Best Intelligence

by James Gault

When disillusioned detective Charlie Best finds himself the beneficiary of a substantial and unexpected inheritance, it’s his chance to escape from the thankless task of policing the violence and misery of Glasgow’s drug barons. He moves to a sunnier country and a brighter future. But a chance encounter in a Spanish bar and a pretty hitchhiker combine to draw him back into the murky world he had been trying to leave behind. It was a world more dark and dangerous than he had ever imagined. Stuck among the French vineyards, Charlie finds himself needing to keep in touch with events back in his native Glasgow. How is he to do that? Who exactly are the people who help him? And who exactly is his mysterious neighbour who always seems to be hanging around? Who will win the turf battle among the drug gangs in Glasgow? And will the Spanish super-detective solve the case his colleagues abandoned? And why has long-lost lover Ahmed come back looking for his sweetheart from his student days? A myriad of questions needing answers in a fast moving thriller where intrigue, love and violence fight for supremacy.

Paperback

Published May 20, 2018

Reviews

[Rob Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why are Scottish/Glaswegian cops the best? Not since Taggart ruled the Mean City have we had the pleasure of the polis dealing with the wee scumbags on their manor (to use a London term). There's none of that fancy Edinburgh/Oxbridge Detecting or Midsummer Murders here. This is a tale of double dealing, drugs, death, and deception with a hefty side order of paranoia to boot. From the depths of the Gorbals to the vineyards of France and the Spanish Costas Charlie Best shares DNA with the much missed Taggart. He gets things done, but is no friend of the brass, so when he inherits a windfall he is gone faster than a bottle of Bucky at a sixteenth birthday party. But will Glasgow let him go? There's an old tune that goes "I belong to Glasgow, Dear old Glasgow Town." and Charlie belongs to Glasgow when the local criminals pop up on the Costas he can't just retire and let it go - he has to go back - he is polis after all. Its a great story which had me guessing from the beginning. (Its taken me a while to read but that's no fault of the book, I have been busy.) Its a recommended read for all you Weegie lovers out there.