Whitethroat

DI Nick Lowry #3

by James Henry

The third book in the DI Nicholas Lowry series, for fans of Peter James and Stuart Macbride.It's November 1983 in Essex and there are reasons to be cheerful. Uptown Girl is sitting pretty at the top of the charts, Risky Business is raking it in at the box office, and there are now four channels on the telly. However, social tensions are beginning to bubble beneath the Mrs Thatcher has embarked on her second controversial term, and the situation in Northern Ireland is ever-escalating.Yet in the garrison town of Colchester, it's another deadly standoff that is hogging the headlines. The body of a nineteen-year-old Lance Corporal has been discovered on the local High Street, the result of what appears to be a bizarre, chivalrous duel. It seems he was the victim of a doomed army love triangle. As such, the military police are wishing to keep the matter confined within military ranks.This is all just fine, as far as Colchester CID is concerned. They have enough on their plate as with DI Nick Lowry in a tailspin following the breakdown of his marriage, WPC Jane Gabriel exasperated by the male-favoured system, Detective Daniel Kenton relying on substance abuse to quieten his demons from his last case; and their boss, DCS Sparks, shortly to become a first-time father at 55.However, it is not long before the blood from the duel runs into civilian police affairs, and the trail presents CID with a local rogues' gallery. A savvy entrepreneur. A wayward skinhead. A member of the landed gentry. And a shadowy Mauritian travel agent with a chilling reputation. Soon, they will discover, a real estate deal, a racist, and the town's Robin Hood pub hold the key to the killing...

Genres: Crime, British Literature, Mystery, Fiction

Hardcover

Published July 9, 2020

About the author

James Henry is the pen name for James Gurbutt. James is a publisher at Constable & Robinson, R.D. Wingfield’s original publisher back in the 1980s. Philip Wingfield, son of the late R. D. Wingfield approves; he remarked, 'The author has captured my father's style superbly. Fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed.' That’s a good sign but how did they go about it? And just like Talking Heads, we set them up and here is the result.

Note: There are multiple authors with this name. This author has one space.
James^Henry

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third in James Henry's historical Essex based crime series set in the garrison town of Colchester featuring DI Nick Lowry. It is 1983, and in what appears a strange duel over a woman, 19 year old Lance Corporal William Cousins lies shot dead in the high street, outside The Hippodrome, set to open as a new nightclub under the ownership of Howard Osgood after extensive refurbishment. This means the inquiry is largely under the control Lowry's friend, Royal Military Police Captain James Oldham, and an army hierarchy keen to shut down the investigation and the reputational damage it could wreak. Nick's marriage to Jacqui has come to a definitive end after her marital infidelity, her rage meaning that his relationship with his son, Matt, is set to wither away.

Nick finds himself relying on valium to get through the days, is seeing Becky, a teacher, although he is struggling to put the time into it to establish it on a firmer footing whilst floating in a quagmire when it comes to his sense of identity as his boxing days have come to an end and his birdwatching has taken a backseat. The traumatised DS Daniel Kenton has been on sick leave, disappearing into a fug of joints and alcohol, forced to return to work, wondering about his relationship with DC Jane Gabriel, the niece of ACC Merrydown. In a story of old history, the lives of Gordon 'Whitethroat' Topize who has returned from Mauritius, Marcus Hughes-Roper, Howard Osgood, and army soldiers intersect with old grudges, family and present day deaths.

This is engaging historical fiction with a well plotted story, and a range of characters, set in a time with the culture, social attitudes and norms of the period when it comes to race and gender. One of the highlights here is the way the men in the police force try to support one another in the 1980s when male friendships are so often constrained by emotional superficiality rather than depth. For example, Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Sparks finds himself facing fatherhood for the first time at the age of 55, and when personal troubles hit him, Lowry is there for him. Henry leaves the novel with a number of characters fates hanging in the air, I look forward to the next in the series to see what transpires. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a weird reading experience because I struggled with the characters and the plot but couldn't put it down.
I wanted to know what was going to happen and I was not in the mood for this faulted and problematic characters.
I had a love/hate relationship with it but I'm happy I reading because it's enthralling, atmospheric and gripping.
I want to recommend it because it's a good police procedural and I want to read the other books in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of Whitethroat, the third novel to feature DI Nick Lowry, set in Colchester in 1983.

When a dual leaves a soldier dead in the main street it is regarded as army business but it soon overlaps into other criminal cases leaving Nick and the team to unravel a web of interconnecting relationships and dodgy deals.

I enjoyed Whitethroat which is an absorbing read that starts with one crime and widens into much more. It is clever the way the characters intersect in the present and are gradually revealed to have links in the past as well. Each of these reveals is eye opening as I didn’t see it coming and yet makes so much sense when out in the open. I was glued to the pages following the relationships and serpentine connections. It all seems very realistic. The ending is equally realistic but somehow unsatisfying with no big bow tying it all up and it ends on a cliffhanger with no explanation. At least the journey to get there is interesting and engrossing.

I didn’t get much sense of the era from the novel. I cast my mind back to my early twenties and apart from a few references to the politics of the time and a few pop records there is no sense of the cultural upheaval and all the change in the air. Apart from the lack of technology it could be set any time.

The characterisation is strong in the novel, apart, strangely, from Nick Lowry who is a bit of an enigma. He is the protagonist who has some family issues but he doesn’t make a strong impression. The problems his colleagues have are more readily apparent and identifiable.

Whitethroat is a good read that I can recommend.

[Robin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third in this extremely good crime series is the best yet. James Henry makes the writing seem effortless. This is quality storytelling, full of well-drawn characters, and plenty of high drama.
Nick Lowry, Stephen Sparks, Dan Kenton and Jane Gabriel have become a great team, each of them commanding one's empathy.
I love the mirror on a bygone age - 1983 - so near and yet so far in the way we led our lives and the views we had (which none of us would now care to admit). A must read for all fans of intriguing plots (with a great cliffhanger ending).

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third DI Nick Lowry book, set in 1980's Colchester. A soldier is found dead in the High Street, quite clearly not as a result of a Friday night brawl - and so begins the intrigue, with tensions mounting between the police and the military as the investigation progresses. Very evocative of the period, this is a tense thriller, detailing the changing times for the people involved, and the town itself. Ends on something of a cliff-hanger ! Nice one, James , get moving on #4 ! 📚❤😀

[PAUL · Rating 4 out of 5]

IMO not as good as the first two in the series but still a satisfying read. What I like about this series is the different outlook and style you get from the more mundane and homogeneous offerings from more accredited writers of the genre.
This, at least, is trying to be original in thought, plot and denouement.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit disappointed in this one - after reading the first two I had looked forward to reading this one but it missed something lacking in the previous two. Very little mention of his ex wife - who played a prominent role in previous books. Not a bad book just disappointed. Hopefully there is more in the series?

[Tom Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor proofreading and a very unusual style put me off this book. Very stilted, almost nondescript characters, none of whom were likeable, and a strange plot which quickly fizzled into odd sub-plots made this a challenging read. DI Lowry is not a detective I will be following.

[Sue Garwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another intricate plot with some threads left hanging. Looking forward to the next book.