The Dark Yorkshire Series are fast-paced crime fiction stories featuring DI Nathaniel Caslin.
The first three full-length books in this bestselling series are brought together for the first time in this great value set.
DIVIDED HOUSE
The public face. A private reality. Sometimes, the dead have a lot to hide...
DI Nathaniel Caslin’s life is a mess. He works the minimum, abuses substances to survive the day and drinks his nights away. A once-promising career is in freefall.
Investigating the death of an ex-serviceman in police custody, reveals the disappearance of a young family. No-one noticed. No-one seems to care. In the grip of a bitter, Yorkshire winter, a family home reluctantly offers up its grisly secrets. Out on the moors, a murder scene of horrific brutality demands Caslin's focused attention. In the search for answers, is anyone who they claim to be?
Haunted by the ghosts of the past, Caslin is pushed to his limits. Will this case break him or be his path to redemption?
BLACKLIGHT
Two women are missing. One who has it all. The other, has lost everything…
DI Nathaniel Caslin is in conflict with his inner demons. His career is resurgent but the greater battle, that with his addiction, is still raging… and he is losing.
An abandoned car and a desperate call to the police, lead Caslin into the heart of two families where secrets and lies are a way of life. What links the fate of an MP's granddaughter and that of a recovering drug addict, working in the sex trade?
Past horrors and personal scandals tag with the present, as the tension mounts. Trust in those closest to him is brought into question, as Caslin pursues a deadly adversary. Lives hang in the balance and all the while, the clock is ticking…
The DOGS in the STREET
A murdered family-man. A young woman tortured and set on fire. A face from the past…
DI Nathaniel Caslin is stable, for the first time in years. Now, he can look to the future, or so he thought. Granting a small favour to a friend can often be anything but simple...
When the only link between two apparently random murders appears to be an aging, Catholic priest, Caslin is thrust into a world of long-buried secrets. Drawing unwanted attention from the intelligence services, he must consider if the man he once trusted above all others, is now playing by his own rules. With professional killers circling, Caslin must face uncomfortable truths about those seeking redemption. Sometimes, justice is best served from the wrong side of the law.
With the net tightening, the level of threat increases. Will Caslin, along with those closest to him, be the last victims of a forgotten conflict?
Jason Dalgliesh was born on the south coast of England and grew up in Hampshire, UK. He has worked in the power transmission industry, the retail sector, call centres and as a night-owl in a bakery. His greatest challenge of all is ongoing, as a stay at home parent.
He is presently writing the Dark Yorkshire crime-series, featuring DI Nathaniel Caslin.
The novels are set in Yorkshire, England. The medieval City of York is Caslin's home town and the plot lines take in some of the UK's most rugged and beautiful landscapes, from the windswept North Sea coastline and across the stunning North York Moors.
Penned in the style of the Crime Noir genre, Caslin is a deep character, as flawed as he is brilliant, battling his own demons as much as those he is pitted against. Readers who enjoy gritty, atmospheric thrillers will find the series a must read.
Having spent time abroad, Jason has lived and worked in various parts of England as well as the Scottish Highlands. He currently resides in the East Riding, with his wife and two young children.
I hadn’t read anything by this author but will be seeking out his books again soon, I liked the author’s style so the pages whizzed by. Okay so our detective is the stereotyped overworked guy with a failed marriage and substance abuse issues, but the writing carries it off well enough. Not too gruesome, not too silly, a solid read.
I actually enjoyed this book, however I knocked a star off due to inaccuracies relating to Northern Ireland. I have to say these did irritate me somewhat, seeing as I’m from the said province. For example, he writes about “Unionist Paramilitaries”, this should’ve been “Loyalist Paramilitaries”. There’s also reference stating “The Orangemen were after her”. There’s no way on this earth ‘The Loyal Orange Order’ would have a hit out on anyone, this should have been “Loyalist Paramilitaries”. Also, the character Nelson was stated as being active in the IRA in the 1970s, if so, then his age would be older than mid fifties. If you are going to delve into something I feel you should at least do a bit of homework. Perhaps these are minor trifles, but still annoying nonetheless.
I read a lot of British police procedurals. This series is different in that D I Caslin is a maverick, not very trusting, and does not play well with others. The stories are interesting, well written, exciting , and rather dark! He is a very complicated individual, with many personal demons, but completely obsessed with finding the truth.
My uncle recommended these on the back of my love for the DCI Ryan books. They are not as good as Ryan, but still very engaging.
There are three books in this collection, but I'm going to review it as a whole.
So the main character is DI Caslin, who, unlike the aforementioned Ryan , is a bit of a washed up deadbeat. We don't know what happened exactly, but he has lost pretty much everything. His job (he was a DCI in London, I think), his wife, his home. He is now living in a 1 bed flat in York, with a difficult relationship with his children, whom he hardly sees, and an even harder relationship with his father, who he really can't stand. He is drinking too much and sniffing stuff he would arrest anyone else for having.
So, he's a mess.
The three stories show him trying, and sort of succeeding, in getting his life together a bit. He is clearly a very good detective - his DCS more or less says this is the only reason he is still in a job. He knows how to get a result, but it pisses off his superiors who want things done a certain way. It pisses off his ex-wife because she wants him to look after his children on his weekends, but when he's on a job, there are no weekends.
The stories were very good, I enjoyed the plots and the clever connections, but I have only given 3 stars because the writing is poor. The books are self published (I think - or I hope!) and so presumably don't have an editor, but they are scattered with incorrect grammar and so. many. commas. It made for some uncomfortable reading from time to time. Not really a huge issue, but I would have to re-read sentences frequently to try and work out the camber of the words, only to realise that it was just a mistake.
So, I feel really petty knocking off a star for that, but a good writer needs more than engaging characters and a good plot line - the book needs to be properly written as well as a good story.
The stories and characterisation !re very good. They deserve MUCH better editors. If Dalgleish does not know proper English, his editors should. There are far better ways to start a sentence than with a participle. Very occasionally the rest of the sentence is correct. Far more often, if taken as it reads, it is a nonsense. Example.
Standing on the bridge, the river raged beneath him.
This is supposed to mean, "He stood on the bridge, watching the river rage beneath him." As it stands it means "The river stood on the bridge, watching it (the bridge?) rage beneath him.
This is not a quote from the book, but illustrates the pattern very well. Yes, I am a grammar tragic, but many writers and their editors manage to avoid this error. Sadly many do not.
I hope this author learns to get it right. He has much to offer, and is likely to lose many readers who can't be bothered with such poor grammar.
Okay, so some of the grammar and punctuation leave a bit to be desired. There is the odd spelling mistake here and there. I don't know but maybe the proof reader took a duvet day or just had the day off? All that aside I felt the 3 book set was well set out and the characters were well constructed and believable. Some parts of the storyline were a tad far fetched however it is fiction. I won't be too picky as, after all, these first three books were free to Read with Prime. I think I like Nate Caslin and his team. I hope there are more stories to come. There is, at least, another 3 book box set which I will be purchasing after I finish my next (unrelated) book. If you're a fan of the rough tough detective genre then I reckon you'll enjoy these stories.
I have read my share of historical mysteries, nowadays most often featuring a female amateur sleuth. How often have I ground my teeth when these heroines act inexcusably stupid, walking carelessly into danger, just for the sake of enlivening the plot?
Now I have discovered that male, contemporary sleuths can be written as quite as stupid as they. Caslin, the police detective, professional and experienced, acts infuriatingly silly at times, no wiser than any of those naive Victorian ladies. It makes for action and fight scenes - granted - but it is just not credible.
It is not enough of a minus to reduce the series' 4 stars to 3. There is enough to compensate for this weakness: complex plots, interesting characters, atmosphere.
As a Yorkshireman I looked forward to reading the series. I was disappointed. The hero is washed up and not at all appealing. I know that police DIs and DCIs are always fallible in the human being stakes but he is no Rebus or Ryan. What made me stop reading even before the half-way mark was the casual gruesomeness. The whole concept of a vast underground torture chamber (maybe it turned out to be something different - remember I did not get to the end) in the middle of nowhere made no economic sense or even socio-geographical sense to my mind. The sheer implausibility was too great for my limited imagination. One day I shall have a go at the second book but I do not yet feel strong enough.
An enjoyable read, if a little cliched. The main character is a detective in low spirits following a divorce, caused - yes, you’ve guessed it - by his great commitment to the job at the expense of his family. Needless to say, he turns to alcohol. Where would we be without an alcoholic detective who nevertheless is brilliant at his job? Throw in a superior officer who is down on Nate (the detective) at every turn, and you can see what I mean. Having said all that, the plot was good and tightly conceived, and the characters were realistic and appealing. I enjoyed all three books, and they followed on well.
A dark, gritty, intense and compelling box set. DI Caslin, a world weary policeman on a downward spiral of addiction becomes involved in the death in interview of a suspect in a minor motoring infringement with spirals into serial murder, and thats just the first book in this set. Eastern block gangsters, corporate intrigue and secrets follow in the other books as well as several gruesome murders. These books are full of grit and intensity, vivid descriptions of the Yorkshire countryside. Great characters, strong storylines all written with style and depth. Greg Patmore does a wonderful job of the narration. Highly recommended gripping stories.
Enjoyed the style and characters. Set in the York area where I’ve lived for the last 35+ years and I found it refreshing that real places are featured. Even using the correct location for the York police HQ, just across the road from where my daughter lives. I hope the levels of violence won’t be reflected in York though! Having read the first three books I’m looking forward to starting the next one and would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys crime fiction.
The grammar and syntax gets worse as you read through this series. Where was the editor? There were many distracting examples of awfkward writing--sentence fragments, phrases modifying the object instead of the subject, and just plain uneven writing. I really enjoyed the Hidden Yorkshire series so I tried this by the same author. The main character is so compelling that I have to see what happens to him, and I have read way past the first theee books. Dark Yorkshire must have been written earlier and then the writing improved in the later series.
I just finished reading Books 1-3 in J M Dalgliesh's Dark Yorkshire series. The activity takes place mostly in Yorkshire England. Descriptions of the countryside are not unnecessary but do help move along the stories. Nate Caslin is the detective protagonist. He has plenty of flaws. But is he ever tenacious! He brings each problem excitingly to an end. I'm a fan and will be continuing to read the series.
I really enjoyed all three of these books.They were well written and I liked the characters.They all revolve around DI Caslin and the underground people that pepper his life.He works against a system that seems to fight him and sometimes the bad guys win.Greg Patmore was a terrific narrator!I look forward to more in this series.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
This is a quality collection of stories well written Police procedural stories with more than enough surprising twists along the way, believable characters and attention to detail. Engaging from first to last page, with several exciting action sequences that had me holding my breath. Our hero has his problems, no surprise there, but they play less of a part in the later books.
The main character is someone you can relate to not wanting to trust management as they normally only have one goal to further their own career, that said he does trust some. He takes things at breakneck speed but gets results. I was surprised at the number of deaths of main characters but this all added to the suspense of the chase. Well done.
Loved this book. I really didn't want to get to the end. Thank you for entertaining me so effectively through this lockdown. Only one critism. Too many American words. We don't have elevators and closets here in the UK and the word gotten seems to be infiltrating our vocabulary at an alarming rate. Small thing really, the book was fab.
On the whole I enjoyed the trilogy. Don’t think it’s as good as other crime fiction books I normally read. I think part of the appeal for me is it’s based in my home town and I’m very familiar with all the places visited, if not for this I probably wouldn’t be that interested in reading more of this series.
I have really enjoyed the Hidden Norfolk series by this author.
This follows a maverick detective called Nathaniel in the beautiful city of York.
Three very different murders, Eastern European crooks to Irish nationals, with a very high murder rate. I enjoyed them, but didn't feel the main character really developed over the 3 books.
I started this series just for something to read and ended up reading all 4 books that he has going on it so far. The next will be out in March and am looking forward to it. Little different read since the writer is English but still enjoyed them.
I’m hooked if you like your books with unconventional characters and story lines that make you hold your breath give these books a try a must for Robin Roughley and Joy Ellis fans
Picked up books 1-3 for a holiday read. Read them in a few days. Not great works of literature, but definitely worth a read if you like crime novels. Found them difficult to put down.
Calling these Book 1 to 3 of "The Dark Yourshire Series" is informative as they belong to the noir type of mystery. If you like that type then you'll like these three mysteries. Well written and action packed they'll keep you on edge to find what's next.
Couldn't really get into this book. I am usually loathe to stop reading midway but the main character didn't appeal to me whatsoever so I only read to chapter 4. The story is not gripping enough and the dialogue falls flat.
If you enjoy good, old fashioned police work, with a hint of spooks, this series is definitely for you. It takes a while to warm to Mate but he becomes the man you want by your side.
Most readable DI crime stories since the early Rebus books by Ian Rankin. Lots of twists and turns and food for thought. I just wouldn't like to be one of his mates or family, they all end up as hostages!
These books went in a totally different direction than I expected but they were a fantaxtic, gripping read that I couldn't put down. They are so well written that I really feel like I know the characters personally. I can't wait to read the next in this series.
New to this series. I enjoyed the use of York as the setting and although Caislin is a typically flawed, troubled individual with many personal demons I liked his detective skills and the way the stories developed. After all, a perfectly well balanced main character would be quite tedious! Looking forward to reading the next set of books in this series.
DNF Really unappealing main character, so stereotypical I could from chapter 1 foretell how the story would play out, and lousy formatting which quickly tipped me beyond my admitedly low tolerance level.