Blood Torment

DCI Gilchrist #6

by T.F. Muir

When a three-year old girl is reported missing, DCI Andy Gilchrist is assigned the case. But Gilchrist soon suspects that the child's mother - Andrea Davis - may be responsible for her daughter's disappearance, or worse, her murder.

The case becomes politically sensitive when Gilchrist learns that Andrea is the daughter of Dougal Davis, a former MSP who was forced to resign from Scottish Parliament after being accused of physically abusing his third wife. Now a powerful businessman, Davis demands Gilchrist's removal from the case when his investigation seems to be stalling. But then the case turns on its head when Gilchrist learns that a paedophile, recently released from prison, now lives in the same area as the missing child. The paedophile is interrogated but hours later his body is found floating in the harbour with evidence of blunt force trauma to the head, and Gilchrist launches a murder investigation.

As pressure relentlessly mounts on Gilchrist, he begins to unravel a dark family secret, a secret he believes will solve the fate of the missing child.

Praise for T.F. Muir:

'Rebus did it for Edinburgh. Laidlaw did it for Glasgow. Gilchrist might just be the bloke to put St Andrews on the crime fiction map.' Daily Record

'A bright new recruit to the swelling army of Scots crime writers.' Quintin Jardin

'Gripping and grisly, with plenty of twists and turns that race along with black humour.' Craig Robertson

'Gilchrist is intriguing, bleak and vulnerable... if I were living in St Andrews I'd sleep with the lights on.' Anna Smith

Genres: Crime, Audiobook, Scotland

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2016

About the author

Aka 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.

Reviews

[Nick Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere between a two and a three out of five, this had all the elements of a decent meaty Scottish police procedural, but fell curiously short of expectations. It wasn't so much the writing that was at fault - little to find issue with there, and occasional witty moments which made me smile - but a plot involving an abducted child and a seriously messed-up set of family dynamics never really grasped me and ended up so convoluted that it lost me, on top of 'soap opera' aspects involving the recurring characters, it felt a little like an author running out of ideas.

Most flawed, I felt, was the characterisation. The central character and his female detective side-kick were unpleasant, wrapped-up in personal problems and incompetent in places. I know the maverick cop not playing by the rules is a popular cliché, and hard-drinking hard-fighting Scottish detectives are also often cast as heroic protagonists, but here I just didn't have much sympathy for Gilchrist or his colleague Janes, and wished they'd just done a more proper and considered job - as boring as playing by the rules seems to be.

[Seumas Gallacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

...another gem from Muir..

...author Frank Muir came of age as a superb crime and police procedural author several titles ago... this, the sixth in his DCI Andy Gilchrist series, lives up to all its promise of twists and turns, with enough lies, deception, murder, intrigue, and career politics within the force itself... as usual, Muir wraps more than one main thread into the story, kicking off with the disappearance of a two year old girl from her family home... add in the recent move back into the district of a known paedophile... that lead evaporates with the murder of the potential suspect, but other sinister snippets tug at Gilchrist's intuition... unravelling the web of facts given and hidden by the family of the missing child are expertly handled as Gilchrist and his Detective Sergeant offsider, the ebullient Jessie Janes, hunt down the truth... add in the pressure to solve the case or have his own career ended abruptly through string-pulling at the highest political and superior officer levels heats up the pace and tension... this is another gem from Muir...

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one in the series, way too many storylines, incest, pedaephilia, drug dealers, drug addiction, miscarriage, crooked cop and probably something I've missed. It didn't work for me at all

[Gordon Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent thriller with some twists, but overall lacking a spark. The characters are rather one dimensional - the maverick cop, the bolshy female sidekick etc - and the plot meanders rather with a lot of dead ends.

[Sandra McCourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good storyline. Gilchrist gets involved when a young girl goes missing. There is lots of twists and turns in this book also involving dodgy MSPs in the mix. Also people who complain to their friend the chief constable when things don’t go their way. Good old DCI Gilchrist isn’t a yes man and ends up putting his job on the line to get to the bottom of who took the child. Once it starts moving you will be running to catch up. A really good plot and characters are growing on me. Especially Jessie

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Ok. It seemed overly complicated for not much reward. It's not one that I would recommend anyone rush out and buy, but it's OK to read if someone passes it on to you or you pick it up second hand!

[Chris Logan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very very annoying book. It is rare that I cannot engage with the characters but Jessica Janes is one of the most objectionable people you would ever meet. Truly horrible person. So much so I cannot read another page of this rubbish. Certainly won't be reading any more books by this author.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

In St. Andrews verschwindet ein dreijähriges Mädchen aus dem Haus seiner Mutter. DCI Andy Gilchrist und sein Team werden mit den Ermittlungen betraut. Der Fall ist aus mehr als einem Grund heikel: der Großvater des verschwundenen Kindes ist ein ehemaliges Mitglied des schottischen Parlaments mit zweifelhaftem Ruf, aber immer noch guten Verbindungen. Er mischt sich von Anfang an in die Ermittlungen ein und als die ihm zu langsam vorangehen, will er Gilchrist direkt ersetzen. Aber er ist nicht das einzige Problem, denn es gibt einen Mord, der mit dem aktuellen Fall zusammenhängen kann. Ein gerade entlassener Pädophiler wird erschlagen am Strand aufgefunden.

Die Mutter des verschwundenen Mädchens hat bei der ersten Befragung auf mich einen seltsamen Eindruck gemacht. Sie hat distanziert gewirkt und ihre Aussagen kamen mir fast wie auswendig gelernt vor. Das war für mich zu viel, um auf den Schock zurückzuführen, den sie sicherlich erlitten hat. Aber je weiter Andy Gilchrist und sein Team ermittelt haben, desto mehr konnte ich sie verstehen. Ihre Familie ist mehr als seltsam: man spricht nichts aus, was unangenehm ist. Alles wird unter den Teppich gekehrt und wer damit nicht umgehen kann, dem wird die Schuld gegeben. Kein Wunder, dass die Schwester lange schon die Familie verlassen hat und nichts mehr mit ihr zu tun haben will. Wie gestört die Familie wirklich ist, enthüllt der Autor erst nach und nach.

Parallel zu der Familie des Opfers wird auch die Geschichte von Andys Familie erzählt. Seine schon erwachsenen Kinder entgleiten ihm immer mehr und reagieren auf seine Versuche, ihnen wieder näher zu kommen, mit Ablehnung. Jahrelang hat er sie hinter seinen Beruf gestellt, da ist dieses Verhalten nicht überraschend. Als Ermittler ist Andy Gilchrist sehr organisiert, aber außerhalb dieser Rolle ist er eine Katastrophe weil ihm das Zwischenmenschliche nicht liegt. Trotzdem schafft es T. F. Muir, ihn nicht als wieder einen kaputten Ermittler darzustellen. Vielmehr ist das private Scheitern die Folge eines Berufs, der es schwermacht, etwas anderes als nur das Schlechte im Menschen zu sehen.

Mit Blood Torment habe ich eine Lücke in der Reihe um DCI Andy Gilchrist geschlossen. Wenn ich alle Fälle betrachte, ist dieser der beste, auch wenn ich den Schluss nicht ganz überzeugend fand.

[Jo Frost · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am new to this series and started with book 5 which I really enjoyed. However this book was frustrating. Jessie was even more belligerent and insolent than in the previous book and I just wonder why it was necessary. Fair enough when you suspect someone of some wrongdoing but on this occasion she did it with the mother of a missing girl within about 5 minutes of meeting her. The book had too much going on - mugging, drugs, paedophiles, murder. All too many twists and turns that didn't really contribute to the story.
The worst thing about this books was Gilchrist's response to Cooper after the miscarriage. He had his phone broken and then just never called her back. He did nothing for her whatsoever. He treated it as if she'd had a cold and told him to stay away. Not a clue how to deal with it and no attempts to try. She's better off without him for sure.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what happened between the writing of books 5 and 6 - pressure perhaps - but so much of this failed to impress (as had #5) or convince that it fell very far short. An apparently abducted child, yet barely a mention of steps being taken to find physical evidence, a haring off down numerous apparently hare-brained theories and the most muddling ending imaginable.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book quite an odd one regarding the story and it’s characters. Also for an older man in a sexual relationship all this not talking to his partner ‘I need some time to myself’ from his ‘girlfriend’ Dr Cooper was seriously more suitable to a teenage liaison. Moreover Gilchrist has a very odd relationship with his adult children. However I thought it was worth reading as part of the series

[Rachel Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but got to admit not as much as the previous ones I've read. Intriguing story line but found the 2 main characters not the same as what they have been. They seemed rather disorganized and not as on point as they have been since being paired up. Maybe having so much going on in their personal lives (which most people do) had a lot to do with it.

[Glyn Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me one of the best books from T.F.Muir. All suspense from start to finish, and this is my third book by him . He writes a complex storyline which is very interesting(no spoilers), gilchrist is a renegade dci but very good at his job and is the main character in the stories .So just go out and BUY this book its well worth the money.

[MR MD LITTLEMORE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisted

A tale so twisted and immoral that one can hardly believe that the denouement still comes as a surprise at how emotionally broken some families can become. David Monteath does justice to the characters, really bringing them to life. DCI Gilchrist is at his best on his ‘gut-feeling’ quest. But will he be proven right in the end?

[Miki Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this series by chance and really enjoy listening to them. In this book, a child has been abducted and its down to DI Gilchrist and his team to find her and sort out the complicated issues that led to it.

[Morag Lamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cracker

Lot of jumping about with the plot in this one. Took a wee while to get into it , but as usual, it has all you need in a good detective story. Suspense, love interest, family problems ..great read.

[Susan Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix of plots, with the overall theme being Gilchrist's need to find a missing child. Loose ends were tied up at the end - found too many convoluted plotlines blurred and needed to be tied up in the end

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great instalment of this cracking series. A complex and gripping storyline that kept me turning the pages. Only downside is that Andy and Jessie lost a bit of the dynamic relationship that has been building in this series so hopefully that will return on the next book. A very good read

[David Borthwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Author just gets better with each novel. This one starts quite slowly and builds up to a crescendo towards the end. As you reach the closing chapters the story twists and turns to a satisfying end. Highly recommended.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent thriller that sadly dragged at times

[PAUL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant series. Authentic and original plots. Great writing. What's not to like?

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising start but for me the book lost it's way and became difficult to read

[Lora King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy has to find a missing girl from the most dysfunctional family ever. A former MSP disgraced was accused of spousal abuse and abuse of his own children it seems....and it's his granddaughter that
disappears...Greaves trying to push Andy out, Jessie not messing around. Quite the read.

[Liam Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll admit, it took me a few chapters to filly get invested in this book but once I did it was so worth it. Great characters with a great storyline. Will definitely look out more of T F Muirs books

[Noel Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda just ended suddenly and the whole plot was pretty predictable

[Ineke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a signed Blood Torment as a gift for entering a free gift site hosted by Amanda Fleet.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. From the first page till the last was just excellent. The story starts with DCI Andy Gilchrist investigating the disappearance of a two-year-old girl. Suspense builds up when Andy and DI Jessy start the investigation. With every person, they meet, new information comes to the front. Frank Muir knows how to keep you wondering who did it, where is the girl, or is she still alive. If you like detective, investigation and murder solving this is the book for you.
Well written I loved it.

[Martha Brindley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an avid fan of Frank Muir and thoroughly enjoyed all his previous books. I was eagerly awaiting publication of Blood Torment and it did not disappoint. D.C.I. Gilchrist is a great character with more to offer! A good plot, lovely setting, enough twists and turns and moved along at a good pace. Once started, I could not put this book down. Now I have finished it......I look forward to the next one in the series. I recommend this book to lovers of crime genre and police procedurals, with the added bonus of a Scottish author and setting.

[Tim Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book via a Goodreads giveaway. This is a really solid Police procedural, nice characters, clever plotting (some cute twists), well written and thoroughly enjoyable. The main character does not appear to be an alcoholic - recovering or not - which is a pleasure given how many fictional Police officers seem to be. It also has some nice 'edge' sometimes - I'd recommend it.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a giveaway and had thought it looked interesting to read. Well it did not disappoint! I could not put it down, all the twists and turns, it was like an exciting roller coaster ride. I will not post spoilers but even when I though I had grasped the ending it went on another twist. Wow.

[Amanda Gilliatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good story line,love the humour of Gilchrist,think we need more of him to solve cases as he never lets up,even thou he has his own promblems to sort throu.i got this book free via goodreads and would recommend it to others.