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Cal McGill, Sea Detective #4
The Driftwood Girls
Two missing women. Two decades apart. A gripping and atmospheric mystery that journeys from the dramatic lochs of Scotland to the icy depths of the North Sea...
Kate and Flora Tolmie have always lived with a mystery: what happened to their mother, Christina? Twenty-three years ago, she vanished without trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone. Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house, and finds a piece of note paper with just one name: Cal McGill. Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people. Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister, but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before? Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realised that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home...
Kate and Flora Tolmie have always lived with a mystery: what happened to their mother, Christina? Twenty-three years ago, she vanished without trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone. Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house, and finds a piece of note paper with just one name: Cal McGill. Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people. Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister, but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before? Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realised that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home...
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First published January 9, 2020
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About the author
Mark Douglas-Home
4 books166 followersMark Douglas-Home is a newspaper editor turned author. The Sea Detective, his first novel, introduced a new kind of investigator to crime fiction - the oceanographer Cal McGill who tracks floating objects, including dead bodies. It received critical praise, becoming a Sunday Times 'Crime Book of the Month' and was followed by The Woman Who Walked Into The Sea ('simply intoxicating,’ the Library Journal in America) and The Malice of Waves (‘really good stuff, full of atmosphere,’ Morning Star). The fourth in the series, The Driftwood Girls, will be published in January 2020. Before writing books, Mark was editor of The Herald in Glasgow. His career in journalism began as a student in South Africa where he edited the newspaper at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. After the apartheid government banned a number of editions, he was deported from the country. He is married with two children and lives in Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
November 29, 2019
Mark Douglas-Home gives us the 4th in his terrific Sea Detective series, featuring marine scientist and oceanographer, Dr Caladh 'Cal' McGill, a solitary, taciturn man, a misanthrope who prefers his own company, emotionally unavailable to all, including those close to him and friends. He lives in Edinburgh, working as a detective on cases that make use of his special expertise. However, he finds himself the unwarranted target of hate from the public after the broadcast on TV of Missing Not Forgotten, where the distraught daughter of a missing father claims that Cal has essential information as to his whereabouts after he had met her father once. This leads to Cal losing all his clients, but despite this, he refuses to defend himself. Alex Lauder, an oceanographer friend, is dying, having made Cal promise that he would carry out a much wanted wish, a guilt ridden Cal is reminded of it by Alex's mother to ensure he keeps his word.
There are multiple threads in the story, all of which appear disparate and unconnected in this ambitious and complex story. 23 years ago, Christina Tolmie, a single mother with two small daughters, Kate and Flora, disappears without trace. She was a charity worker, making trips to countries like Romania to donate and distribute second hand clothes to orphanages. Her van was found abandoned close to Calais. Flora, Alex's girlfriend, has never given up on trying to find out what happened to her mother. She is estranged from her sister, Kate, who thinks she is wasting her time. However, when Flora goes missing, Kate goes to meet Cal after finding his name on a note in Flora's possession. This draws Cal into locating Flora and the truth of what happened to Christina, and whether there is any connection to the discovery of a dead girl, Ruth, her body turning up around the same time.
Christina's suitcase turns up in Southwold in Suffolk, found long ago by the now dead Stephen Hawes. In the meantime, a beggar, a man in his mid-fifties, Louis Dufour, is stabbed to death by the Haymarket Station, a murder being investigated by DS Helen Jamieson. Norwegian Olaf Haugen is a dedicated beachcomber and maker of driftwood men, all without a mouth. After losing everything, he is living in a hut owned by Lotte, a friend of Sarah's on the island of Texel, just off the Netherlands. Slowly but surely, in the most unexpected of ways, all the different threads begin to come together to reveal a complex narrative of bodysnatching, illegal sea burial, murder, guilt, betrayal and revenge. Integrally connected to the people and events, although he is unaware of it, is Cal.
This is not a crime series for those who like fast paced reads, full of tension and suspense, and with thrills round every corner. It is a more cerebral crime read that demands patience, well researched in the technical details of Cal's oceanographer expertise, a fascinating specialist skill that allows him to work out what could have happened to Christina all those years ago, aided by a wide array of informants and sea enthusiasts. Douglas-Home's plotting is considered and intricate, it must have been a time consuming affair to make all the different threads work so well until they come together so beautifully at the end. This is a wonderful addition to what is an excellent and unusual series. I look forward to the next book, I just hope I will not have to wait long for it. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
There are multiple threads in the story, all of which appear disparate and unconnected in this ambitious and complex story. 23 years ago, Christina Tolmie, a single mother with two small daughters, Kate and Flora, disappears without trace. She was a charity worker, making trips to countries like Romania to donate and distribute second hand clothes to orphanages. Her van was found abandoned close to Calais. Flora, Alex's girlfriend, has never given up on trying to find out what happened to her mother. She is estranged from her sister, Kate, who thinks she is wasting her time. However, when Flora goes missing, Kate goes to meet Cal after finding his name on a note in Flora's possession. This draws Cal into locating Flora and the truth of what happened to Christina, and whether there is any connection to the discovery of a dead girl, Ruth, her body turning up around the same time.
Christina's suitcase turns up in Southwold in Suffolk, found long ago by the now dead Stephen Hawes. In the meantime, a beggar, a man in his mid-fifties, Louis Dufour, is stabbed to death by the Haymarket Station, a murder being investigated by DS Helen Jamieson. Norwegian Olaf Haugen is a dedicated beachcomber and maker of driftwood men, all without a mouth. After losing everything, he is living in a hut owned by Lotte, a friend of Sarah's on the island of Texel, just off the Netherlands. Slowly but surely, in the most unexpected of ways, all the different threads begin to come together to reveal a complex narrative of bodysnatching, illegal sea burial, murder, guilt, betrayal and revenge. Integrally connected to the people and events, although he is unaware of it, is Cal.
This is not a crime series for those who like fast paced reads, full of tension and suspense, and with thrills round every corner. It is a more cerebral crime read that demands patience, well researched in the technical details of Cal's oceanographer expertise, a fascinating specialist skill that allows him to work out what could have happened to Christina all those years ago, aided by a wide array of informants and sea enthusiasts. Douglas-Home's plotting is considered and intricate, it must have been a time consuming affair to make all the different threads work so well until they come together so beautifully at the end. This is a wonderful addition to what is an excellent and unusual series. I look forward to the next book, I just hope I will not have to wait long for it. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
January 9, 2020
I’ve read all the previous Sea Detective books and really enjoyed them partly because the concept is so original and also because they are so well written. The Driftwood Girls is the fourth in the series and whilst I think it is good and I did enjoy it, it’s isn't as gripping in my opinion as the previous books. The sea detective is Dr Cal(adh) McGill, an oceanographer, who uses his vast knowledge and understanding of seas, waves and weather conditions to solve ocean based mysteries. At the beginning of this one, Cal’s reputation is under attack in the media, his friend Alex Lauder is dying and he is losing clients he can ill afford to. He becomes involved in investigating the disappearance 23 years ago of Christina Tolmie, a charity worker and mother of Flora and Kate. McGill knows of Flora and met her once as she is Alex’s girlfriend. What ensues is a complex mystery which involves a murder in Edinburgh, a cover up, lies and deception in the search for revenge which ultimately leads to Cal fighting for survival and his life.
There are a lot of things I like about this book. First and foremost, the character of Cal. He is quiet, silent even, very thoughtful and clever and in many ways an enigma in that he is emotionally very closed off. He rarely reveals much about himself and finds it hard to have real friendships. This is much to the frustration of repeat character DS Helen Jamieson who would like a deeper relationship with Cal. Secondly, the settings are great. It’s partly set in Scotland and my pulse rate rose as Cal goes to Sandwood Bay on the far NW coast where I left a piece of my heart! The other setting is Texel, an island of the coast of the Netherlands, which provides a good atmospheric backdrop to the unfolding events. The plot is intriguing although at times a bit convoluted and I could not see how the apparently disparate lines of enquiry could link and connect. The part of the story that really grips the imagination as it is so powerful and haunting is the driftwood girls created by Olaf Haugen in Texel. Those images blew me away and I will remember that for a long time. The story has sadness, regret, anger, guilt and revenge; it’s occasionally weird and a bit creepy and towards the end there is tension when Cal confronts Olaf and gets some truths.
Overall, a good read although on occasion I got a bit lost in the plot and I don’t think there’s always flow in the storyline and there are sections which I didn’t feel added anything helpful. However, that being said I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK -Michael Joseph.
There are a lot of things I like about this book. First and foremost, the character of Cal. He is quiet, silent even, very thoughtful and clever and in many ways an enigma in that he is emotionally very closed off. He rarely reveals much about himself and finds it hard to have real friendships. This is much to the frustration of repeat character DS Helen Jamieson who would like a deeper relationship with Cal. Secondly, the settings are great. It’s partly set in Scotland and my pulse rate rose as Cal goes to Sandwood Bay on the far NW coast where I left a piece of my heart! The other setting is Texel, an island of the coast of the Netherlands, which provides a good atmospheric backdrop to the unfolding events. The plot is intriguing although at times a bit convoluted and I could not see how the apparently disparate lines of enquiry could link and connect. The part of the story that really grips the imagination as it is so powerful and haunting is the driftwood girls created by Olaf Haugen in Texel. Those images blew me away and I will remember that for a long time. The story has sadness, regret, anger, guilt and revenge; it’s occasionally weird and a bit creepy and towards the end there is tension when Cal confronts Olaf and gets some truths.
Overall, a good read although on occasion I got a bit lost in the plot and I don’t think there’s always flow in the storyline and there are sections which I didn’t feel added anything helpful. However, that being said I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK -Michael Joseph.
January 17, 2020
The Driftwood Girls is the fourth instalment in The Sea Detective series set in Edinburgh, Scotland and featuring oceanographer and marine scientist Cal McGill. It's been twenty-three years since Edinburgh-native and single mother of six-year-old Kate and four-year-old Flora, Christina Tolmie vanished off the face of the earth whilst visiting the Northern coastal region of France. Now Cal is contacted by an older Kate as Flora has completely disappeared and although she was very young when her mother vanished it feels a lot like deja vu. This is such a subtle and sophisticated read so if you are looking for fast-paced action and shocking outcomes this is probably not for you; Douglas-Home placed emphasis on well researched, believable storylines, a plethora of plot threads that come together seamlessly and plenty of background and scene-setting. It is very much a slow burn novel with a cast of characters that are developed well and plenty of fascinating reveals.
The mystery is exceptionally crafted and there are some very clever developments and surprises throughout. The atmosphere created is extremely tense and the unfurling of the plot is engrossing and absorbing. The changing perspectives really added to the story giving a fully rounded view of everyone's thoughts and feelings. It takes a little while to become completely invested in it but once you are there's no stopping you turning the pages. It's a highly original and entertaining read with plenty of excitement and interesting progressions. The author has penned yet another detailed, intricate story where the multiple threads come together seamlessly at the end. Nothing is what it initially appears to be here and that fosters a gripping atmosphere. Cal is an unusual protagonist in that he's a loner and recluse but he always investigates to the best of his ability despite this. I am already eager to read the next instalment. Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an ARC.
The mystery is exceptionally crafted and there are some very clever developments and surprises throughout. The atmosphere created is extremely tense and the unfurling of the plot is engrossing and absorbing. The changing perspectives really added to the story giving a fully rounded view of everyone's thoughts and feelings. It takes a little while to become completely invested in it but once you are there's no stopping you turning the pages. It's a highly original and entertaining read with plenty of excitement and interesting progressions. The author has penned yet another detailed, intricate story where the multiple threads come together seamlessly at the end. Nothing is what it initially appears to be here and that fosters a gripping atmosphere. Cal is an unusual protagonist in that he's a loner and recluse but he always investigates to the best of his ability despite this. I am already eager to read the next instalment. Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an ARC.
September 12, 2024
Cal turned on his laptop. Soon the screen was displaying an ocean model of the English Channel and North Sea. It was colour-coded…most of the North Sea was a dark blue, which equated to a flow of 0.5 metres a second or slower…the Strait of Dover was a flare of bright yellow as the North Atlantic Current forced oceanic water through the constriction between France and Britain. With each flood tide, far greater volumes of water entered the North Sea than returned in the ebb.
After reading and enjoying the 1st three books in the Sea Detective series, featuring Edinburgh-based Marine Scientist turned detective Cal McGill, often called upon to trace bodies or items of interest washed ashore to the point where they entered the sea – I was a tad disappointed in this one, which opens with Cal’s business failing in the fallout of his trying to prevent a man jumping from a bridge. Can he redeem himself?
This was a slower burner, with 4 seemingly different threads: a falling out between sisters whose mother disappeared 23 years earlier; a friend of Cal’s dying of cancer; an unfaithful husband; and 2 women living on the Dutch island of Texel, intrigued by their reclusive neighbour, the beachcomber Olaf – an acquaintance of Cal’s. A murder in the backstreets of Edinburgh and the discovery of a lost suitcase belonging to one of the sisters reopens the case of their missing mother – setting in motion a domino effect linking the characters and secrets from their past.
For this reader the story only got going halfway through: I was rapt in the oceanographic aspects, and the descriptions of the dune systems on Texel, a wildlife habitat – far more than the human tragedies underpinning it all. In fairness, a different kind of mystery, well-written.
After reading and enjoying the 1st three books in the Sea Detective series, featuring Edinburgh-based Marine Scientist turned detective Cal McGill, often called upon to trace bodies or items of interest washed ashore to the point where they entered the sea – I was a tad disappointed in this one, which opens with Cal’s business failing in the fallout of his trying to prevent a man jumping from a bridge. Can he redeem himself?
This was a slower burner, with 4 seemingly different threads: a falling out between sisters whose mother disappeared 23 years earlier; a friend of Cal’s dying of cancer; an unfaithful husband; and 2 women living on the Dutch island of Texel, intrigued by their reclusive neighbour, the beachcomber Olaf – an acquaintance of Cal’s. A murder in the backstreets of Edinburgh and the discovery of a lost suitcase belonging to one of the sisters reopens the case of their missing mother – setting in motion a domino effect linking the characters and secrets from their past.
For this reader the story only got going halfway through: I was rapt in the oceanographic aspects, and the descriptions of the dune systems on Texel, a wildlife habitat – far more than the human tragedies underpinning it all. In fairness, a different kind of mystery, well-written.
March 26, 2023
Another outing for Cal - our sea detective. I am thoroughly enjoying this series and especially the audio version. Scottish crime, plenty of atmosphere, twists and turns and multi-layered. Definitely worth a look.
January 15, 2020
I have been looking forward since 2016 for this book to be written and published. I really enjoyed the first three books in the series. I did have it pre-ordered when I knew it was being released on international kindle. Mark Douglas-Home became a favorite author.
I know some reviewers felt that it could be read as a stand alone which is probably true but feel the series is so rich and so good that I would suggest one should start with the first book. You will want to read the rest once you do that.
Saying all that, this was my least favorite book of the series so far. All the characters introduced came together at the end tied to the solution of the disappearance of Christina Tolme 23 years ago. It was a little too tidy and unbelievable to me. I always liked the main character Cal McGill but he seemed even more remote and shut off in this book.
The premise of the series is great. Dr. Cal McGill studies the current, tides, and weather on the ocean and can figure out where a body or item floated in from or where it might go. He leads a solitary life. In this book, we do meet two of his friends that he met through his work. -Alex and Olaf , a loner who searches the beach for flotsam. It has a great location of Scotland and can be quite atmospheric. If you like atmospheric character driven books that are different from most books, you should enjoy this series.
I know some reviewers felt that it could be read as a stand alone which is probably true but feel the series is so rich and so good that I would suggest one should start with the first book. You will want to read the rest once you do that.
Saying all that, this was my least favorite book of the series so far. All the characters introduced came together at the end tied to the solution of the disappearance of Christina Tolme 23 years ago. It was a little too tidy and unbelievable to me. I always liked the main character Cal McGill but he seemed even more remote and shut off in this book.
The premise of the series is great. Dr. Cal McGill studies the current, tides, and weather on the ocean and can figure out where a body or item floated in from or where it might go. He leads a solitary life. In this book, we do meet two of his friends that he met through his work. -Alex and Olaf , a loner who searches the beach for flotsam. It has a great location of Scotland and can be quite atmospheric. If you like atmospheric character driven books that are different from most books, you should enjoy this series.
August 29, 2020
Having enjoyed the first 2 novels in the series, and reading the 3rd which was just ok, I was determined to read this 4th tome to see if it got better. It didn't. Too many coincidences or improbabilities.
December 27, 2019
I've read many different detectives but an oceanic detective is definitely a new one. Cal McGill helps find things, including people, lost in the ocean. After burying his old friend at sea he is asked to look for Kate's mother, missing over 20 years. The way that Cal looks up tides and wind speed etc to work out where the woman went missing from is fascinating even if I didn't understand it all (me & science= not friends). On doing so he links her to another dead girl from the same time period but other side of the country.
I really did like how it all came together. At the start you wonder how people in different areas in different countries will link up and it does really well. I liked Cal and (police) detective Helen. I'm interested to see where their friendship goes.
It's not a fast paced book, Cal is quite methodical and the pace matches his personality. I don't normally like a slower paced book but this did hook me from the beginning and I was keen to see how it would unfold. It's my first of this series but I think it works well as a stand alone, I didn't feel I'd missed anything by not having read the others but I enjoyed it enough to want to go back and try them.
I really did like how it all came together. At the start you wonder how people in different areas in different countries will link up and it does really well. I liked Cal and (police) detective Helen. I'm interested to see where their friendship goes.
It's not a fast paced book, Cal is quite methodical and the pace matches his personality. I don't normally like a slower paced book but this did hook me from the beginning and I was keen to see how it would unfold. It's my first of this series but I think it works well as a stand alone, I didn't feel I'd missed anything by not having read the others but I enjoyed it enough to want to go back and try them.
July 19, 2020
Fantastic!
February 29, 2020
3.5/5
RTC
RTC
August 12, 2025
I received a review copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I want to start this review with a bit of backstory about my relationship with crime fiction. For years, I have said that thrillers and crime fiction just aren't my thing. Ironically, though, some of my favourite TV shows are crime shows, or shows with heavy elements of the kind (think Sherlock, Lucifer etc.). So, I was wondering: why do I love detective shows, but dislike thriller/crime fiction? After thinking about it, I identified a couple of criteria to help me pick a book of this genre I might like:
1. Crime fiction was going to be more up my street than thriller.
2. I like crime TV shows where we follow the one investigating the case, so I wanted the story to follow the police/prosecutor etc. and not the victim, victim's family etc.
3. I wanted the detective etc. to be an INTERESTING CHARACTER. Part of what makes shows like Sherlock and Lucifer great is the character of the protagonist themselves.
And so, I decided to give a procedural crime novel with a charismatic or interesting protagonist a go! And boy, I think my analysis of my reading tastes was spot on, because based on these criteria I picked this book out of the NetGalley catalog... and I loved it!
Firstly, I will just mention that this is actually the fourth book in a series following the sea detective Cal, and I think that if I had read the other books, I might have enjoyed this one even more. That being said, it definitely works as a standalone as well, and the case itself is begun and ended within the one book. And now onto the four things that made me love this book!
#1: The Concept
The concept of this book is particularly interesting. Not the case so much (missing people isn't super cliched, but it's hardly unique either), but the method by which the case was investigated. Cal is a sea detective, meaning that he tracks and predicts the movement of flotsam (including belongings and dead bodies) according to tides, weather etc. in order to solve cases. Think private detector for sea-related crimes. I had never heard of anything like this before, so bonus points.
#2: The Characters
Did I like all of the characters? No. Were all of the characters well crafted, complex, and generally interesting? Mostly, yes. There were a few curveballs about the character of some certain characters towards the end that felt a bit out of place and I felt like the development could have been smoother, but for the most part the cast of characters are all distinct from each other, flawed but not detestable, and generally very interesting without being a "special snowflake". I particularly love the dynamic between Cal and Helen: their friendship was realistic, complex, but also very sweet. Olaf was also a particularly interesting character. The sisterly dynamic between Flora and Kate was also very well executed.
#3: The use of multiple perspectives
Sometimes the use of multiple perspectives just doesn't work. Take Game of Thrones, for example: when I read that book, I used to flag the perspectives I was interested in as motivation because only one or two perspectives really interested me. That was absolutely not the case in this book. Although I prefer certain characters over others, there wasn't a time when I was like "oh I when is the next X chapter going to be?". All of the perspectives were equally useful, well-developed, and pertinent to the story. I do think it would have been nice to see a perspective from Olaf, but then again this could have ruined some of the mystery... and really it would only be to indulge my love for his character.
#4: The Pacing
I don't really have much to say about this one, but the pacing of this book was perfect and I literally never wanted to put it down.
So that was a slightly anti-climatic ending, but I think you get the idea: if you love procedural crime fiction, or if you're considering trying out the genre for the first time... READ THIS BOOK. Seriously, just do it! And it's out now (because I tried to write this review at least 5 times before this and kept failing) so you won't even have to wait!
P.S. I loved this book so much that when I finished it and it was released I immediately picked up a copy!
P.P.S. Maybe I should go back and read the rest of the books in this series now...
I want to start this review with a bit of backstory about my relationship with crime fiction. For years, I have said that thrillers and crime fiction just aren't my thing. Ironically, though, some of my favourite TV shows are crime shows, or shows with heavy elements of the kind (think Sherlock, Lucifer etc.). So, I was wondering: why do I love detective shows, but dislike thriller/crime fiction? After thinking about it, I identified a couple of criteria to help me pick a book of this genre I might like:
1. Crime fiction was going to be more up my street than thriller.
2. I like crime TV shows where we follow the one investigating the case, so I wanted the story to follow the police/prosecutor etc. and not the victim, victim's family etc.
3. I wanted the detective etc. to be an INTERESTING CHARACTER. Part of what makes shows like Sherlock and Lucifer great is the character of the protagonist themselves.
And so, I decided to give a procedural crime novel with a charismatic or interesting protagonist a go! And boy, I think my analysis of my reading tastes was spot on, because based on these criteria I picked this book out of the NetGalley catalog... and I loved it!
Firstly, I will just mention that this is actually the fourth book in a series following the sea detective Cal, and I think that if I had read the other books, I might have enjoyed this one even more. That being said, it definitely works as a standalone as well, and the case itself is begun and ended within the one book. And now onto the four things that made me love this book!
#1: The Concept
The concept of this book is particularly interesting. Not the case so much (missing people isn't super cliched, but it's hardly unique either), but the method by which the case was investigated. Cal is a sea detective, meaning that he tracks and predicts the movement of flotsam (including belongings and dead bodies) according to tides, weather etc. in order to solve cases. Think private detector for sea-related crimes. I had never heard of anything like this before, so bonus points.
#2: The Characters
Did I like all of the characters? No. Were all of the characters well crafted, complex, and generally interesting? Mostly, yes. There were a few curveballs about the character of some certain characters towards the end that felt a bit out of place and I felt like the development could have been smoother, but for the most part the cast of characters are all distinct from each other, flawed but not detestable, and generally very interesting without being a "special snowflake". I particularly love the dynamic between Cal and Helen: their friendship was realistic, complex, but also very sweet. Olaf was also a particularly interesting character. The sisterly dynamic between Flora and Kate was also very well executed.
#3: The use of multiple perspectives
Sometimes the use of multiple perspectives just doesn't work. Take Game of Thrones, for example: when I read that book, I used to flag the perspectives I was interested in as motivation because only one or two perspectives really interested me. That was absolutely not the case in this book. Although I prefer certain characters over others, there wasn't a time when I was like "oh I when is the next X chapter going to be?". All of the perspectives were equally useful, well-developed, and pertinent to the story. I do think it would have been nice to see a perspective from Olaf, but then again this could have ruined some of the mystery... and really it would only be to indulge my love for his character.
#4: The Pacing
I don't really have much to say about this one, but the pacing of this book was perfect and I literally never wanted to put it down.
So that was a slightly anti-climatic ending, but I think you get the idea: if you love procedural crime fiction, or if you're considering trying out the genre for the first time... READ THIS BOOK. Seriously, just do it! And it's out now (because I tried to write this review at least 5 times before this and kept failing) so you won't even have to wait!
P.S. I loved this book so much that when I finished it and it was released I immediately picked up a copy!
P.P.S. Maybe I should go back and read the rest of the books in this series now...
November 5, 2022
October 2022
263rd Cove Pick: THE DRIFTWOOD GIRLS by Mark Douglas-Home
Chosen By: Mary
Trivia Winner - Monica
*We will also discuss this book in an upcoming episode of our podcast — Stay tuned!
~COVE OPINION: C+, Above average story
263rd Cove Pick: THE DRIFTWOOD GIRLS by Mark Douglas-Home
Chosen By: Mary
Trivia Winner - Monica
*We will also discuss this book in an upcoming episode of our podcast — Stay tuned!
~COVE OPINION: C+, Above average story
January 3, 2020
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy of The Driftwood Girls, the fourth novel to feature the Sea Detective, Edinburgh based oceanographer Cal McGill.
Twenty-three years ago Christina Tolmie disappeared in France, leaving behind in Edinburgh her two daughters, six year old Kate and four year old Flora. Now Flora has gone missing and Cal seems to be the only answer.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Driftwood Girls after an admittedly slow and distracting start as it has a good mystery and an ingenious solution. I initially found that the novel didn’t capture my attention as it involves a fair amount of scene setting and constantly switches point of view so I felt that it took ages to get to the meat, i.e. what happened to Flora and would Cal be able to find out what happened to Christina? Once it got going it was reveal after reveal so the switching points of view seemed to enhance the reader’s knowledge rather than distract. The plot is clever, linking some disparate events together in a way that doesn’t seem outlandish or too far fetched but the reader has to wait until the end for a complete narrative. There are no big actions scenes just a gradual unravelling of events which I found quietly compulsive as the novel progressed.
I always like a Scottish novel as it offers the comfort of familiarity in location and the characters’ attitudes, dialogue and mindset but I can’t say that this novel offered much of that, in the first instance because little of the novel takes place in Scotland and secondly because Cal McGill isn’t recognisably Scottish and could come from anywhere. He’s a loner with a sense of honour and, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit of a weirdo. In an early part of the novel this sense of honour brings trolling and a loss of business when opening his mouth would have saved him that hardship. I guess that pragmatic compromise isn’t in his toolbox. Having now read three of the four novels in the series I am no closer to understanding what drives him or how his mind works.
The Driftwood Girls is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
Twenty-three years ago Christina Tolmie disappeared in France, leaving behind in Edinburgh her two daughters, six year old Kate and four year old Flora. Now Flora has gone missing and Cal seems to be the only answer.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Driftwood Girls after an admittedly slow and distracting start as it has a good mystery and an ingenious solution. I initially found that the novel didn’t capture my attention as it involves a fair amount of scene setting and constantly switches point of view so I felt that it took ages to get to the meat, i.e. what happened to Flora and would Cal be able to find out what happened to Christina? Once it got going it was reveal after reveal so the switching points of view seemed to enhance the reader’s knowledge rather than distract. The plot is clever, linking some disparate events together in a way that doesn’t seem outlandish or too far fetched but the reader has to wait until the end for a complete narrative. There are no big actions scenes just a gradual unravelling of events which I found quietly compulsive as the novel progressed.
I always like a Scottish novel as it offers the comfort of familiarity in location and the characters’ attitudes, dialogue and mindset but I can’t say that this novel offered much of that, in the first instance because little of the novel takes place in Scotland and secondly because Cal McGill isn’t recognisably Scottish and could come from anywhere. He’s a loner with a sense of honour and, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit of a weirdo. In an early part of the novel this sense of honour brings trolling and a loss of business when opening his mouth would have saved him that hardship. I guess that pragmatic compromise isn’t in his toolbox. Having now read three of the four novels in the series I am no closer to understanding what drives him or how his mind works.
The Driftwood Girls is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
January 28, 2020
The Driftwood Girls is the fourth novel in the ‘sea detective’ series featuring Cal McGill, an oceanographer and a very unusual investigator. I read and enjoyed the first three books several years ago, and was delighted when NetGalley accepted my request to read this one. While it works fine as a standalone, as there is enough backstory, introduced in a natural way, to make sense of what is going on, I would suggest you start with The Sea Detective, and read them in order, for a much more rewarding experience.
Told from multiple viewpoints, the novel begins slowly as Mark Douglas-Home introduces us to all the characters involved in this intricately plotted and fascinating tale. It is hard to fathom just how all the disparate strands of the plot could possibly be connected, when Cal starts to investigate the disappearance, twenty-three years previously, of Flora and Kate’s mother. No spoilers here so you’ll just have to read it for yourself.
The characters are well drawn and believable, especially the female ones; the sense of place of the various geographical locations (Edinburgh, NW Scotland, Texel island, the Suffolk coast) adds another layer to the narrative; the science is convincing and well-researched.
If you are looking to read something a bit out of the ordinary, then I thoroughly recommend The Driftwood Girls. The complicated but entirely plausible story will keep you reading long into the night. Cal McGill is unorthodox, a bit of a loner, but makes a compelling investigator who leaves no stone unturned until he gets to the truth. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in return for an honest review #thedriftwoodgirls #markdouglashome #netgalley
Told from multiple viewpoints, the novel begins slowly as Mark Douglas-Home introduces us to all the characters involved in this intricately plotted and fascinating tale. It is hard to fathom just how all the disparate strands of the plot could possibly be connected, when Cal starts to investigate the disappearance, twenty-three years previously, of Flora and Kate’s mother. No spoilers here so you’ll just have to read it for yourself.
The characters are well drawn and believable, especially the female ones; the sense of place of the various geographical locations (Edinburgh, NW Scotland, Texel island, the Suffolk coast) adds another layer to the narrative; the science is convincing and well-researched.
If you are looking to read something a bit out of the ordinary, then I thoroughly recommend The Driftwood Girls. The complicated but entirely plausible story will keep you reading long into the night. Cal McGill is unorthodox, a bit of a loner, but makes a compelling investigator who leaves no stone unturned until he gets to the truth. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in return for an honest review #thedriftwoodgirls #markdouglashome #netgalley
February 10, 2020
Number four in this original series and what a long wait it has been! Number three, The Malice of Waves was published in September 2016. The first, The Sea Detective in November 2015 and the second, The Woman Who Walked into the Sea in January 2016. And so I waited, regularly checking publication lists and had come to the conclusion that Mark Douglas-Home had run out of ideas...
How wrong can you be! The long wait has been entirely worth it! The Driftwood Girls is a masterclass in mystery writing - for me, the best so far. The protagonist Cal McGill is a unique creation, an oceanographer, a 'sea detective' who uses his expertise to locate things - and sometimes people - lost or missing at sea.
Twenty-three years ago Christina Tolmie vanished without a trace, leaving her young daughters, Kate and Flora, orphaned and alone. Now Flora has gone missing and when Kate searches her house and her sister's belongings, she finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill...
Cal's knowledge of weather, wind, tides, ebb, flow, is unsurpassed. Can he help to find Flora and even unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their beloved mother? So many locations are wound into the plot from Edinburgh, Margate, Southwold, Texel and Gravelines in France. Is there a link that would help explain what happened all those years ago?
The Driftwood Girls is very, cleverly plotted, with great character development and the settings are so vivid. I really did not want it to end and - Mark Douglas-Home - I hope I don't have to wait another three years for number five!
Highly recommended - if you haven't come across this series you have missed a treat!
How wrong can you be! The long wait has been entirely worth it! The Driftwood Girls is a masterclass in mystery writing - for me, the best so far. The protagonist Cal McGill is a unique creation, an oceanographer, a 'sea detective' who uses his expertise to locate things - and sometimes people - lost or missing at sea.
Twenty-three years ago Christina Tolmie vanished without a trace, leaving her young daughters, Kate and Flora, orphaned and alone. Now Flora has gone missing and when Kate searches her house and her sister's belongings, she finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill...
Cal's knowledge of weather, wind, tides, ebb, flow, is unsurpassed. Can he help to find Flora and even unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their beloved mother? So many locations are wound into the plot from Edinburgh, Margate, Southwold, Texel and Gravelines in France. Is there a link that would help explain what happened all those years ago?
The Driftwood Girls is very, cleverly plotted, with great character development and the settings are so vivid. I really did not want it to end and - Mark Douglas-Home - I hope I don't have to wait another three years for number five!
Highly recommended - if you haven't come across this series you have missed a treat!
August 21, 2021
Picked this up because I got so into the Shetland series of books I thought this might satisfy my need for more murder mystery on the wild coasts of Britain. Not quite as engaging I have to honestly say, hence the 3, but I’d give the earlier books in the series a go - I acknowledge I picked number 4 up but I didn’t feel I missed too much character development, I think what you see is what you get.
March 31, 2021
Tense and twisted
June 1, 2023
Enjoyed listening to this over a week of long coastal walks in the hebrides. Good sense of mystery but a bit over zealous on the meticulous detail, and rather too conveniently packaged up at the end.
February 2, 2020
High praise for Mark Douglas-Home and this amazing mystery story focusing on two different women who went missing twenty-three years ago and the people left behind.
Set between the Dutch coastal town of Texel and Edinburgh in Scotland we are first introduced to self proclaimed sea detective and oceanographer Dr. Caladh McGill as he tries to work out just what happened to two different women who disappeared.
One, leaving behind a broken, alcoholic father and the other, two young daughters left to wonder just why they had supposedly been abandoned by a mother so desperate to help orphaned children.
Douglas-Home has managed to weave a fantastic tale of love, loss and desperation.
His ability to portray human emotion as well as plain indifference to people's suffering was well balanced, thought out and relatable to me as a reader.
In the beginning, I was unsure of where all the different threads would lead and there were moments that I thought a little predictable but I also loved the plot twists and hidden gems the author had managed to conceal right up until the grand finale where the truth was revealed.
I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good whodunnit and mystery story.
Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC prior to publication in exchange for my review.
Set between the Dutch coastal town of Texel and Edinburgh in Scotland we are first introduced to self proclaimed sea detective and oceanographer Dr. Caladh McGill as he tries to work out just what happened to two different women who disappeared.
One, leaving behind a broken, alcoholic father and the other, two young daughters left to wonder just why they had supposedly been abandoned by a mother so desperate to help orphaned children.
Douglas-Home has managed to weave a fantastic tale of love, loss and desperation.
His ability to portray human emotion as well as plain indifference to people's suffering was well balanced, thought out and relatable to me as a reader.
In the beginning, I was unsure of where all the different threads would lead and there were moments that I thought a little predictable but I also loved the plot twists and hidden gems the author had managed to conceal right up until the grand finale where the truth was revealed.
I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good whodunnit and mystery story.
Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC prior to publication in exchange for my review.
November 30, 2022
Interesting plot, with a lot of characters.
December 4, 2019
Thanks to Penguin Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A hauntingly atmospheric thriller from Mark Douglas-Home.
Like many reviewers, I did not realise that this was part of series, but this can be read as a standalone. After reading "The Driftwood Girls" I will certainly be reading the predecessors in this series. It is difficult to encapsulate in words what makes this a darn good novel but if I had a gun to my head (metaphorically speaking), I would say that this is a fiendishly clever, yet understated book. Mark-Douglas Home does not set out to shock, or demand our attention with the many tropes that are part of the armoury of the mystery writer, instead we are drawn into the story gradually, even gently, by Douglas-Home. This is not a shock-and-awe type of novel, for those that like their thrillers to be immediately attention grabbing, but "The Driftwood Girls" is undoubtedly an expertly constructed mystery that you will become completely invested in the more you read. With the main protagonist a marine scientist and oceanographer, Dr Caladh 'Cal' McGill, the author has undoubtedly broken the mould of the tried and tested (and sometimes stale) police procedural or first-person narrator that is a feature of the genre. There is undoubtedly something metaphorical about a marine scientist plumbing the depths of mysterious oceans which undoubtedly parallels the hidden secrets of the human soul. But what is secret cannot stay hidden for long, and so it is with this "The Driftwood Girls". There are multiple threads to the story that spans 23 years. It begins with the disappearance of single mother and charity worker, Christina Tolmie and years later, the disappearance of one of Christina's daughters, Flora. Thrown into the mix is the discovery of a dead girl's body at the same time as Flora disappears. We are left wondering what connects disparate events over two decades, but there is no immediate answer for the reader, as Mark Douglas-Home only reveals the complete picture of the jigsaw, piece-by-piece until the satisfying and fiendishly clever denouement of the novel.
Absorbing and intelligently written - sublime storytelling from Mark Douglas-Home.
#TheDriftwoodGirls #NetGalley
Summary:
Two missing women. Two decades apart. A gripping and atmospheric mystery that journeys from the dramatic lochs of Scotland to the icy depths of the North Sea...
Kate and Flora Tolmie have always lived with a mystery: what happened to their mother, Christina? Twenty-three years ago, she vanished without trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone.
Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house, and finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill.
Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people.
Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister, but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before?
Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realized that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home . . .
A hauntingly atmospheric thriller from Mark Douglas-Home.
Like many reviewers, I did not realise that this was part of series, but this can be read as a standalone. After reading "The Driftwood Girls" I will certainly be reading the predecessors in this series. It is difficult to encapsulate in words what makes this a darn good novel but if I had a gun to my head (metaphorically speaking), I would say that this is a fiendishly clever, yet understated book. Mark-Douglas Home does not set out to shock, or demand our attention with the many tropes that are part of the armoury of the mystery writer, instead we are drawn into the story gradually, even gently, by Douglas-Home. This is not a shock-and-awe type of novel, for those that like their thrillers to be immediately attention grabbing, but "The Driftwood Girls" is undoubtedly an expertly constructed mystery that you will become completely invested in the more you read. With the main protagonist a marine scientist and oceanographer, Dr Caladh 'Cal' McGill, the author has undoubtedly broken the mould of the tried and tested (and sometimes stale) police procedural or first-person narrator that is a feature of the genre. There is undoubtedly something metaphorical about a marine scientist plumbing the depths of mysterious oceans which undoubtedly parallels the hidden secrets of the human soul. But what is secret cannot stay hidden for long, and so it is with this "The Driftwood Girls". There are multiple threads to the story that spans 23 years. It begins with the disappearance of single mother and charity worker, Christina Tolmie and years later, the disappearance of one of Christina's daughters, Flora. Thrown into the mix is the discovery of a dead girl's body at the same time as Flora disappears. We are left wondering what connects disparate events over two decades, but there is no immediate answer for the reader, as Mark Douglas-Home only reveals the complete picture of the jigsaw, piece-by-piece until the satisfying and fiendishly clever denouement of the novel.
Absorbing and intelligently written - sublime storytelling from Mark Douglas-Home.
#TheDriftwoodGirls #NetGalley
Summary:
Two missing women. Two decades apart. A gripping and atmospheric mystery that journeys from the dramatic lochs of Scotland to the icy depths of the North Sea...
Kate and Flora Tolmie have always lived with a mystery: what happened to their mother, Christina? Twenty-three years ago, she vanished without trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone.
Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house, and finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill.
Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people.
Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister, but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before?
Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realized that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home . . .
December 9, 2019
This is the fourth in the series and in my opinion works well as a stand alone but, as always, it is better to start from book one and read in order, more so to get the best from the main character, Cal McGill and his backstory and development.
Cal is a sea-detective, using his skills and expertise to find both people and things that have been lost to the waters. As this chapter of his life begins, we find him in trouble over the part he played in the disappearance of a man. Slated online by vitriol spouted by the man's daughter, his business is in tatters and this frustration and angst is only compounded when he hears of the death of his once very close friend that he has recently lost touch with. The fallout from which leads him to a rather interesting night out... But he is brought back to the detecting when a young women, Kate, contacts him regarding the disappearance of her sister Flora. And so begins a rather convoluted tale spanning the decades as he sets off to find Flora and gets embroiled in the disappearance. 23 years ago of Kate and Flora's mother who vanished without trace off the coast of Northern France.
This is a rather convoluted tale that has many strands throughout. The death of a beggar brings DS Helen Jamieson into the mix as she is tasked to investigate. We also meet Lottie, Sarah and Olaf in Texel. Quite how they fit into the mix is both interesting and intriguing. With so many dark secrets from the past threatening to overshadow the present, the tension ramps up until it all starts to come together and the big picture eventually becomes clear.
I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series. Yes I have to admit that most of the geographical and sea-detectivy parts leave me a tad baffled at times but, as they are pretty integral to the plot I am happy to just accept all that I am reading, rather than trying to understand every little things and, to be honest, Mr Douglas-Home does a great job explaining all this side of things to the layman. Indeed, the whole idea of a sea-detective is something outside the norm for the majority of books in this genre and I do like a bit of variety in a world that can get a bit samey at times.
What is evident from every book in the series is the author's ability to weave intricate and interesting plots, combining these with the most colourful and well described characters along the way. The places he describes along the way also add colour into the mix of what is happening in the main plot, so integral they are at times that they could almost become characters in their own right. Never does the description overshadow the plot though, it just adds another layer into the mix.
Cal is swiftly beginning to be one of my favourite main characters. It's hard not to like him although he is enigmatic and hard to really get to know as he is quite closed. In this book especially, this trait proves difficult for him and he is forced to try and open up a little. But he is loyal, illustrated by what he does for his friend initially and for other characters later on.
All in all, a cracking addition to an already great series. Can't wait to see what's next for our sea-detective next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
Cal is a sea-detective, using his skills and expertise to find both people and things that have been lost to the waters. As this chapter of his life begins, we find him in trouble over the part he played in the disappearance of a man. Slated online by vitriol spouted by the man's daughter, his business is in tatters and this frustration and angst is only compounded when he hears of the death of his once very close friend that he has recently lost touch with. The fallout from which leads him to a rather interesting night out... But he is brought back to the detecting when a young women, Kate, contacts him regarding the disappearance of her sister Flora. And so begins a rather convoluted tale spanning the decades as he sets off to find Flora and gets embroiled in the disappearance. 23 years ago of Kate and Flora's mother who vanished without trace off the coast of Northern France.
This is a rather convoluted tale that has many strands throughout. The death of a beggar brings DS Helen Jamieson into the mix as she is tasked to investigate. We also meet Lottie, Sarah and Olaf in Texel. Quite how they fit into the mix is both interesting and intriguing. With so many dark secrets from the past threatening to overshadow the present, the tension ramps up until it all starts to come together and the big picture eventually becomes clear.
I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series. Yes I have to admit that most of the geographical and sea-detectivy parts leave me a tad baffled at times but, as they are pretty integral to the plot I am happy to just accept all that I am reading, rather than trying to understand every little things and, to be honest, Mr Douglas-Home does a great job explaining all this side of things to the layman. Indeed, the whole idea of a sea-detective is something outside the norm for the majority of books in this genre and I do like a bit of variety in a world that can get a bit samey at times.
What is evident from every book in the series is the author's ability to weave intricate and interesting plots, combining these with the most colourful and well described characters along the way. The places he describes along the way also add colour into the mix of what is happening in the main plot, so integral they are at times that they could almost become characters in their own right. Never does the description overshadow the plot though, it just adds another layer into the mix.
Cal is swiftly beginning to be one of my favourite main characters. It's hard not to like him although he is enigmatic and hard to really get to know as he is quite closed. In this book especially, this trait proves difficult for him and he is forced to try and open up a little. But he is loyal, illustrated by what he does for his friend initially and for other characters later on.
All in all, a cracking addition to an already great series. Can't wait to see what's next for our sea-detective next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
March 29, 2021
In the fourth instalment of the Sea Detective series by Mark Douglas-Home, oceanographer Cal McGill isn’t the most popular man around. After a chance encounter with an old man and a subsequent TV broadcast, he’s lost all his clients and a friend too, and this time around, he’s the one feeling unmoored.
Struggling with his own demons, Cal is roped in to solve another missing person mystery, which grows bigger than anyone could ever expect.
Twenty-three years ago, Christina Tolmie left her daughters Kate and Flora behind to help vulnerable children in Romania. She disappeared without a trace and left Kate and Flora orphaned and without answers. But when Flora – now an adult still hoping for clues about her mother’s disappearance - goes missing too, Kate only has one lead. Cal’s name written on a piece of paper amongst Flora’s belongings.
Trying to find Flora leads to another missing person – 16-year-old Ruth, who disappeared around the same time as Christina did.
Throw in a long-lost suitcase, a man who claims to be the Tolmie sisters’ dad and statues made of driftwood and other flotsam by a taciturn Norwegian beachcomber and you’ve got yourself the twistiest Sea Detective offering yet.
And unbeknownst to him – and to the reader – Cal is in the middle of it all.
Taking us from Scotland to England to The Netherlands and ultimately to France, the novel packs a lot of information into 300-and-something pages, and at times, it left me feeling a little overwhelmed.
While I haven’t visited any of the places he’s written about, of all of Douglas-Home’s novels, I struggled to connect with the setting of The Driftwood Girls the most, especially the parts that take place in Texel. Usually, the author’s descriptions of nature and the setting are riveting, but in this book, I struggled to focus, skipping entire paragraphs to get to the ‘good part’.
The amount of information crammed into these novels about oceanography can either enthral you or bore you, and for me, for the most part, it was the former. I really enjoyed the angle of the series, and they genuinely got better and better for me, but I hope this is the last one. Quitting while you’re ahead and all that.
As always, the way Douglas-Home brings several threads of the story together is nothing less than brilliant, and I found myself hooked - and impatient to find out how the story would pan out.
Is it the perfect novel? No. Not by a long shot. Helen’s character – despite not being based on her fatness and undesirableness any more, thank God – remains one-dimensional, though she does come into her own quite a bit. Cal’s demons also remain surface level, and we never truly learn whether he actually works on his issues. But overall, to me, it was the most enjoyable of the series and a great way to end things off.
I hope. Don’t write another one, please.
Struggling with his own demons, Cal is roped in to solve another missing person mystery, which grows bigger than anyone could ever expect.
Twenty-three years ago, Christina Tolmie left her daughters Kate and Flora behind to help vulnerable children in Romania. She disappeared without a trace and left Kate and Flora orphaned and without answers. But when Flora – now an adult still hoping for clues about her mother’s disappearance - goes missing too, Kate only has one lead. Cal’s name written on a piece of paper amongst Flora’s belongings.
Trying to find Flora leads to another missing person – 16-year-old Ruth, who disappeared around the same time as Christina did.
Throw in a long-lost suitcase, a man who claims to be the Tolmie sisters’ dad and statues made of driftwood and other flotsam by a taciturn Norwegian beachcomber and you’ve got yourself the twistiest Sea Detective offering yet.
And unbeknownst to him – and to the reader – Cal is in the middle of it all.
Taking us from Scotland to England to The Netherlands and ultimately to France, the novel packs a lot of information into 300-and-something pages, and at times, it left me feeling a little overwhelmed.
While I haven’t visited any of the places he’s written about, of all of Douglas-Home’s novels, I struggled to connect with the setting of The Driftwood Girls the most, especially the parts that take place in Texel. Usually, the author’s descriptions of nature and the setting are riveting, but in this book, I struggled to focus, skipping entire paragraphs to get to the ‘good part’.
The amount of information crammed into these novels about oceanography can either enthral you or bore you, and for me, for the most part, it was the former. I really enjoyed the angle of the series, and they genuinely got better and better for me, but I hope this is the last one. Quitting while you’re ahead and all that.
As always, the way Douglas-Home brings several threads of the story together is nothing less than brilliant, and I found myself hooked - and impatient to find out how the story would pan out.
Is it the perfect novel? No. Not by a long shot. Helen’s character – despite not being based on her fatness and undesirableness any more, thank God – remains one-dimensional, though she does come into her own quite a bit. Cal’s demons also remain surface level, and we never truly learn whether he actually works on his issues. But overall, to me, it was the most enjoyable of the series and a great way to end things off.
I hope. Don’t write another one, please.
January 11, 2020
This is the fourth book in the Sea Detective series by Mark Douglas-Home featuring the taciturn marine scientist and oceanographer, Dr Caladh (Cal) McGill. Although I haven't read any of the other instalments, I was intrigued by the synopsis and so I was keen to dive straight into The Driftwood Girls.
Cal, a sea detective and expert on winds and the tides, is living in Edinburgh and uses his vast knowledge and expertise to solve ocean based mysteries. Cal’s reputation is called into question after the broadcast of a TV programme, when the distraught daughter of a missing father claims that Cal has essential information as to his whereabouts after he had met her father once. With his friend, Alex Lauder, dying and rapidly losing clients, he becomes involved in investigating the disappearance twenty-three years ago, of charity worker Christina Tolmie, who vanished whilst in Northern France, leaving behind in Edinburgh her two daughters, Kate, then six, and four-year old Flora. Now Flora has gone missing and Cal seems to be the only answer.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Driftwood Girls. Told from different viewpoints, I was gradually drawn into the story rather than being immediately grabbed or thrown in headfirst, and I soon became completely invested this expertly constructed mystery. The plot was very clever, linking some seemingly distinct events together in a way that wasn't too unlikely or outlandish. There were no colossal action scenes, only a gradual unravelling of events which I found quietly but delightfully compulsive. With so many dark secrets from the past threatening to overshadow the present, the tension slowly escalated until everything started to fall into place and the bigger picture was revealed.
This is evidently a great series and Mark Douglas-Home clearly possesses the ability to devise intricate and interesting plots, combining them with distinctive and arresting characters. The places he describes also add interest and stimulation to the overall story.
A stellar read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel, at my request, from Penguin Michael Joseph via NetGalley, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.
Cal, a sea detective and expert on winds and the tides, is living in Edinburgh and uses his vast knowledge and expertise to solve ocean based mysteries. Cal’s reputation is called into question after the broadcast of a TV programme, when the distraught daughter of a missing father claims that Cal has essential information as to his whereabouts after he had met her father once. With his friend, Alex Lauder, dying and rapidly losing clients, he becomes involved in investigating the disappearance twenty-three years ago, of charity worker Christina Tolmie, who vanished whilst in Northern France, leaving behind in Edinburgh her two daughters, Kate, then six, and four-year old Flora. Now Flora has gone missing and Cal seems to be the only answer.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Driftwood Girls. Told from different viewpoints, I was gradually drawn into the story rather than being immediately grabbed or thrown in headfirst, and I soon became completely invested this expertly constructed mystery. The plot was very clever, linking some seemingly distinct events together in a way that wasn't too unlikely or outlandish. There were no colossal action scenes, only a gradual unravelling of events which I found quietly but delightfully compulsive. With so many dark secrets from the past threatening to overshadow the present, the tension slowly escalated until everything started to fall into place and the bigger picture was revealed.
This is evidently a great series and Mark Douglas-Home clearly possesses the ability to devise intricate and interesting plots, combining them with distinctive and arresting characters. The places he describes also add interest and stimulation to the overall story.
A stellar read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel, at my request, from Penguin Michael Joseph via NetGalley, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.
January 2, 2020
I picked up The Driftwood Girls looking for a bit of a palate cleanser after a string of historical fiction. While I do enjoy a mystery, it's not a genre I turn too particularly often as I do find it can be quite difficult to get them right. Mark Douglas-Home really hit the mark with this one! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre.
The Driftwood Girls follows the story of Cal McGill, a 'sea detective' who uses his advanced knowledge of the tides to solve mysteries. In this book, Cal is at a low point in his life and career, and the book follows a cold-case that has been unsolved for over twenty years.
I wasn't aware until I looked at other reviews that this was part of a series, but it does work well as a standalone. It's difficult to strike a balance between getting in the right amount of backstory and the prose not becoming clunky, but Douglas-Home found it. You get the essentials that may have been in the prior books, without feeling like you're reading the spark notes.
The pacing is well, each new aspect of the mystery unravels at a realistic pace. Each twist comes naturally, with the right amount of surprise and expectation. I even found the science-heavy parts (the explanations of tides, and how Cal works etc) to be relatively easy to understand despite not having too much scientific understanding. They add to the story rather than coming across as 'show-offy'. Despite a complex cast of characters, and quite a few sub-plots, Douglas-Home weaves these together well, with no one plot or character getting lost or overshadowed. You might not know why, but you understand each character has their part to play.
My one minor concern with the book is I felt the ending a bit rushed - the good pacing throughout the book picked up here, and I felt like the author was trying to tie things up quickly.
All in all, a good read. Next time I'm in the mood for mystery I will definitely be returning to this series.
The Driftwood Girls follows the story of Cal McGill, a 'sea detective' who uses his advanced knowledge of the tides to solve mysteries. In this book, Cal is at a low point in his life and career, and the book follows a cold-case that has been unsolved for over twenty years.
I wasn't aware until I looked at other reviews that this was part of a series, but it does work well as a standalone. It's difficult to strike a balance between getting in the right amount of backstory and the prose not becoming clunky, but Douglas-Home found it. You get the essentials that may have been in the prior books, without feeling like you're reading the spark notes.
The pacing is well, each new aspect of the mystery unravels at a realistic pace. Each twist comes naturally, with the right amount of surprise and expectation. I even found the science-heavy parts (the explanations of tides, and how Cal works etc) to be relatively easy to understand despite not having too much scientific understanding. They add to the story rather than coming across as 'show-offy'. Despite a complex cast of characters, and quite a few sub-plots, Douglas-Home weaves these together well, with no one plot or character getting lost or overshadowed. You might not know why, but you understand each character has their part to play.
My one minor concern with the book is I felt the ending a bit rushed - the good pacing throughout the book picked up here, and I felt like the author was trying to tie things up quickly.
All in all, a good read. Next time I'm in the mood for mystery I will definitely be returning to this series.
February 2, 2020
Cal McGill's full first name is Caladh which is Gaelic for a harbor or haven, and many people have come to him hoping he will end their nightmares and find their missing loved ones. With his exhaustive knowledge of winds and tides and his far-flung network of contacts, he's been very successful, and I hope he continues to be because Mark Douglas-Home's series is one of my very favorites.
As Cal begins his search for Kate's missing sister, he's also faced with the death of his best friend, Alex, and this leads to much introspection. Cal has always been a loner: he "experienced the closest he ever came to elation. He was on a wild coast alone and no one knew where he was." I can identify with this aspect of his nature, but I'm also aware of its downside. "Was he becoming more solitary in his habits, too comfortable in his own company and silence?" Cal has to work this through while he searches for Flora.
The Driftwood Girls is several stories woven skillfully together. There's Cal's soul-searching after the death of his friend. There's the search for Flora Tolmie. There's the rather strange story of three people living on an island off the coast of the Netherlands. And there's the slowly unfolding story of what happened to Kate and Flora's mother twenty-three years ago. The book could actually be considered a study in the different ways people respond to grief and this overlying sadness-- as well as Cal's feeling of being cut off from the world-- may make it a bit difficult for readers to be drawn into the story.
The knowledge that goes into making Cal the sea detective is fascinating but never overwhelms the story, and the author's descriptions of coastal areas of Scotland and the Netherlands can have even the most hardened landlubber smelling the salt air, hearing the cry of gulls, and wanting to set sail. The only thing that I can quibble over is how neatly the story of Kate and Flora's mother was wrapped up. It all seemed a bit too convenient, just a bit contrived, but it certainly didn't keep me from enjoying the book.
The oceans, tides, and winds, the atmospheric descriptions of land and sea, the characters, and the stories all mesh perfectly into mysteries that I love to sink into. If you love stories like this, then you need to become acquainted with Cal McGill. Start with The Sea Detective, and be prepared to get your hands on all the others.
As Cal begins his search for Kate's missing sister, he's also faced with the death of his best friend, Alex, and this leads to much introspection. Cal has always been a loner: he "experienced the closest he ever came to elation. He was on a wild coast alone and no one knew where he was." I can identify with this aspect of his nature, but I'm also aware of its downside. "Was he becoming more solitary in his habits, too comfortable in his own company and silence?" Cal has to work this through while he searches for Flora.
The Driftwood Girls is several stories woven skillfully together. There's Cal's soul-searching after the death of his friend. There's the search for Flora Tolmie. There's the rather strange story of three people living on an island off the coast of the Netherlands. And there's the slowly unfolding story of what happened to Kate and Flora's mother twenty-three years ago. The book could actually be considered a study in the different ways people respond to grief and this overlying sadness-- as well as Cal's feeling of being cut off from the world-- may make it a bit difficult for readers to be drawn into the story.
The knowledge that goes into making Cal the sea detective is fascinating but never overwhelms the story, and the author's descriptions of coastal areas of Scotland and the Netherlands can have even the most hardened landlubber smelling the salt air, hearing the cry of gulls, and wanting to set sail. The only thing that I can quibble over is how neatly the story of Kate and Flora's mother was wrapped up. It all seemed a bit too convenient, just a bit contrived, but it certainly didn't keep me from enjoying the book.
The oceans, tides, and winds, the atmospheric descriptions of land and sea, the characters, and the stories all mesh perfectly into mysteries that I love to sink into. If you love stories like this, then you need to become acquainted with Cal McGill. Start with The Sea Detective, and be prepared to get your hands on all the others.
August 14, 2020
Mark Douglas-Home's THE DRIFTWOOD GIRLS starts out as a promising crime novel, with the interesting concept of having Cal, the main detective, be a sea detective, someone focussed on solving crimes and identifying bodies that wash up on the shore, by using oceanography and weather patterns to trace their trajectory and find their origin. Cool premise, and I was all for it. However, the sea detection is a pretty small part of this book. Cal is a loner, and most of the other people in this book behave in a disjointed, uncomplicated and inexplicable fashion, like they're sims rather than people. Like, you select the "loner" trait thinking it'll just make your sim be an introvert but instead they literally hate people and get all irritated if they have to spend more than a minute talking to someone. And that appears to be how Douglas-Home has selected his characters' personalities.
Cal is trying to solve two - or up to three - disappearances at the same time - that of Christina Tolmie, a woman with a poorly explained charity for Romanian orphans who went missing 23 years ago, and her daughter Flora, who's now vanished after her boyfriend died of cancer. Meanwhile, Sarah, a woman whose friend drowned 23 years ago, and Olaf, a random beachcomber driftwood sculptor, both live on Texel, an island off the coast of the Netherlands. Cal knows Olaf, and he also knows the dead boyfriend. Yes, it turns out the cases are linked, which is fair enough, but they're linked TOO much, and towards the end there are some absolutely preposterous details that made me take a significant chunk off the book's rating. The eventual resolution of all the crimes is massively contrived, and makes me feel Douglas-Home's simmering waves of contempt towards the reader, whom he clearly considers to be very stupid.
Cal is trying to solve two - or up to three - disappearances at the same time - that of Christina Tolmie, a woman with a poorly explained charity for Romanian orphans who went missing 23 years ago, and her daughter Flora, who's now vanished after her boyfriend died of cancer. Meanwhile, Sarah, a woman whose friend drowned 23 years ago, and Olaf, a random beachcomber driftwood sculptor, both live on Texel, an island off the coast of the Netherlands. Cal knows Olaf, and he also knows the dead boyfriend. Yes, it turns out the cases are linked, which is fair enough, but they're linked TOO much, and towards the end there are some absolutely preposterous details that made me take a significant chunk off the book's rating. The eventual resolution of all the crimes is massively contrived, and makes me feel Douglas-Home's simmering waves of contempt towards the reader, whom he clearly considers to be very stupid.
January 10, 2020
My thanks to Penguin U.K. Michael Joseph for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Driftwood Girls’ by Mark Douglas-Home in exchange for an honest review.
Before I started reading I wasn’t aware that this was the fourth in Douglas-Home’s Sea Detective series though enough background was provided so I didn’t feel all at sea.
Dr. Cal McGill is an oceanographer and an expert on the winds and the tides. He is a gifted finder of lost things - and lost people. His latest case involves two missing women, two decades apart. Twenty-three years ago the mother of Flora and Kate Tolmie disappeared without a trace from coastal northern France, leaving her daughters orphans.
Now Flora is also missing. When Kate searches her sister’s Edinburgh house, she finds a note with Cal McGill’s name on it and reaches out. Yet this is only the beginning.
The nature of the mystery is quite complex and with a slow start, a number of threads, and a large cast of characters this novel did require close reading. I certainly enjoyed it and found its resolution satisfying.
A crime thriller featuring an oceanographer, who uses his skills, was a fascinating concept. I have since lined up the first in the series so that I can learn more about Dr. Cal and his earlier cases.
Personal note not included in my commercial reviews: I was very interested in the focus on oceanography. It’s a subject that I had a keen interest in during my teenage years. My family lived on a Florida Key, surrounded by a rich marine environment. My mother also worked as an administrator at the International Oceanographic Foundation and so I encountered a number of oceanographers and was fascinated by their work. These early experiences instilled a deep appreciation of the importance of marine conservation.
Before I started reading I wasn’t aware that this was the fourth in Douglas-Home’s Sea Detective series though enough background was provided so I didn’t feel all at sea.
Dr. Cal McGill is an oceanographer and an expert on the winds and the tides. He is a gifted finder of lost things - and lost people. His latest case involves two missing women, two decades apart. Twenty-three years ago the mother of Flora and Kate Tolmie disappeared without a trace from coastal northern France, leaving her daughters orphans.
Now Flora is also missing. When Kate searches her sister’s Edinburgh house, she finds a note with Cal McGill’s name on it and reaches out. Yet this is only the beginning.
The nature of the mystery is quite complex and with a slow start, a number of threads, and a large cast of characters this novel did require close reading. I certainly enjoyed it and found its resolution satisfying.
A crime thriller featuring an oceanographer, who uses his skills, was a fascinating concept. I have since lined up the first in the series so that I can learn more about Dr. Cal and his earlier cases.
Personal note not included in my commercial reviews: I was very interested in the focus on oceanography. It’s a subject that I had a keen interest in during my teenage years. My family lived on a Florida Key, surrounded by a rich marine environment. My mother also worked as an administrator at the International Oceanographic Foundation and so I encountered a number of oceanographers and was fascinated by their work. These early experiences instilled a deep appreciation of the importance of marine conservation.
February 24, 2020
My friend and I listened to the audio book version of this, which I don't see listed under the various editions. We had not read the first three books in the series and I really don't think it mattered. The story stands on its own and the characters are introduced and developed in such a way that the reader is not left in the dark about certain aspects.
I found the plot immediately engaging. I was invested in the investigation and very curious about what had happened and how the characters were linked. There was no violence or graphic descriptions of crimes, apart from some descriptions of bodies that wash up on shores. I found that to be a pleasant change from the murder mysteries I tend to read.
I did find the female voices in the story extremely irritating. For one, the male narrator's impersonation of female voices was actually grating, but more so, the things the women were saying were utterly inane, or idiotic. They seemed to be constantly in a state of shock or bafflement. Rather annoying, but I suppose that it was in keeping with the characters, so I was able to let it go.
Other than that, I found it to be a worthwhile listen (or read) which hit the right spot when you're in the mood for a light murder mystery.
I found the plot immediately engaging. I was invested in the investigation and very curious about what had happened and how the characters were linked. There was no violence or graphic descriptions of crimes, apart from some descriptions of bodies that wash up on shores. I found that to be a pleasant change from the murder mysteries I tend to read.
I did find the female voices in the story extremely irritating. For one, the male narrator's impersonation of female voices was actually grating, but more so, the things the women were saying were utterly inane, or idiotic. They seemed to be constantly in a state of shock or bafflement. Rather annoying, but I suppose that it was in keeping with the characters, so I was able to let it go.
Other than that, I found it to be a worthwhile listen (or read) which hit the right spot when you're in the mood for a light murder mystery.
November 5, 2020
Kate and Flora have always wondered what happened to their mother Christina, 23 years ago she vanished without a trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone. But now Flora is also missing. Kate begins her search to find a piece of paper with just one name: Cal McGill.
Cal, is a sea detective so he is an expert of the tides and his job is to find lost things and people. Kate hopes that Cal might find her sister and also what happened to their beloved mother all those years before.
It was so refreshing to read a crime novel focused on the sea, the setting and imagery were so vivid and the characters were brilliantly built as the plot slowly bubbles the answers we are longing for are slowly revealed. This story is one you need to stick with to start with there are different plot lines all which seem unconnected however as it develops they are cleverly joint together. Driftwood Girls is a cleverly executed crime with an original concept.
I haven't read any other books from the sea detective series however it would definitely be something I would pick up again.
Cal, is a sea detective so he is an expert of the tides and his job is to find lost things and people. Kate hopes that Cal might find her sister and also what happened to their beloved mother all those years before.
It was so refreshing to read a crime novel focused on the sea, the setting and imagery were so vivid and the characters were brilliantly built as the plot slowly bubbles the answers we are longing for are slowly revealed. This story is one you need to stick with to start with there are different plot lines all which seem unconnected however as it develops they are cleverly joint together. Driftwood Girls is a cleverly executed crime with an original concept.
I haven't read any other books from the sea detective series however it would definitely be something I would pick up again.
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