with a dirty cop and a paid killer. Now he's supposed to be relegated to computer work because of his unique talents in finding information from a desk. His female supervisor tries to untangle his skills through his quiet personality. Aector is profoundly in love with his beautiful wife and young son. Through all this is the description of a dank and wet city of Hull.
This was a great start for a continuing mystery series. Aector is not reminiscent of any policeman that I've previously read about. I also appreciated the twisted motive that was also unique to this story. Definitely will read more from this author. Listened to this on Audible and really appreciated the dramatic affect, especially Aector's Scottish accent amongst the English.
December 28, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Winter by David Mark. I think I went into it with pre-conceived idea's on what to expect, but Mark very quickly turned all that on its head. I was expecting dark and hard-boiled. Some stereotypical traits. What I got was a DS who was real and human and had a warmth about him. A warmth in contrast with a cold hard environment. I loved how this worked. The sense of place is incredibly well drawn and you can feel the cold and the emptiness of a low economic climate area, where people no longer care. McAvoy on the other hand, cared a lot. He is a character with depth and one I can well imagine reading again and again. At times I thought he was a little too indecisive, but considering the circumstances Mark had put him in, it wasn't completely surprising. I look forward to seeing how he grows and progresses. A definite series keeper for me.
May 26, 2016
Ni diez días he tardado en leerlo (que conste que lo hago en días laborables en la hora y media que paso en el transporte público al día). Esto significa que he pasado de mirar por la ventana o de cacharrear con el móvil en esos ratos de transición, a favor de sumergirme en el mundo de Aector McAvoy. Ritmo endiablado, situaciones creíbles (por fin!), personajes nítidos en tres pinceladas (según dice Elena, con acierto), descripciones sin adornos pero que te hacen "ver la escena". Me ha encantado trama, estilo, personajes...me recuerda un poco a Peter James (mujer embarazada, contraste entre su vida familiar y profesional, Hull-Brighton) pero lo veo algo más oscuro.
June 21, 2015
First in a series featuring a large, brooding Scottish policeman based in the economically depressed city of Hull, England. This book hit so many marks that usually drive me up a wall. It was written in the present tense, had both a prologue and an epilogue, and overall just was written in an overdramatic style. However, it was a fast read, the plot, though highly implausible, kept me turning the pages, and I found the lead character, Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy, quite different than most.
February 22, 2013
Hi,
The score on this book is between 3 to 4.
Why, well it took quite a few chapters to get into this book. In fact about half way through the book, and became very interesting and the story and twists starting to all come together.
The second half of the book was much more exciting and gripping.
regards
Sean
The score on this book is between 3 to 4.
Why, well it took quite a few chapters to get into this book. In fact about half way through the book, and became very interesting and the story and twists starting to all come together.
The second half of the book was much more exciting and gripping.
regards
Sean
November 28, 2018
“The Dark Winter” is the first book in the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy series by David Mark, about a Scotsman police detective located in the Northern England city of Hull.
A better title for the first book would be “The Unjust Distribution of Miracles” as the story is about a sequence of murders of people who are the lone survivor of horrible incidents, although it takes quite awhile (longer than this reader) for Aector to figure out the connection between the killings.
The strength of the book lies in the author’s string characterization of the book’s protagonist, who it is slowly revealed to be in an uncomfortable situation on the job, having been assigned to a new station after he discovered and revealed the corrupt and criminal activities of a popular (or feared?) high-ranking police supervisor. That and being Scottish in northern England and physically imposing (6-foot-5 and “hefty” and red-headed) makes Aector stand out in most situations. He clearly loves his pretty, pregnant wife Roisin and his young son Finlay.
Another strong point is the inclusion of several action scenes, including the penultimate one which are surprising, gripping and well-written.
Overall, the spare, effective prose of “The Dark Winter” makes it an excellent entry in the crowded field of British police procedural murder mysteries. At well under 300 pages in length (my copy from Blue Rider Press was a mere 292 pages) “The Dark Winter” packs a memorable wallop larger than other books up to twice its size from authors with bibliographies twice as long.
RATING: 4.5 STARS.
A better title for the first book would be “The Unjust Distribution of Miracles” as the story is about a sequence of murders of people who are the lone survivor of horrible incidents, although it takes quite awhile (longer than this reader) for Aector to figure out the connection between the killings.
The strength of the book lies in the author’s string characterization of the book’s protagonist, who it is slowly revealed to be in an uncomfortable situation on the job, having been assigned to a new station after he discovered and revealed the corrupt and criminal activities of a popular (or feared?) high-ranking police supervisor. That and being Scottish in northern England and physically imposing (6-foot-5 and “hefty” and red-headed) makes Aector stand out in most situations. He clearly loves his pretty, pregnant wife Roisin and his young son Finlay.
Another strong point is the inclusion of several action scenes, including the penultimate one which are surprising, gripping and well-written.
Overall, the spare, effective prose of “The Dark Winter” makes it an excellent entry in the crowded field of British police procedural murder mysteries. At well under 300 pages in length (my copy from Blue Rider Press was a mere 292 pages) “The Dark Winter” packs a memorable wallop larger than other books up to twice its size from authors with bibliographies twice as long.
RATING: 4.5 STARS.
February 5, 2017
Sergeant Aector (Hector) McAvoy is a mass of contradictions. He is a large muscled cop with the capacity both for great gentleness and (in this case) physical intimidation. He is an honest cop who cares too much about justice in the eyes of his colleagues, who resent his having taken down a crooked superintendent the year before. He stays idealistic, though treated badly by his superiors. And then comes a case in which all of his strengths and weaknesses come into play.
It is actually several cases: the death at sea in a commemorative voyage of a retired fisherman who survived the sinking of a large trawler forty years earlier, the death of a young African adoptee who survived the murder of her family a decade earlier, and, soon, other deaths that most people view as isolated incidents. Aector sees the pattern before anyone else does. In fact, most of his superiors want a quick, too-easy arrest, though his new female superintendent on the serious crimes squad learns to trust his judgment, having experienced her own snubs from the police establishment.
The process by which Aector learns to trust his own judgment comes in fits and starts, but it is very interesting, and somewhat moving. For that matter, the motives of the killer are somewhat moving. David Mark is an excellent writer who has written a book that is both a solid mystery novel and an examination oh how people wrestle with pain, suffering, and evil.
It is actually several cases: the death at sea in a commemorative voyage of a retired fisherman who survived the sinking of a large trawler forty years earlier, the death of a young African adoptee who survived the murder of her family a decade earlier, and, soon, other deaths that most people view as isolated incidents. Aector sees the pattern before anyone else does. In fact, most of his superiors want a quick, too-easy arrest, though his new female superintendent on the serious crimes squad learns to trust his judgment, having experienced her own snubs from the police establishment.
The process by which Aector learns to trust his own judgment comes in fits and starts, but it is very interesting, and somewhat moving. For that matter, the motives of the killer are somewhat moving. David Mark is an excellent writer who has written a book that is both a solid mystery novel and an examination oh how people wrestle with pain, suffering, and evil.
February 12, 2013
This is a cop procedural set in Hull in East Riding of Yorkshire. The main character is DS Aector McAvoy a huge man with some insecurity issues.
This is a first book (I think) but it is well written and doesn't feel like a first book. It is set in a run down town in a time of recession. This resonated with me as the locations were ones I knew and were similar to many in which I have been brought up. The author describes the run down buildings, the unemployment and the depression, very well. His description of Aector and the importance of his family life is a refreshing change.
Aector becomes involved with several murders which appear at first to be unrelated, until he puts the clues together. The plot travels from the Icelandic waters to West Yorkshire and back to the run down hubs of the tale, Hull and Grimsby.
The pace is nice and fast and I flew through the book effortlessly.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series. A very realistic and well thought out murder mystery.
This is a first book (I think) but it is well written and doesn't feel like a first book. It is set in a run down town in a time of recession. This resonated with me as the locations were ones I knew and were similar to many in which I have been brought up. The author describes the run down buildings, the unemployment and the depression, very well. His description of Aector and the importance of his family life is a refreshing change.
Aector becomes involved with several murders which appear at first to be unrelated, until he puts the clues together. The plot travels from the Icelandic waters to West Yorkshire and back to the run down hubs of the tale, Hull and Grimsby.
The pace is nice and fast and I flew through the book effortlessly.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series. A very realistic and well thought out murder mystery.
June 1, 2022
Review originally published April 2013
I was in a post-Downton Abbey funk by the time I found the book I wasn’t looking for: The Dark Winter by David Mark. I was just sick of the grey, chilly, non-spring we were having, and was really looking for something with more of a bright, springy theme, but this book jumped out at me. It’s how I was feeling: dark. Like winter was just never ending, no matter what the calendar was saying.
With no prospect of Lady Grantham or Mister Bates on the horizon, my fictional world, in which I looked forward to at the end of the day, was looking quite bleak. So I decided to embrace it. My grandmother would say I was “wallowing” and in this case, it worked out great! I knew nothing about this book or author, and now I can’t wait for the next of this British crime/Scottish cop series!
The central character is, like many other British cop series, mysterious and complex, but unlike those other broody guys, he actually has a happy home life to retire to at the end of each long day. He is Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy; a Scottish “bull-chested policeman with soft eyes and an easy blush” living in the old port city of Hull, England. He is so likable; you can’t help but root for the guy.
He becomes the lead investigator on a series of seemingly unrelated brutal crimes that hit the area. He must find the link, all the while pushing through the adversity he finds among his peers (they don’t know what to think of of this Scottish bloke, as he brought some “baggage” with him) and within his own mind. He’s just not confident (another endearing attribute), and somehow he must come to trust himself and his gut enough to make the link between the crimes and catch the psycho before more people are murdered.
The story itself is utterly engaging, and I never figured out was going on before it was revealed, but the setting and the feeling of the story was what was so delightful to me. It really captured that yummy thing that seems to be a constant thread among British mysteries. I don’t have a name for it, it’s just a feeling. If you watch Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, you know what I’m talking about. Inspector Lewis or Lynley anyone? Prime Suspect? How about Foyle’s War? It’s like a grey blanket knit of cashmere you can curl up in. And so addictive! You know these guys have it rough and see horrible things, but they keep going and in the end, they’ll persevere because they are always smarter than those other prats.
If you like Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, PD James, Ellis Peters, Elizabeth George, or M.C. Beaton, you should try this new guy on the block, David Mark. The next in the series, Original Skin, is due out this month and can already be put on reserve at any of the five La Crosse County Libraries branches of Holmen, Onalaska, West Salem, Bangor, or Campbell. If you are a fan of British mystery, also check out the above mentioned TV series! In addition to those, I’d recommend checking out The Last Detective, Midsomer Murders, Cadfael, and Rosemary & Thyme (most of which are also based on book characters).
I can’t in clear conscience call myself a true Anglophile, but I do fancy myself a lover of pretty much all things that hail from the Great Isle across the pond. Everything from Doctor Who to C.S. Lewis to J.K Rowling gets my blood going. It might have something to do with being just 3 generations away from England myself, I don’t know!
But the mysteries in particular invoke such images that they’re palpable. I can hear the accents, I can see the gritty streets like the old harbor say, of Hull, where this particular novel is set (ok, I did look it up on Google Earth too), and feel the cold, crispness of the air, or taste the wet, salty sea. Along with Norway, it’s my motherland. I’ll be making a visit there in another year, but I hope to keep the crime and mystery stories of the UK strictly in my fictional world! Cheers!
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
I was in a post-Downton Abbey funk by the time I found the book I wasn’t looking for: The Dark Winter by David Mark. I was just sick of the grey, chilly, non-spring we were having, and was really looking for something with more of a bright, springy theme, but this book jumped out at me. It’s how I was feeling: dark. Like winter was just never ending, no matter what the calendar was saying.
With no prospect of Lady Grantham or Mister Bates on the horizon, my fictional world, in which I looked forward to at the end of the day, was looking quite bleak. So I decided to embrace it. My grandmother would say I was “wallowing” and in this case, it worked out great! I knew nothing about this book or author, and now I can’t wait for the next of this British crime/Scottish cop series!
The central character is, like many other British cop series, mysterious and complex, but unlike those other broody guys, he actually has a happy home life to retire to at the end of each long day. He is Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy; a Scottish “bull-chested policeman with soft eyes and an easy blush” living in the old port city of Hull, England. He is so likable; you can’t help but root for the guy.
He becomes the lead investigator on a series of seemingly unrelated brutal crimes that hit the area. He must find the link, all the while pushing through the adversity he finds among his peers (they don’t know what to think of of this Scottish bloke, as he brought some “baggage” with him) and within his own mind. He’s just not confident (another endearing attribute), and somehow he must come to trust himself and his gut enough to make the link between the crimes and catch the psycho before more people are murdered.
The story itself is utterly engaging, and I never figured out was going on before it was revealed, but the setting and the feeling of the story was what was so delightful to me. It really captured that yummy thing that seems to be a constant thread among British mysteries. I don’t have a name for it, it’s just a feeling. If you watch Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, you know what I’m talking about. Inspector Lewis or Lynley anyone? Prime Suspect? How about Foyle’s War? It’s like a grey blanket knit of cashmere you can curl up in. And so addictive! You know these guys have it rough and see horrible things, but they keep going and in the end, they’ll persevere because they are always smarter than those other prats.
If you like Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, PD James, Ellis Peters, Elizabeth George, or M.C. Beaton, you should try this new guy on the block, David Mark. The next in the series, Original Skin, is due out this month and can already be put on reserve at any of the five La Crosse County Libraries branches of Holmen, Onalaska, West Salem, Bangor, or Campbell. If you are a fan of British mystery, also check out the above mentioned TV series! In addition to those, I’d recommend checking out The Last Detective, Midsomer Murders, Cadfael, and Rosemary & Thyme (most of which are also based on book characters).
I can’t in clear conscience call myself a true Anglophile, but I do fancy myself a lover of pretty much all things that hail from the Great Isle across the pond. Everything from Doctor Who to C.S. Lewis to J.K Rowling gets my blood going. It might have something to do with being just 3 generations away from England myself, I don’t know!
But the mysteries in particular invoke such images that they’re palpable. I can hear the accents, I can see the gritty streets like the old harbor say, of Hull, where this particular novel is set (ok, I did look it up on Google Earth too), and feel the cold, crispness of the air, or taste the wet, salty sea. Along with Norway, it’s my motherland. I’ll be making a visit there in another year, but I hope to keep the crime and mystery stories of the UK strictly in my fictional world! Cheers!
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
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