Little White Lies

DI Carmichael #1

by Ian McFadyen

Little White Lies is the first book in the Carmichael series of Murder Mystery novels. When Inspector Steve Carmichael and his family move from London to the village of Moulton Bank in rural Lancashire they all expect a quieter existence, both domestically and professionally. After a career in the Met, Steve doubts that his new post will present much of a challenge, but is pleased to escape the intrigues of his old force, and knows that the move will delight his wife Penny, who spent her childhood in Moulton Bank. However, in a matter of days a woman is murdered in the village, and Steve finds himself in charge of an investigation that casts dark shadows into the village's past. As the case becomes increasingly complex and the Met begins to look like the quiet life, Steve finds himself drawn into intrigue, as his investigations begin to overlap with his family life in more ways than one.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Hi! I'm Ian McFadyen, author of the DI Carmichael series. Originally from Liverpool, I now plot Carmichael's next adventures from Hertfordshire where I live with my wife, Chris.

Currently all the books I have written are for the DI Carmichael series. The series now contains 8 books, and I'm working on number 9 right now. The books can be read in order or on their own.

I really enjoy visiting libraries around the UK to give book talks & to discuss my novels with readers. I love to hear theories people come up with of who the murderer is as the read along.

Instagram: @IanWMcFadyen

Reviews

[Sandra Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book began well, and gave me the genuine feel of an English village. The plot was well thought out and initially complicated, although I did correctly guess the ending. However the writing style was too wordy. The book would have benefited from a thorough précis.

[Susanna Bloderer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis:
In order to escape a corrupt police force in London, DI Carmichael requests to be moved to a small town in Lancashire, where his wife Penny grew up. Expecting his new job to be rather quiet, he soon has to deal with multiple murders and a village population that is not exactly forthcoming with information...

I thoroughly enjoyed this crime novel, as it reminded me a little bit of the police TV shows I used to watch as a kid, as well as the way Agatha Christie used to describe small-town murders (I am almost sure there was a nod to Miss Marple with the neighbour Mrs Applebaum). While it was quite obvious from the start who the perpetrator was, I enjoyed the unravelling of the plot. There were no logical inconsistencies and the author apparently did his homework on police procedure.

I especially enjoyed the almost sinister atmosphere that was painted throughout. There's just something about small towns and tight-knit communities that appears suffocating and creepy to me and yes I enjoy the discomfort!

I wasn't a particular fan of the book's ending - if you can call it one. I am hoping this will mean that DI Carmichael will surface in a future book? Overall, I was impressed with the writing and the way the suspense was built. Not bad for what appears to be a rather unknown author.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of this series of DI Steve Carmichael’s whodunits for several years now. All of the books are nicely written and easy to get through. They are much more whodunits rather than police procedure stories with lots of clues, red herrings and questions that have always left me with little idea who the murderer was until the end.

[Monika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nevím, zda to bylo překladem nebo to je i v originálu, ale začátek knihy se mi zdál tak nějak krkolomný, špatně se četl. Později už to bylo lepší. Příběh dost průměrný, ale mělo to i spád. Jen mám pocit, že to bylo takové amatérské, něco tomu chybělo. K postavám jsem si nevytvořila žádný vztah, bylo mi to tak nějak jedno. Za mě takový spíš slabý průměr....

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

LITTLE WHITE LIES is a debut novel from Ian McFadyen - drawing on most of the classic elements of the small English village mystery, combined with some elements of a classic police procedural.

Steve and his family have moved away from his big city policing job, to a small village where Penny grew up. He's taken the position of Chief Inspector in the local town's force, but he wasn't really expecting his first major investigation to be the death of a woman in his own village. The fact that Penny knows the victim, and all the possible suspects, as they were all at school together helps him to understand their backgrounds, but it also means that the crime is uncomfortably close to home.

It's interesting how the personal and the professional intertwined in this book - especially as despite Steve being headquartered in the larger town 30 minutes or so from his village, he spends a fair amount of time very near to home. Alongside the investigation, there's the story of his family settling into the area. Penny is reacquainting herself with many of her childhood friends whilst their 3 children are making new friends. Steve is establishing himself within his new police force, and with his own superior officer, as well as a new investigation team.

The mystery itself is reasonably complicated with - as you'd expect from this scenario - some elements that reach back many years to when the victim, Penny and all their friends were young, as well as events from more recent times. As more victims are discovered, a possible connection starts to be revealed which clarifies the possible motive in some ways, and complicates it in others.

Steve is definitely a bit of a stuffed shirt at times throughout the book, although he's not totally unlikeable. There are some odd elements to the personal aspects of the characters lives and therein possibly the only real clanger. Penny's reaction when she discovers Steve's one night stand with a member of his investigation team seemed a bit too idealistic, although her resolution of the issue was nicely sneaky. All in all an interesting debut novel - readable with a reasonable mystery at the centre and some characters that show some promise for future development.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

the story wascreasonabky compelling and I wanted to get to the end. there were a few false starts but I guessed the killer, not quick enough to spoil it, but soon enough to make me feel a little less compelled to read on. the writing us quite laboured: "theirs was not a physical union." for example and the description of flupchartis and coloured pens.

I found it quite a misogynistic book. trying to analyse this I think the caricature of an ambitious female detective is the key element in that. To be fair the policemen are all a bit caricatured too, the fat and lazy one, the strong silent type, who turns out to be quite insightful.

None of the women were very real to me, Penny, with hercwry laughs, is I think, what men hope their partners are thinking about them. Mary who kept a guilty secret for decades and then blurted it out, Linda the crank with a fixation, Sarah the drunkard with poor taste in men. Oh dear.

The men came off better, and the main character has promise. I am hoping the writing gets less laboured in the two subsequent books, but I won't be checking that out for myself any time soon.

[Shahira8826 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wordy, sexist, boring novel, in which the only unpredictable thing are the ridiculous mistakes.
It took me a few minutes to understand the link between an empty bottle of paracetamol tablets and the corpse of a woman who supposedly committed suicide by overdosing on *sleeping tablets*. Why didn't the author do the tiniest bit of research? You just need to google "paracetamol" to learn that it is NOT sleeping tablets, it doesn't take more effort than that. I'm sorry, but I can't take seriously a work full of such blunders.
Besides, I don't understand how in the 21st century there can still be published novels where the protagonist addresses every policeman in his team by surname and professional title, while he constantly addresses the only policewoman by her first name without any title, despite her being a DC just like the others.

[Vontel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I have run across this series before, although I get the occasional "whisper" that makes me think it is possible, albeit some years ago. This is the first book in a new series, and I will see how it shapes up. Easy to read, for the most part.

[Lauren Mcfadyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of my dad's novels, the Inspector Carmichael series continues with Lillia's Diary and Frozen to Death. I know I'm biased, but I think it's worth a read! :)