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DCI Gilchrist #4
Life For A Life
Will DCI Andy Gilchrist end up like the others - dead, beheaded on a beach?
The middle of winter in St Andrews. When a young woman's half-naked body is found on Fife's Coastal Path, frozen and with remnants of a rope manacle around her wrist, DCI Andy Gilchrist is given the case.
Gilchrist's investigation uncovers a bloody trail of shootings and executions that lead him to the heart of a trafficking war. Links to Scotland's foremost criminal family, the Home Office and a killer intent on expanding his territory, pull Gilchrist deeper into this murderous web until he comes face to face with the most dangerous man he has ever met.
The middle of winter in St Andrews. When a young woman's half-naked body is found on Fife's Coastal Path, frozen and with remnants of a rope manacle around her wrist, DCI Andy Gilchrist is given the case.
Gilchrist's investigation uncovers a bloody trail of shootings and executions that lead him to the heart of a trafficking war. Links to Scotland's foremost criminal family, the Home Office and a killer intent on expanding his territory, pull Gilchrist deeper into this murderous web until he comes face to face with the most dangerous man he has ever met.
388 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2015
26 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
T.F. Muir
19 books68 followersAka Frank Muir and T. Frank Muir
Born in Glasgow, Frank was plagued from a young age with the urge to see more of the world than the rain sodden slopes of the Campsie Fells. By the time he graduated from University with a degree he hated, he’d already had more jobs than the River Clyde has bends. Short stints as a lumberjack in the Scottish Highlands and a moulder’s labourer in the local foundry convinced Frank that his degree was not such a bad idea after all. Twenty-five years of working overseas helped him appreciate the raw beauty of his home country. Now a dual US/UK citizen, Frank divides his time between Richmond, Virginia, and Glasgow, Scotland, carrying out research in the local pubs and restaurants. Frank is currently doing some serious book research in St Andrews' local pubs, and working on his next novel, another crime story suffused with dark alleyways and cobbled streets and some things gruesome.
Born in Glasgow, Frank was plagued from a young age with the urge to see more of the world than the rain sodden slopes of the Campsie Fells. By the time he graduated from University with a degree he hated, he’d already had more jobs than the River Clyde has bends. Short stints as a lumberjack in the Scottish Highlands and a moulder’s labourer in the local foundry convinced Frank that his degree was not such a bad idea after all. Twenty-five years of working overseas helped him appreciate the raw beauty of his home country. Now a dual US/UK citizen, Frank divides his time between Richmond, Virginia, and Glasgow, Scotland, carrying out research in the local pubs and restaurants. Frank is currently doing some serious book research in St Andrews' local pubs, and working on his next novel, another crime story suffused with dark alleyways and cobbled streets and some things gruesome.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
April 10, 2017
This book has everything I like in a police procedural. It has a linear plot which is gripping - a sex slaver murdering his way round Fife, great characterisation - they all have lives outside the job which are skilfully blended in to the narrative and all ends neatly tied up. If you like a good riveting crime novel with plenty of slightly unbelievable action this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
October 15, 2013
Very disappointed with this latest in the series. Must be the worst DCI Gilchrist yet. The new character, Jesse Janes, is just horrible, she has no redeeming features at all and so nearly made me quit the story very early on. In the end I wish I had. Clearly she will be in future books, so thats it for me. The story itself is full of instances of intuitive policing that is farcical and is a far cry from any form of police procedural novel. The violence has also been taken to another level. This is an Audiobook version review.
June 22, 2015
I' r liked the others in the series, but I'm getting a bit impatient with dear Andy and his team. You would imagine that by now they'd have worked that Fife is quite dangerous, at least for them. Do they have to take quite so many risks? Call for backup a bit sooner? Just saying.
August 24, 2025
There is a certain sameness to modern crime fiction; which is to say modern detective fiction. Gone are the days of the gentleman sleuth such as Poirot or Wimsey, and the even more gentle woman, Miss Marple, solving crimes almost at leisure and in relatively salubrious surroundings. Now we have the hard-bitten, hardened police detective dealing with contemporary (well, in this case twelve years old) psychopathic criminality in all its grisly detail.
I would not normally have read this but it is set almost exclusively in Fife, where I live, (with such familiar locations as Boarhills, Kingsbarns, Crail and St Andrews,) and was recommended by our nearest local librarian as an introduction to the author prior to his visit to the library this November. Suitably enough it was published by Constable.
The short Chapter One features a young woman fleeing from a brutal captivity along a Fife coastal path on a freezing night. That is the last time we are given her point of view. It is her body DC Andy Gilchrist, a widower, and his new DS Jessica (Jessie) Janes, are called to investigate a few days later, dead from a blow to the head, possibly after a fall from the path, and subsequent exposure. They trace her back to a cottage in Kingsbarns where they find two more young women dead, decapitated, and evidence of enslavement into prostitution.
Janes has a sideline in stand-up comedy which she undertakes to try out jokes written by her deaf son, Robert. Her mother has a criminal record but is a constant thorn in her side trying to gain legal access to Robert. Gilchrist and the forensic pathologist Dr Rebecca Cooper have a mutual attraction complicated by the fact that she is married to someone else (albeit not happily). One of the other female detectives has a problematic relationship with a man who turns out to be unknowingly involved in the case, another has a booze problem.
I thought Janes’s background as teased out by Gilchrist in their conversations and his investigations into her mother’s origins would have made it unlikely for her ever to have been accepted into the police but maybe their standards aren’t too high these days.
This is pretty much the standard police procedural offering but some of the details were perhaps unnecessarily gruesome (of course this may be what the crime fiction market now demands) and there was a cliffhanger scene which stretched credulity by being kept going too long.
On putting this book onto Goodreads I found this was actually DC Gilchrist’s fourth appearance in print. I may try one more to confirm my thoughts that it’s not really my thing.
I would not normally have read this but it is set almost exclusively in Fife, where I live, (with such familiar locations as Boarhills, Kingsbarns, Crail and St Andrews,) and was recommended by our nearest local librarian as an introduction to the author prior to his visit to the library this November. Suitably enough it was published by Constable.
The short Chapter One features a young woman fleeing from a brutal captivity along a Fife coastal path on a freezing night. That is the last time we are given her point of view. It is her body DC Andy Gilchrist, a widower, and his new DS Jessica (Jessie) Janes, are called to investigate a few days later, dead from a blow to the head, possibly after a fall from the path, and subsequent exposure. They trace her back to a cottage in Kingsbarns where they find two more young women dead, decapitated, and evidence of enslavement into prostitution.
Janes has a sideline in stand-up comedy which she undertakes to try out jokes written by her deaf son, Robert. Her mother has a criminal record but is a constant thorn in her side trying to gain legal access to Robert. Gilchrist and the forensic pathologist Dr Rebecca Cooper have a mutual attraction complicated by the fact that she is married to someone else (albeit not happily). One of the other female detectives has a problematic relationship with a man who turns out to be unknowingly involved in the case, another has a booze problem.
I thought Janes’s background as teased out by Gilchrist in their conversations and his investigations into her mother’s origins would have made it unlikely for her ever to have been accepted into the police but maybe their standards aren’t too high these days.
This is pretty much the standard police procedural offering but some of the details were perhaps unnecessarily gruesome (of course this may be what the crime fiction market now demands) and there was a cliffhanger scene which stretched credulity by being kept going too long.
On putting this book onto Goodreads I found this was actually DC Gilchrist’s fourth appearance in print. I may try one more to confirm my thoughts that it’s not really my thing.
October 18, 2019
Another brutal installment of the DCI Andy Gilchrist series. In this one Gilchrist must find the killer of women who obviously are being held under duress and used for prostitution. When one escapes she is killed, and others are also being eliminated in a complex people trafficking scheme. The man who is apparently running the gang is Kumar/Krukov, a Russian gangster, who decapitates his victims to intimidate others. He decapitates a police officer, DS Gordon McArthur. Assisting him is a woman, Caryl Dillanos, who has been in the employ of Big Jock Shepherd, the head criminal of the area, who finds him places to hold the women, helped by an unscrupulous estate agent Angus McCarron (who PC Mhairi McBride is dating). Dr. Rebecca Cooper, the forensic pathologist is pursuing Gilchrist while her husband is traveling. New to the unit is DS Jessie Janes who has her own problems, daughter of a dead serial killer, and a mother who is seeking the custody of her son, Robert, just to get at her. Her brothers are criminals. She has an order of non-harassment against her mother but it needs to be extended to Fife. In the end headless bodies abound, and Big Jock goes after the Russian for trying to expand into the Fife area, and for killing Caryl who he was grooming to take over his enterprise. The descriptions of the beheadings is graphic and gory, so this is not for anyone with a weak stomach.
February 23, 2023
Mitten im Winter wird in St. Andrews die Leiche einer jungen Frau gefunden. Niemand weiß, wer sie ist und keiner scheint sie zu vermissen. Es stellt sich heraus, dass die Tote als illegale Einwanderin nach Großbritannien gekommen ist und zur Prostitution gezwungen wurde. Aber ob sie die Einzige ist und wie sie nach Großbritannien kam, bleibt lange ein Rätsel und Andy Gilchrist und sein Team kommen der Wahrheit nur in winzigen Schritten näher.
Meine Meinung
Zunächst scheint es ein Einzelfall zu sein, aber irgendwann steht fest: die Tote ist nur eine von vielen jungen Frauen mit dem selben Schicksal. Aber wo sie gefangen gehalten wurden und wer dahinter steckt, bleibt im Dunkeln. Der oder die Täter scheinen der Polizei immer einen Schritt voraus zu sein. Doch nicht nur das: Andy Gilchrist wird bedroht. Zuerst subtil und dann immer deutlicher. nicht nur er, sondern auch seine Familie sind in Gefahr.
Die Handlung entwickelt sich sehr langsam. Trotzdem war der Krimi nicht langweilig. Vielmehr passt das Erzähltempo zur kalten Jahreszeit, in der das Leben wie eingefroren scheint. Dazu kommt, dass die Charaktere mehr Tiefgang haben, als es auf den ersten Blick erscheint. Die Krimireihe um Andy Gilchrist ist eine gelungene Mischung aus Kriminalfall und Charakterstudien. Das macht die Krimis etwas ruhiger, aber ich mag sie.
Meine Meinung
Zunächst scheint es ein Einzelfall zu sein, aber irgendwann steht fest: die Tote ist nur eine von vielen jungen Frauen mit dem selben Schicksal. Aber wo sie gefangen gehalten wurden und wer dahinter steckt, bleibt im Dunkeln. Der oder die Täter scheinen der Polizei immer einen Schritt voraus zu sein. Doch nicht nur das: Andy Gilchrist wird bedroht. Zuerst subtil und dann immer deutlicher. nicht nur er, sondern auch seine Familie sind in Gefahr.
Die Handlung entwickelt sich sehr langsam. Trotzdem war der Krimi nicht langweilig. Vielmehr passt das Erzähltempo zur kalten Jahreszeit, in der das Leben wie eingefroren scheint. Dazu kommt, dass die Charaktere mehr Tiefgang haben, als es auf den ersten Blick erscheint. Die Krimireihe um Andy Gilchrist ist eine gelungene Mischung aus Kriminalfall und Charakterstudien. Das macht die Krimis etwas ruhiger, aber ich mag sie.
November 21, 2016
The very first scene of this novel, in which an unnamed woman runs through the countryside, fleeing from a man trying to kill her, broke all suspension of disbelief and left me with the strong impression that male writers writing about women should sometimes do a little more reasearch. Because the woman is wearing high heels, which are hard to run in, especially on grass, so that she takes them off. When she climbs over a fence and lands on a path made of sharp pebbles, she cannot go on without shoes, so she takes her high heels, breaks off the heels, and starts running with no further problems, even likening it to her morning jogs. The author seems to believe that stilettos with the heels broken off become flat shoes, but that's just not the case. In reality, she would have broken both her ankles before getting further than three steps.
But other than that, this crime novel set in St. Andrews has a good mystery, even if the ending is a bit incoherent, and good characters, whose problems and personalities I was interested in discovering more about.
But other than that, this crime novel set in St. Andrews has a good mystery, even if the ending is a bit incoherent, and good characters, whose problems and personalities I was interested in discovering more about.
August 28, 2020
After reading the first four entries in this series, I really think I’m done with it. Gilchrist is supposed to be some wild chick magnet beating away women from every direction and it’s just ridiculous. Is anyone in Scotland not a raving alcoholic? Just tired of reading about everybody in Scotland’s police force getting drunk and screwing while murders run rampant. And they are the stupidest cops ever. One of them brings her teenage son to chase after a serial killer in this one! C’mon! And Gilchrist constantly takes off on his own without telling anybody where he’s going or why and then ends up in trouble! Can Muir PLEASE have a cop read his manuscripts before publication? Nobody would do these things while chasing a serial killer especially as an unarmed detective. I believe Muir comes up a cool idea and then tries to write a story around it, but then can’t figure out how to make the original idea fit into where his writing has taken him. I really liked the first entry, but I’m tapping out now.
October 6, 2015
Life for a Life by T. Frank Muir: A DCI Gilchrist Investigation (Chicago Review Press, 2015, 394 pages, $11.99/14.95) appears to be the fourth in a series of Gilchrist mysteries released in the U.S. since 2012. Life for a Life was first released in the United Kingdom in 2013. DCI Andy Gilchrist is based in St. Andrews Scotland, which turns out not to be the the sometimes sunny, always wind-swept home of the game of golf, but a dark, cold, crime beset city filled with plenty to keep a smart, thoughtful Detective Chief Inspector busy managing a group of subordinates who, while often effective, are sometimes difficult to differentiate from the villains they seek to control and put out of business. The book is marked by the brutal killings of a series of women and a few men, each decapitated in both gruesome and almost clinically described ways which many might find distasteful. I suppose my own experiences as a reader of British crime fiction by the likes of Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Dick Francis, for instance, have inclined me toward a more gentile, English setting not representing the dark state of a changing British society. My loss.....
Life for a Life opens with a set piece of a young woman fleeing a dark, unseen presence across a cold, windswept landscape near the seaside. Soon her body is discovered by an elderly couple walking their dog and the police are called under the direction of DCI Andy Gilchrist. According to Wikipedia a Detective Chief Inspector is the “minimum rank held by a senior investigating officer” in major police stations. I gather that Gilchrist commands a wide variety of specialists including uniformed and plain clothes police, a sexy medical examiner with whom he has been romantically involved, and a group of investigators who have plenty of problems of their own. Gilchrist is recently divorced, has two children, and enjoys a pint or two with his staff after work. He's also smart with a terrific memory, not given to acting too quickly or putting himself at immediate risk, but sometimes impulsive, which gets him in trouble in this often gripping novel.
Detective Sergeant Jessie Janes has been transferred to Gilchrist's jurisdiction for unspecified reasons but vouched for by her previous supervisor. Gilchrist goes to a comedy club to discover her trying out a new routine, meeting a complex, edgy, secretive character whom he takes on as his partner for the investigation of the murdered girl. Janes is seeking a new career as a comedian, hoping to be able to earn enough money to get a cochlear implant for her deaf son. She has a deeply hidden secret in her life, which she hopes to keep hidden because of its possible effect on her career with the police. Nevertheless, she's bright, quick witted, and knowledgeable about crime and criminals in the region, particularly those involved with sex trafficking in Great Britain.
The novel becomes increasingly complicated as DCI Gilchrist's conflicted feelings about his own life post divorce and his relationships with his subordinates become part of the plot. Apparently, British cops, isolated from the rest of society, rely on each other as both sex and drinking partners. Their complex relationships also get them personally involved with the objects of their work, criminals. The ability of untrammeled criminal power fueled by drugs and sex traffic to corrupt the underpaid forces of the law have become the stuff of much British fiction I have read recently. The dark spots in Jessie Janes' background, starting with her horrific mother, are emblematic, not idiosyncratic, of the larger disease Gilchrist must struggle against. Fortunately, his moral compass is pretty accurate and his leadership style even-handed and governed by his intelligence rather than his hormones. The result is an interesting, arresting story despite the graphic violence.
“Born in Glasgow, Frank Muir was plagued from a young age with the urge to see more of the world than the rain sodden slopes of the Campsie Fells. By the time he graduated from University with a degree he hated, he’d already had more jobs than the River Clyde has bends. Short stints as a lumberjack in the Scottish Highlands and a moulder’s labourer in the local foundry convinced Frank that his degree was not such a bad idea after all. Twenty-five years of working overseas helped him appreciate the raw beauty of his home country. Now a dual US/UK citizen, Frank divides his time between Richmond, Virginia, and Glasgow, Scotland, carrying out research in the local pubs and restaurants. Frank is currently doing some serious book research in St Andrews' local pubs, and working on his next novel, another crime story suffused with dark alleyways and cobbled streets and some things gruesome.” (from Goodreads bio taken from Muir's web site)
Life for a Life by T. Frank Muir: A DCI Gilchrist Investigation (Chicago Review Press, 2015, 394 pages, $11.99/14.95) is a police procedural set in the cold, threatening Fife region near fabled St. Andrews, which emerges as a place very different from the birthplace of golf we know from television. Fife, from the map, appears to be a relatively isolated peninsula jutting into the North Sea and somewhat isolated from the rest of Scotland, being surrounded on three sides by water. This tense, gripping novel sometimes loses a little of its drive due to the complexity and number of characters. Nevertheless, it emerges as an arresting mystery whose violence is largely character driven, with lots of interesting and conflicted characters interacting as they work towards the solution of an ever widening criminal enterprise. You might very well enjoy this one. I received the book as an electronic galley supplied by the publisher through Edelweiss: Beyond the Treeline. I read it on my Kindle App.
Life for a Life opens with a set piece of a young woman fleeing a dark, unseen presence across a cold, windswept landscape near the seaside. Soon her body is discovered by an elderly couple walking their dog and the police are called under the direction of DCI Andy Gilchrist. According to Wikipedia a Detective Chief Inspector is the “minimum rank held by a senior investigating officer” in major police stations. I gather that Gilchrist commands a wide variety of specialists including uniformed and plain clothes police, a sexy medical examiner with whom he has been romantically involved, and a group of investigators who have plenty of problems of their own. Gilchrist is recently divorced, has two children, and enjoys a pint or two with his staff after work. He's also smart with a terrific memory, not given to acting too quickly or putting himself at immediate risk, but sometimes impulsive, which gets him in trouble in this often gripping novel.
Detective Sergeant Jessie Janes has been transferred to Gilchrist's jurisdiction for unspecified reasons but vouched for by her previous supervisor. Gilchrist goes to a comedy club to discover her trying out a new routine, meeting a complex, edgy, secretive character whom he takes on as his partner for the investigation of the murdered girl. Janes is seeking a new career as a comedian, hoping to be able to earn enough money to get a cochlear implant for her deaf son. She has a deeply hidden secret in her life, which she hopes to keep hidden because of its possible effect on her career with the police. Nevertheless, she's bright, quick witted, and knowledgeable about crime and criminals in the region, particularly those involved with sex trafficking in Great Britain.
The novel becomes increasingly complicated as DCI Gilchrist's conflicted feelings about his own life post divorce and his relationships with his subordinates become part of the plot. Apparently, British cops, isolated from the rest of society, rely on each other as both sex and drinking partners. Their complex relationships also get them personally involved with the objects of their work, criminals. The ability of untrammeled criminal power fueled by drugs and sex traffic to corrupt the underpaid forces of the law have become the stuff of much British fiction I have read recently. The dark spots in Jessie Janes' background, starting with her horrific mother, are emblematic, not idiosyncratic, of the larger disease Gilchrist must struggle against. Fortunately, his moral compass is pretty accurate and his leadership style even-handed and governed by his intelligence rather than his hormones. The result is an interesting, arresting story despite the graphic violence.
“Born in Glasgow, Frank Muir was plagued from a young age with the urge to see more of the world than the rain sodden slopes of the Campsie Fells. By the time he graduated from University with a degree he hated, he’d already had more jobs than the River Clyde has bends. Short stints as a lumberjack in the Scottish Highlands and a moulder’s labourer in the local foundry convinced Frank that his degree was not such a bad idea after all. Twenty-five years of working overseas helped him appreciate the raw beauty of his home country. Now a dual US/UK citizen, Frank divides his time between Richmond, Virginia, and Glasgow, Scotland, carrying out research in the local pubs and restaurants. Frank is currently doing some serious book research in St Andrews' local pubs, and working on his next novel, another crime story suffused with dark alleyways and cobbled streets and some things gruesome.” (from Goodreads bio taken from Muir's web site)
Life for a Life by T. Frank Muir: A DCI Gilchrist Investigation (Chicago Review Press, 2015, 394 pages, $11.99/14.95) is a police procedural set in the cold, threatening Fife region near fabled St. Andrews, which emerges as a place very different from the birthplace of golf we know from television. Fife, from the map, appears to be a relatively isolated peninsula jutting into the North Sea and somewhat isolated from the rest of Scotland, being surrounded on three sides by water. This tense, gripping novel sometimes loses a little of its drive due to the complexity and number of characters. Nevertheless, it emerges as an arresting mystery whose violence is largely character driven, with lots of interesting and conflicted characters interacting as they work towards the solution of an ever widening criminal enterprise. You might very well enjoy this one. I received the book as an electronic galley supplied by the publisher through Edelweiss: Beyond the Treeline. I read it on my Kindle App.
January 2, 2025
Another good policy procedural featuring DI Andy Gilchrist and set around St Andrews and Dundee. This time we find the team trying to track down a gang of notorious people smugglers, slavers etc. The leader known only as Kumar has a violent reputation. He has already filmed the beheading of a undercover police officer in Glasgow and it now appears he has moved in around St Andrews. A new team member, one in hospital following a stabbing and an over familiar medical examiner are just some of things Andy has to deal with.
The story moves along at a good pace, keeps the reader coming back for more and is complicated enough to be challenging whilst still keeping a sense of reality.
The story moves along at a good pace, keeps the reader coming back for more and is complicated enough to be challenging whilst still keeping a sense of reality.
October 29, 2022
Life for a life is the best I have read in this series yet. DCI Gilchrist is assigned the murder of a young girl who is found on the beach. It then takes you through a roller coaster ride of organised crime exploitation of young women and he comes up against the most evil person at the head of the trafficking women into Scotland. A page turner this is. If you are like me you won’t be able to put this one down. Phew
April 14, 2023
A return to form in book 4 after the disappointment of book 3. Nicely builds up to a very good - if over the top - ending with all the sub plots coming together. Andy is as likeable as ever and this character goes from strength to strength. Unsure about Jessie at the start but think she will grow on me as I suspect she will be appearing in the next instalment. Gory in places which was ok for me but may not be to everyone’s liking. On to the next one!
March 25, 2020
The book is very well written and the characters are very relatable. Their personal life stories are nicely intertwined with the murder investigation. The part that throw me off balance is the extreme violence of the murders. It's beyond anything. And because of that I am not sure if I want to continue to read this series.
November 27, 2022
Gilchrist is running after a serial killer that has no soul. Who is this psychopath and who is he working for? Seems like every turn reveals more more revelations. I enjoy Janes pairing up but I feel sometimes let down at the end of these books...they just end...but this one I enjoyed the ending much more than previous books.
July 26, 2018
Enjoying this series and its characters. Its a bit far fetched that an older man like Andy Gilchrist can go through so much physical bashing and still bounce back but still would recommend and moving on with series. Enjoyed the new character of James in this one.
September 27, 2019
Another belting tale with great pace
Well written as usual and a gripping storyline with a tense climax ,excellent new character introduced to the series. Look forwArd to number five
Well written as usual and a gripping storyline with a tense climax ,excellent new character introduced to the series. Look forwArd to number five
August 13, 2020
My favourite book so far in the series. The new girl, Jessie Jane's, is very relatable to me. Independent and strong. Lots of twists and turns in both the murder plot and characters lives. Very gripping as did not want to put it down (didn't sleep much for a couple of days!!)
September 5, 2018
The fourth DCI Gilchrist police procedural is another grim and gritty thriller shockingly set in St. Andrews.
February 2, 2019
Nice fast moving and characterisations are good.
November 5, 2019
Enjoyable read. Some nailbiting bits.
March 22, 2020
This is the first book i have read by this author and i will be going back to him again. This was a cracking read. The only thing is that i started on book 4 but i will read the rest shortly.
June 4, 2020
DI Gilchrist at his finest. His new partner has added a new dimension to this series. Next book please
July 25, 2020
I didn’t finish it. Way too much gratuitous blood and pain
August 14, 2022
This just felt like it took forever to read. I’m still not straight on all the characters & how they fit in the whole story. I’m not even sure I understood the story.
January 19, 2024
4.5 stars best one in the series so far. A rather gruesome tale but at least it stayed with it rather than spend pointless time on female body parts and sex!
August 26, 2024
Good storyline.
July 31, 2025
good writing: Detective Constable Gilchrist is likeable and smart.
Read Muir again.
Read Muir again.
November 19, 2015
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for my honest opinion. I thought Life For a Life was a wonderful psychological thriller of a read!
Andy Gilchrist commands a Detective Crime Investigation group out of St. Andrews, Scotland. The story begins when the body of a young woman is found on a Fife coastal path. Then there are a series of execution style murders including two of their own. Other clues lead to a possibility that the murders are the work of a gang of traffickers in young women. The reader gets to know these Officers at the local pub after hours. There are the stories of family, love lives past and present, and the in- fighting of such a close knit group dealing with almost daily tragedies. Andy Gilchrist is one fine Captain of these Crime Investigators. I really liked him and this crime novel. This book was number four in the series and I can't wait for the next one! I have also ordered the earlier books to read. Thanks to T. Frank Muir the author of a well-written series!
Andy Gilchrist commands a Detective Crime Investigation group out of St. Andrews, Scotland. The story begins when the body of a young woman is found on a Fife coastal path. Then there are a series of execution style murders including two of their own. Other clues lead to a possibility that the murders are the work of a gang of traffickers in young women. The reader gets to know these Officers at the local pub after hours. There are the stories of family, love lives past and present, and the in- fighting of such a close knit group dealing with almost daily tragedies. Andy Gilchrist is one fine Captain of these Crime Investigators. I really liked him and this crime novel. This book was number four in the series and I can't wait for the next one! I have also ordered the earlier books to read. Thanks to T. Frank Muir the author of a well-written series!
January 9, 2015
This book took me straight back to Scotland, albeit a fairly grimmer one than I'm used to! Once past the initial moment of gruesomeness - which was a bit of a struggle, reaching new heights as it does amongst the Gilchrist series - I was hooked. It was with heavy eyelids that I reached the thrilling conclusion last night, long past my usual bedtime.
Once again, T.F Muir reels in the reader with a fast-paced plot that leaves you guessing at how the threads will link up right to the very end. In this, the fourth book, the body count is greater, the stakes higher, and Gilchrist has a brand new side-kick, tough and touchy Jessie Janes. The Scottish speech and banter, which is nailed to a T, and the wintry windswept backdrop of St. Andrews and Fife lend an authenticity and atmosphere to this series which make it easy to see why it has continued to grow.
I feel the potential here for a gripping television series is great. Long live DCI Gilchrist!
Once again, T.F Muir reels in the reader with a fast-paced plot that leaves you guessing at how the threads will link up right to the very end. In this, the fourth book, the body count is greater, the stakes higher, and Gilchrist has a brand new side-kick, tough and touchy Jessie Janes. The Scottish speech and banter, which is nailed to a T, and the wintry windswept backdrop of St. Andrews and Fife lend an authenticity and atmosphere to this series which make it easy to see why it has continued to grow.
I feel the potential here for a gripping television series is great. Long live DCI Gilchrist!
October 9, 2015
When I read Gore Vidal's biographies (e.g..Lincoln), I always write down the names of the characters as they are introduced so that I can keep track of them, my memory not being what it used to be.
I wish I had done so for Life for a Life. Maybe I had trouble with the Scottish names, but there are also a lot of characters in this book, esp. police. So I did not think at first that I could get into the book. Happily, I persevered because this is a good story. On the Fife Coast of Scotland, a young woman's body is found by a couple walking their dog. The dead girl is not dressed for the snowy weather and the heels have been broken from her shoes. The bodies of two more young women are found in an abandoned house. All have the same tattoos.
DCI Gilchrist is head of the investigation into human trafficking for prostitution and the subsequent murder of the women. Then Gilchrist is captured by the head of the trafficking organization. I recommend reading Life for a Life.
I wish I had done so for Life for a Life. Maybe I had trouble with the Scottish names, but there are also a lot of characters in this book, esp. police. So I did not think at first that I could get into the book. Happily, I persevered because this is a good story. On the Fife Coast of Scotland, a young woman's body is found by a couple walking their dog. The dead girl is not dressed for the snowy weather and the heels have been broken from her shoes. The bodies of two more young women are found in an abandoned house. All have the same tattoos.
DCI Gilchrist is head of the investigation into human trafficking for prostitution and the subsequent murder of the women. Then Gilchrist is captured by the head of the trafficking organization. I recommend reading Life for a Life.
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