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Cullen & Bain #1
City of the Dead
A body in a bin. Two cops at each other's throats.
Acting DI Scott Cullen faces his worst fear. Managing DS Brian Bain, his old boss and notorious loose cannon.
But when Cullen is called through to Glasgow to investigate a murder, Bain is back on his home turf.
A body found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. Amid an ongoing investigation into similar crimes, but stopping short of murder, can Cullen rise above Bain's behaviour and solve the crime?
City of the Dead is a standalone novella continuing the Cullen story after the shocking events of Heroes & Villains.
Acting DI Scott Cullen faces his worst fear. Managing DS Brian Bain, his old boss and notorious loose cannon.
But when Cullen is called through to Glasgow to investigate a murder, Bain is back on his home turf.
A body found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. Amid an ongoing investigation into similar crimes, but stopping short of murder, can Cullen rise above Bain's behaviour and solve the crime?
City of the Dead is a standalone novella continuing the Cullen story after the shocking events of Heroes & Villains.
Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
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May 30, 2020I struggled with the change from first person present tense ( prologue) to third person past tense in chapter 1. There seemed no rhyme nor reason to it and stopped reading. Not rating
January 26, 2021
Not nearly up to Ed James' Scott Cullen standards.
January 21, 2023
This is the first book in the Cullen and Bain series by author Ed James. I am already familiar with the character Cullen after reading his series which I really enjoyed so it seem ed a natural progression to this one.
Acting DI Scott Cullen is thrown together with his old boss, the unmanageable DS Brian Bain. The pair have never got on so the situation is not going to be easy to manage. A dead body is found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. A difficult crime to solve and a difficult partnership to manage spell trouble ahead.
Another decent start to a new series that again promises more in subsequent novels.
Good characters with plenty of issues promises lots of fun along the way.
Acting DI Scott Cullen is thrown together with his old boss, the unmanageable DS Brian Bain. The pair have never got on so the situation is not going to be easy to manage. A dead body is found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. A difficult crime to solve and a difficult partnership to manage spell trouble ahead.
Another decent start to a new series that again promises more in subsequent novels.
Good characters with plenty of issues promises lots of fun along the way.
March 30, 2020
The body of a man in a nappy is found in a dumpster by a bin man on the collection round - acting DI Scott Cullen and DS Brian Bain are sent to Glasgow to crack the case. The usual cop thriller you might think. But Ed James shows us the inside of Bain’s head - his thoughts and feelings, especially against his arch rival Cullen. Cleverly written novella with a completely different spin to it and an intriguing read, especially if you are a Cullen fan.
October 7, 2021
Nice story which gives me images of a police series in the 70's (or earlier), with horrible but funny characters. A police station in a small town (?) or a part of a big town, but not very important. Obviously, a lot of the policemen aren't keen of working there. But a murder so foul shows itself and they go looking for the culprit... the rest you have to read yourself!
Still #2 and #3 to read
Still #2 and #3 to read
March 31, 2020
Just love the Cullen stories, its been too long since we had a new story.
You get what you'd expect with this novella, a mixture of tension and laugh out loud humour between Cullen & an embittered Bain.
I hope this signals a new full book to follow, its been far too long since we had our last dose of dark scottish humour with (acting) DI Scott Cullen
You get what you'd expect with this novella, a mixture of tension and laugh out loud humour between Cullen & an embittered Bain.
I hope this signals a new full book to follow, its been far too long since we had our last dose of dark scottish humour with (acting) DI Scott Cullen
August 31, 2020
Awful
A decent premise totally spoiled by too much swearing and overly realistic slang talk and local speech patterns - all for realism but this was over the top and ridiculously, unecessarily hard to read. Jumping between the two character points of view made the storyline disjointed. Glad it was free. Don't waste your time.
A decent premise totally spoiled by too much swearing and overly realistic slang talk and local speech patterns - all for realism but this was over the top and ridiculously, unecessarily hard to read. Jumping between the two character points of view made the storyline disjointed. Glad it was free. Don't waste your time.
January 11, 2021
“A body in a bin. Two cops at each other's throats.”
Acting DI Scott Cullen has to face his worst fear. Being put on a case with his old boss, DS Brian Bain, a notorious loose cannon.
A body has been found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. There’s been a spate of similar crimes recently, but none stretching to murder as of yet. Can Cullen and Bain work together to solve this crime and find the one responsible?
⛓⛓⛓
I thought I’d read this as a quick read. It’s only 110 pages, I’ll whizz through that no worries. Not quite. It took me three sittings to read this book. It just wasn’t great. It’s very rare I give a book only one star but this was just poor. I had no real clue of what was going on, it just didn’t seem to flow at all, then when it came to actually getting close to solving the crime it went at a stupid speed without giving you any chance as a reader to work out what tf was going on. I mean it’s a book to add to my 2021 reading total, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Acting DI Scott Cullen has to face his worst fear. Being put on a case with his old boss, DS Brian Bain, a notorious loose cannon.
A body has been found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. There’s been a spate of similar crimes recently, but none stretching to murder as of yet. Can Cullen and Bain work together to solve this crime and find the one responsible?
⛓⛓⛓
I thought I’d read this as a quick read. It’s only 110 pages, I’ll whizz through that no worries. Not quite. It took me three sittings to read this book. It just wasn’t great. It’s very rare I give a book only one star but this was just poor. I had no real clue of what was going on, it just didn’t seem to flow at all, then when it came to actually getting close to solving the crime it went at a stupid speed without giving you any chance as a reader to work out what tf was going on. I mean it’s a book to add to my 2021 reading total, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
July 19, 2021
Disappointing.
I've read many books by this author and thought they were quite good. The storyline was poor and I had no interest in the characters, who I know from previous books. It may be that this was a novella and not the author's forte, but overall it was uninteresting. There were also at least 3 typos or missing words.
I've read many books by this author and thought they were quite good. The storyline was poor and I had no interest in the characters, who I know from previous books. It may be that this was a novella and not the author's forte, but overall it was uninteresting. There were also at least 3 typos or missing words.
July 6, 2022
Realised I’d read this out of order as I hadn’t read the Cullen series (now rectifying this!)
However I felt this could have been so much better plot wise - it felt rushed and I didn’t especially like the switching between narrators which felt a bit clumsy and didn’t add anything.
It started promisingly but seemed to fizzle out and finish a bit conveniently.
However I felt this could have been so much better plot wise - it felt rushed and I didn’t especially like the switching between narrators which felt a bit clumsy and didn’t add anything.
It started promisingly but seemed to fizzle out and finish a bit conveniently.
July 26, 2022
going downhill rapidly - again Cullen lets the suspect go , again and involves a hectic pursuit - the reintroduction of Bain and the author's obsession with inserting things in rear ends is becoming tiresome and the language is getting worse. I think that it is time for me to abandon Cullen to his fate.
May 14, 2020
Although short a overall good read but don't like Bain attitude. Everything is Cullens fault. Doesn't make good reading. A simple story that could flow a little better. Confusing in places hence the 4 stars.
February 20, 2021
Tried too hard
Unlikeable characters, crude storyline and the foul language is excessive to the point of being crow-barred in. I’m fine with swearing but this was unnatural and forced. Won’t be reading anymore.
Unlikeable characters, crude storyline and the foul language is excessive to the point of being crow-barred in. I’m fine with swearing but this was unnatural and forced. Won’t be reading anymore.
May 27, 2023
I thought this was just a sample I'd read then discovered it was an entire book! Entertaining but others out there are more so. I would read the next to give the series a chance but couldn't find it to download to my kindle.
April 2, 2020
Another good read from Ed James. The dynamic between Cullen and Bain is typical of the rivalry which exists between Edinburgh and Glasgow
April 19, 2020
Good to see Cullen back in action. The usual excellent banter.
November 2, 2020
The dialogue was too hard to follow. I gave up.
August 24, 2021
Too simplistic
Compared to other crime/detective books, this one has no character development, confusing style, a simple, obvious plot, and no depth
Compared to other crime/detective books, this one has no character development, confusing style, a simple, obvious plot, and no depth
December 16, 2021
This novella is an OK read for a dark December.
April 15, 2022
Sorry I bought this short story, rambling and disconnected left me feeling as if I had missed something.
July 16, 2021
I have really liked the Cullen series to date so decided to try this Cullen and Bain book. Whilst I enjoyed the story, I couldn't really get into the switching of the narrative between Cullen and Bain. I liked the Cullen parts but struggled to connect with the chapters that were written from the perspective of Bain. Hence the lower than normal rating for Ed James.
March 25, 2020
When you work as a bin man in a city you get used to finding the odd weird or disturbing item. A dead body is altogether more serious and when one is found, naked save for a nappy, Acting DI Scott Cullen knows he needs to find the killer quickly. Working alongside detectives investigating a number of rapes with a similar MO and with his old boss and nemesis Brian Bain in tow, Scott discovers being in charge isn't going to lessen his stress levels any time soon.
This is the first book in this new series about some very familiar characters which starts slower than usual for one of Mr James's books. This time we get to see Inside the head of DS Bain, it's not a nice place but does begin to explain why he has always been such a thorn in Cullen's side. The case, in this shorter story, was much less complex than normal which is to be expected but seemed a little underwhelming and nowhere near as engaging as normal.
Ed James is one of my favourite authors who has some excellent books available with two new first class series started this year. Unfortunately, although I have pre-ordered book two to give it a chance, this maybe one new idea too many as it doesn't seem to work as well as the original Cullen set of novels definitely do.
This is the first book in this new series about some very familiar characters which starts slower than usual for one of Mr James's books. This time we get to see Inside the head of DS Bain, it's not a nice place but does begin to explain why he has always been such a thorn in Cullen's side. The case, in this shorter story, was much less complex than normal which is to be expected but seemed a little underwhelming and nowhere near as engaging as normal.
Ed James is one of my favourite authors who has some excellent books available with two new first class series started this year. Unfortunately, although I have pre-ordered book two to give it a chance, this maybe one new idea too many as it doesn't seem to work as well as the original Cullen set of novels definitely do.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews