The Unkindest Cut

by Gerald Hammond

A knife-wielding criminal threatens a rural Scottish idyll in the latest mystery from a well-loved author . . .   Life is good for Jane Highsmith and Roland Fox – Jane is planning on taking over the local veterinary practice, Roland’s second novel has been accepted for publication, and they are soon to be married. However, their wedding day is interrupted by a knife-wielding intruder. After confronting Jane in her surgery, she manages to inject the culprit with a microchip used for identifying pets. When a nearby petrol station is robbed by the same perpetrator, DI Fellowes and DS Bright hope that the microchip will lead them to the suspect . . .

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, British Literature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Gerald Hammond, (Gerald Arthur Douglas Hammond) son of Frederick Arthur Lucas (a physician) and Maria Birnie (a nursing sister) Hammond; married Gilda Isobel Watt (a nurse), August 20, 1952; children: Peter, David, Steven. Education: Aberdeen School of Architecture, Dip. Arch., 1952. He served in the British Army, 1944-45. Although born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, he worked in and retired to the country he most loved, Scotland.

He also writes under the names of Arthur Douglas and Dalby Holden. He was an architect for thirty years before retiring to write novels full-time in 1982. He has written over 50 novels since the late 1960s.

His novels center around guns, shooting, hunting, fishing, and dog training.

Reviews

[Zakgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too often do I have to say I don't like a read but I have to admit I didn't like this so-called Mystery. I couldn't get into it from the beginning and every time I did start to enjoy the story it would turn into explanatory treatise and move in another direction and I'd be left feeling annoyed, frustrated and unsatisfied. (Sounds a bit like really bad sex, doesn't it).

What attracted me to read the book (apart from choosing the wrong one in the first place) was the concept of a female Veterinarian, Jane, starting her own practice, simply living life and its everyday challenges but then being burgled, injecting the thief with a microchip. The scene was set for a rather exciting story using the microchip to identify the thief. It had potential.

What I didn't like was the cliché wedding sub-plot, the fragility of this Vet, (most female veterinarian's I have met are a lot tougher than this poor excuse for a female), and the totally cliché Author husband who seems to play no useful part in the whole story other than to annoy the reader and finally the writing not really taking up on the idea of an identifying microchip in a pro-active way. Jane accidently injecting the chip was dull.

I did like the concept and even the plot but found the story too poorly executed to enjoy it. Too much waffle that never had a raison d'etre. I knew from early on that the thief was female but that didn't really make me want to read on either.

Very hard story to get into.

[John Hardy · Rating 1 out of 5]

An NDJ (no dust jacket) from the local library. They are a mixed bag. I haven't anything good to say about this. I only got through about 30 pages and was ready to scream with boredom. Did not finish.

[Catriona Kupper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, interesting, enjoyable perfect for whiling away a few hours

[A.J. Griffiths-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly simple mystery but it was the characters that had me turning pages waiting to find out whodunnit. I love small town Scottish crime stories & this one does not disappoint.

[Sallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery started out like a roller coaster. There was so much information crammed into the first pages, I thought it would be hard to read if it continued in that fashion but it settled down and I found it very interesting. Jane, a veternarian in the small Scottish town of Newton Lauder is ready to go to her wedding when someone masked and wielding a knife robs her surgery. In the struggle she, intending to stab the thief with a drug she had just used to put a bleeding puppy to sleep, grabs the wrong syringe and ends up microchiping the thief. Because of the pain, the thief runs out with stolen drugs. Her wedding dress has been sprayed with blood from the puppy and she has to go home and ends up wearing a very sexy white nightgown instead. There are other victims of the Knife person and the violence seems to be escalating with the death of one. Jane is in the thick of things, helping the police with observations. She also finds herself again at risk which is concerning as she is pregnant. The Knife killer's identity is a surprise.