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DCI David Fyfe #1
Sleeping Dogs
Investigating crime; it’s amazing what you dig up…
David Fyfe is a dog lover with a wife and mistress to support and an ambition to retire early. His present lifestyle is complicated enough before past indiscretions come back to haunt him.
Once a gung-ho investigator of murderous criminals and violent crime, Fyfe has been taken off the frontlines and reassigned to the low-profile Fraud Squad — mistakes from years earlier conspired to condemn him to dull work that he doesn’t much enjoy.
His enforced distance from solving murders bothers him particularly at the moment, as a series of seemingly drug dealing–related murders in the city is all anyone can talk about.
When Chief Constable Sir Duncan Morrison asks him to look into the several hundred thousand dollars missing from the Catholic Church’s accounts, Fyfe expects the job to be little more than soothing the Archbishop’s worries — only to discover that things are considerably more complicated than they first appear.
As he begins his investigation into the licentious Father Byrne and the accused embezzler Father Quinn (Byrne’s superior), Fyfe begins to find evidence that link the corrupt priests to racketeering kingpin Gus Barrie…and an armed robbery that occurred nearly a decade previously.
For Fyfe himself, the spectre of the past rises with not only the reappearance of his ex-lover Sylvia, whose impending marriage throws him for a loop, but the return to British soil of the beautiful Angela — a sexy widow whose acquaintance he first made in the aftermath of the robbery ten years earlier.
But this time Angela has blood on her hands and a million pounds in unmarked notes stuffed into her luggage.
Any ordinary policeman would make the arrest and wrap up the inquiry. But David Fyfe is no ordinary policeman…
David Fyfe is a dog lover with a wife and mistress to support and an ambition to retire early. His present lifestyle is complicated enough before past indiscretions come back to haunt him.
Once a gung-ho investigator of murderous criminals and violent crime, Fyfe has been taken off the frontlines and reassigned to the low-profile Fraud Squad — mistakes from years earlier conspired to condemn him to dull work that he doesn’t much enjoy.
His enforced distance from solving murders bothers him particularly at the moment, as a series of seemingly drug dealing–related murders in the city is all anyone can talk about.
When Chief Constable Sir Duncan Morrison asks him to look into the several hundred thousand dollars missing from the Catholic Church’s accounts, Fyfe expects the job to be little more than soothing the Archbishop’s worries — only to discover that things are considerably more complicated than they first appear.
As he begins his investigation into the licentious Father Byrne and the accused embezzler Father Quinn (Byrne’s superior), Fyfe begins to find evidence that link the corrupt priests to racketeering kingpin Gus Barrie…and an armed robbery that occurred nearly a decade previously.
For Fyfe himself, the spectre of the past rises with not only the reappearance of his ex-lover Sylvia, whose impending marriage throws him for a loop, but the return to British soil of the beautiful Angela — a sexy widow whose acquaintance he first made in the aftermath of the robbery ten years earlier.
But this time Angela has blood on her hands and a million pounds in unmarked notes stuffed into her luggage.
Any ordinary policeman would make the arrest and wrap up the inquiry. But David Fyfe is no ordinary policeman…
- GenresMystery Thriller
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1995
101 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
William Paul
126 books2 followersBorn and brought up in the east of Scotland, William Paul is a former journalist who now earns a living in digital communications but reverts to old-fashioned reporting most weekends by covering rugby matches in both print and digital format.
He's been writing since an early age - somewhere in the attic is a picture of a fresh-faced youth with his first royalty cheque - and sees no reason to stop now.
He got married along the way, has two sons and grandson Aidan to cope with.
His ideas for books come at him from all angles and sometimes he finds it difficult to get all that stuff down on the page before it fades, morphs into something entirely different or simply vanishes from his unreliable memory. Wherever and however ideas end up - on the page or in the bin - they just keep coming.
.
He's been writing since an early age - somewhere in the attic is a picture of a fresh-faced youth with his first royalty cheque - and sees no reason to stop now.
He got married along the way, has two sons and grandson Aidan to cope with.
His ideas for books come at him from all angles and sometimes he finds it difficult to get all that stuff down on the page before it fades, morphs into something entirely different or simply vanishes from his unreliable memory. Wherever and however ideas end up - on the page or in the bin - they just keep coming.
.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 14, 2018
A crime novel set in Edinburgh featuring a hard boiled DCI and a series of murders among the local underworld. This was well enough written, but it did not have many surprises - the plot rolls along to a conclusion without any particular input from the DCI. As for him, I don't think I have come across such an immoral policeman in fiction before. Yes, there are lots of corrupt coppers, but the conclusion to this story was pretty hard to reconcile.
November 14, 2021
Not happy with this book. It started off well, a rather lacklustre police officer in Edinburgh, manages to drag himself out of the office to go off on an errand for Sir Duncan his big boss. He goes to a priory/monastery to question a priest who has allegedly syphoned off rather a lot of money and the catholic church want to keep it hush hush. There are other plotlines, a young man is leaving prison after serving now was it 9 yrs or the full 12 yrs he was sentenced to? I forget which. Anyway he was with a baddie who blew himself up with a million or more pounds of banknotes. Or did he?
This young man is picked up outside prison by another shady priest who is up to no good with a girl who is basically a prostitute, and he takes him to a little flat next to the girl's. It gets a bit complicated but it ends up with the said police man, DCI David Fyfe, helping the blown up man's widow get the money and leave for a better life. Whilst he turns a blind eye and leaves with a bag of nearly a quarter of a million pounds of the stolen money. I don't like books with corrupt police officers giving people life lessons in how to be a police officer and become corrupt in helping others escape prosecution. Not at all. There seems to be enough corruption in the MET in London at the moment without implying that many other police officers are corrupt everywhere else in the country.
So not happy with this book. In fact I read the first third and thought this isn't looking good, and then skim read some chapters to the end, although I don't know why I did even that as I really didn't like the plotline of this book. Am not in any hurry to read another one by this author, and certainly not including this character.
This young man is picked up outside prison by another shady priest who is up to no good with a girl who is basically a prostitute, and he takes him to a little flat next to the girl's. It gets a bit complicated but it ends up with the said police man, DCI David Fyfe, helping the blown up man's widow get the money and leave for a better life. Whilst he turns a blind eye and leaves with a bag of nearly a quarter of a million pounds of the stolen money. I don't like books with corrupt police officers giving people life lessons in how to be a police officer and become corrupt in helping others escape prosecution. Not at all. There seems to be enough corruption in the MET in London at the moment without implying that many other police officers are corrupt everywhere else in the country.
So not happy with this book. In fact I read the first third and thought this isn't looking good, and then skim read some chapters to the end, although I don't know why I did even that as I really didn't like the plotline of this book. Am not in any hurry to read another one by this author, and certainly not including this character.
October 20, 2024
Mistakes from years earlier have forced DCI David Fyfe into a position with the low-profile Fraud Squad. The work is dull, punishment duty. He’s brilliant, but his supervisors are afraid to let him out in public, so shunt him into frauds. It’s boring work, not at all sexy like mainstream CID. A series of drug-related murders has Edinburg (Scotland) on edge and Fyfe is feeling particularly left out. The Chief Constable asks him to look into missing money from the Catholic Church’s accounts. He’d much rather be in on the drugs murders, but he figures a conversation with the Archbishop will be a one and done and maybe he can weasel his way into the hot case. Turns out things are much more complicated than he thought, with tentacles that reach back 10 years and involve him on a personal level.
Fyfe is a complicated character with a fondness for dogs, a wife, a mistress, and … relaxed views … of policing. I like my characters flawed, but he almost falls into the bent category and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I also wonder how he is able to take the dogs on investigations with him and no one says anything. I like that he’s good to his pets, but my agency had rules about transporting other than service dogs in government vehicles and I wonder how he gets away with it and why his bosses aren’t coming down on him.
Those issues aside, I like Fyfe. He gets the job done and he’s good to his employees (and his dogs). The dark and gritty story was well written, the characters dimensional, and the plot held my interest all the way through. I liked watching Fyfe solve the cases and seeing his inner workings. This was a perfect book for the gym, the time on the treadmill flew right by. I will at least read one or two more in the series to see how things turn out. I like my coppers to at least have angst when they behave badly, not glory in it, but there’s something likeable about Fyfe and I want to see what happens next.
Fyfe is a complicated character with a fondness for dogs, a wife, a mistress, and … relaxed views … of policing. I like my characters flawed, but he almost falls into the bent category and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I also wonder how he is able to take the dogs on investigations with him and no one says anything. I like that he’s good to his pets, but my agency had rules about transporting other than service dogs in government vehicles and I wonder how he gets away with it and why his bosses aren’t coming down on him.
Those issues aside, I like Fyfe. He gets the job done and he’s good to his employees (and his dogs). The dark and gritty story was well written, the characters dimensional, and the plot held my interest all the way through. I liked watching Fyfe solve the cases and seeing his inner workings. This was a perfect book for the gym, the time on the treadmill flew right by. I will at least read one or two more in the series to see how things turn out. I like my coppers to at least have angst when they behave badly, not glory in it, but there’s something likeable about Fyfe and I want to see what happens next.
April 16, 2019
D.C.I. David Fyfe is asked as a personal favour by Chief Constable Sir Duncan Morrison to investigate fraud at a Catholic Church. The main suspect seems to be a Father Quinn. He has been informed on by Father Byrne. But criminal Gus Barrie is somehow linked. And what of newly released prisoner John Adamson.
An enjoyable story, a good well-written solid start and introduction to Fyfe
An enjoyable story, a good well-written solid start and introduction to Fyfe
May 18, 2024
First in series introducing us to a DCI with some questionable habits, including mistresses and criminal ex lovers. His investigation of missing monies in the local church leads to links between 2 local priests and a criminal family. It also coincides with a series of brutal murders. Solving these issues leaves DCI Fyfe with some interesting choices.
September 21, 2017
Quirky and a bit unnerving
The protagonist is a sort of anti hero; not quite crooked and not quite straight. A little over-written but unique enough to be worth the time to read it.
The protagonist is a sort of anti hero; not quite crooked and not quite straight. A little over-written but unique enough to be worth the time to read it.
January 30, 2019
Very interesting Characters, good plot, promises to be a great series.
June 3, 2020
Great book
Justice served almost in spite of the police and the courts. A honnourable hero in a dishonourable world. Great book
Justice served almost in spite of the police and the courts. A honnourable hero in a dishonourable world. Great book
December 22, 2020
Just couldn't get in to the plot or the characters.
November 3, 2021
A great combination of humor, murder and mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
October 31, 2023
Mmm. Not really sure with this .A cop who does His own thing .OK.. But He's Womaniser and not that Honest .I will read other Books and Decide if I want to go on to No.2
January 3, 2024
Kindle Faro. Not pleasant but wanted to know what happened and will probably read the next in the series
August 3, 2010
An aging police detective wants out, but is tied to the force by his mortgage. He no longer cares about right or wrong, just getting through. There are two mysteries -- gang killings and money missing from church funds -- that ultimately converge, but the real interest is in the pyschology of a cop gone "bad", who nonetheless retains an idiosyncratic, and within the context, understandable, moral sense.
April 24, 2017
David Fyfe was once an investigator of murderous criminals and violent crime, Fyfe has been taken off the frontlines and reassigned to the low-profile Fraud Squad as mistakes from years earlier conspired to condemn him to dull work that he doesn’t much enjoy. He is a dog lover with a wife and mistress to support and an ambition to retire early. His present lifestyle is complicated enough before past indiscretions come back to haunt him.
His enforced distance from solving murders bothers him particularly at the moment, as a series of seemingly drug dealing related murders in the city is all anyone can talk about. Then he’s asked by Chief Constable Sir Duncan Morrison to look into the several hundred thousand dollars missing from the Catholic Church’s accounts, Fyfe expects the job to be another run of the mill job that’s really only meant to sooth the Archbishop’s worries but things aren’t what they seem. There’s links to
racketeering kingpin Gus Barrie, an armed robbery that occurred nearly a decade previously. Then there are women who return from his past
The story drew me in from the start & the pace kept me reading long after I should have been sleeping. The book is well written & the characters well portrayed & although they may not be the most likeable they are certainly intriguing. David is anything but a run of the mill policeman & has quite a few skeletons in his cupboard. I’ll certainly be looking for more books from the author & hope to read more about David too
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews