There are three sides to every story Yours. Theirs. And the Truth. Michael Brady is back. The Edge of Truth is the fifth book in the series. And there’s a ghost from Brady’s past…
‘This series gets better and better and better.’ ‘Brilliant. Brady is fast becoming the Yorkshire Rebus.’
The push that sent Diane Macdonald over the cliff edge was surprisingly gentle. She was walking her dog on the cliff top. Runswick Bay, a few miles north of Whitby. Thirty-six hours later her body is found at the bottom of the cliff. Brady’s convinced it’s murder. But there’s no evidence. And only one witness. Gerry Donoghue, a homeless ex-veteran. A man with a deep, dark secret. And now he’s disappeared. Leaving Brady with Diane’s husband, Graham Macdonald – the ghost from Brady’s past.
“It was Christmas Eve. We were eighteen or nineteen. Just back from our first term at university. Four of us went to Robin Hood’s Bay. Why we didn’t just get pissed in Whitby I’ll never know. Lizzie gets into a car driven by a boy called Graham Macdonald. His dad’s the Chief Constable.” “This isn’t going to end well.” “There was a crash. Lizzie died at the scene. Macdonald wasn’t there. A crash that killed Lizzie, he escaped with a few bruises. The son of the Chief Constable was running away. Scampering across the fields, hand-in-hand with his guardian angel.”
Twenty-five years later and Macdonald is an MP. And a good friend of Brady’s boss, Kershaw. So there’s pressure. Plenty of pressure. And Michael Brady’s not dealing with it very well. He starts to make increasingly rash decisions – putting his personal and his professional relationships at risk.
But you know Brady by now. He won’t let it go. He can’t let it go…
‘Another excellent read from Mark Richards that I couldn’t put down. I was hooked from the very first chapter. He draws you into the story with relatable characters and intense storylines. That work I was supposed to be doing? I completely ignored it until I’d finished the book…’
The Michael Brady books are perfect for fans of J D Kirk, Jason Dalgleish, T G Reid, David Gatward – and anyone who likes characters who’ll become lifelong friends.
It was so good to be back in Whitby this past week and the bonus was I was with DCI Michael Brady and the gang. Lots in this book - the mystery of a woman found at the bottom of the cliffs - did she fall or was she pushed and her link to Brady's old nemesis , currently an MP, added an interesting edge to the investigation, which of course wasn't straight forward, with quite a few twists and turns - one if which caught me completely off guard.
Then, there's Michael Brady himself - one of the things I've loved most about this series is being part of Brady's journey and the introspection in Edge of Truth was a poignant and a totally believable character development. Brady is at a crossroads and I can't wait to see which road he travels next in his pursuit of justice. As usual, Richards has sneakily lef us with a little hook, so I'm hoping it won't be too long till the next Brady book!
I realise, of course, that many readers of books will have no interest whatsoever in cars and that my recent comparison - which was somewhat tenuous, I'll admit - of Jess Kitching's novels to Porsches may well have either had them yawning or gone right over their heads. Well, if you're in that camp, here's a word of warning: I'm about to do the same thing again. I'm sorry, but I've tried to think of a better analogy and failed. With Mark Richards' DI Brady novels, I'm reminded - and be assured, I absolutely mean this as a complement - the Volkswagen Golf.
Ever since its launch in 1974 - which makes it even older than me - it's deservedly been popular. But with the Mk7 version, launched in 2013, everything really seemed to fall into place. It was, quite simply, the best, most complete small car you could buy.
The trouble was that after its launch, Volkswagen had one or two much-publicised cash flow problems. It was reported in 2020 that the 'dieselgate' scandal had cost the company 31 billion euros. And when that had been spent, the loose change that was left over had to be invested in the manufacture of electric vehicles. There was nothing left in the piggy bank for a replacement Golf.
Which is why, when the Mk8 Golf launched in 2020, it was, in almost every way, the same as the old one. And that was fine, because even after 7 years since it first went on sale, the old one was still the best, most complete small car you could buy. As Jeremy Clarkson - say what you like about him as a man, but he's a fantastic writer and reviewer - put it, "if you set out to rethink the concept of a table, you'll end up with a table. And if you set out to rethink the concept of a car, you'll end up with a Golf".
But there was just one problem. The new car had a terrible multimedia system. Someone had decided to remove all the buttons and make the entire thing touch-screen, which meant that even something as simple as changing the volume on the radio required you to enter a sub-menu. For anyone older than about 12, it was confusing and for anyone actually driving the car at the same time, it was just about impossible.
The current Golf, then, is still a very good thing. But it lacks something compared to its predecessor. And it's this point that brings me to the latest DI Michael Brady novel.
I was first introduced to Mark Richards at the time of his last book, Choke Back The Tears, which is the fourth in the DI Brady series. I loved it. Yes, there are other crime fiction books by other authors that can do a faster pace, a higher body count, a more intricate 'whodunnit' type of plot or a more detailed police procedural. But there are few, if any, that can explore location or the psychology of its main characters as well as this one does. I remember saying at the time that I felt I had got to know DI Brady well enough to talk to him if I met him tomorrow, and that I could even see Brady tours of Whitby becoming a thing in the way that Rebus tours of Edinburgh have done.
Good news: in the new book, we get plenty more of that. Brady's personal relationship with his daughter, his professional one with his colleague Frankie and a budding romantic one are all tested in one way or another, and sometimes at the same time. In each case, Brady as a character had been so well-portrayed that I not only understood his reasons for deciding to do or say what he did; I almost felt as though I knew what his decisions would be before he made them. And it's not only Brady who works as a character study. I'll limit what I say for fear of spoilers, but had a lump in my throat at another character bravely facing up to a diagnosis of a long-term and terminal illness.
The sense of location, too, is still here. Much of the story takes place on the cliff path between Whitby and Sandsend. The descriptions are good enough that I could clearly visualise it. In particular, its beauty when the weather is good and bleakness when it's bad are clearly, and wonderfully portrayed.
My problem is that this time, I felt that the story was lacking something. The wife of a prominent local MP is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Accident, suicide or murder? Brady senses the latter despite there being no clear evidence. But is the MP in question really as indifferent to his wife's death as he appears? Is it just that he and Brady have a past history, as a result of which Brady dislikes him intensely?
Dare I say though that that's about it. Much of the rest of the book seemed to consist of Brady forming different theories about who killed the lady and why. It felt as though he was only able to do this because his arrogant, self-obsessed boss was away in London, sucking it up to the big boys in the Metropolitan police. I don't want to suggest that the book felt boring at any point - the character study element is way too strong for that - but, for the most part, it didn't exactly feel riveting either.
It's possible that I'm being unfair here, because I realised as I was writing this review that I couldn't actually remember anything about the plot of Choke Back The Tears. So I went back and re-read my review of that book only to find that I hadn't actually said a single thing about the storyline. So maybe getting to know the then-new-to-me characters was enough last time round, but this time, with them all that bit more familiar, the plot is a bit more of an issue.
The Edge of Truth is still a very, very enjoyable book. It contains everything we know and love with regard to the characters and the setting. But I'm going to be cold-hearted for a second. When all is said and done, this is the latest in a police series. And I felt that, for the book to be really complete, the police characters needed to have been given a bit more to do.
My sincere thanks to the author for the gifted digital copy of the book, which I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly. I will post my review on Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram and my blog at www.mycosybooknook.wordpress.com.
The Edge of Truth is book 5 in the DCI Michael Brady series by Mark Richards. Diane Macdonald went over the cliff surprisingly easy. Michael is a thinker but can still be impulsive at times. He gets a bee in his bonnet and Frankie has to pull him back. But the investigation into her death is anything but easy. Love Mark’s writing. I love reading his thought processes The story moves along at quite a gentle pace, but you can still feel the tension. He paints a great picture of the scene, whether it be Whitby or the Moors. And the characters get under your skin. There is Ash, his daughter, and what a great relationship they have. Frankie, his DS and Siobhan, who has not long been in his life. Plenty of humour throughout too, which I like. Loved Gerry and Magic Pockets, a couple of new characters. Hope they are back again in a future book. Loved this book and recommend the whole series.
I have read all the Brady books, long and short. I love him, I really do. He is complicated without cliché. He knows right from wrong, which doesn’t always mean following the letter of the law. He cares deeply about his daughter, his murdered wife, his dog, his coworkers (I include Dave among them), his girlfriend, and justice. In this book, he gets more wrong than he gets right, until nearly the end —and that’s all I will say about the end—but each time he thinks he knows what happened, he convinces me that he does, until he (and I) learn that he is wrong once again. Angels appear in strange ways, don’t they?
Mark Richards writes beautifully, with intelligence, and with respect for the intelligence of his readers. I am sorry the book is over and am already looking forward to Brady 6.
If you haven't already started the Michael Brady series by Mark Richards, then you need to rush out and buy Book One in the series. I've just finished The Edge of Truth, Book Five, and I'm so sad to have finished it and now have to wait for Book Six to come out. Mark Richards' writing just keeps getting better and better. There was absolutely nothing I didn't like about this book, other than that it ended. The characters have become so developed and I feel like they are friends I would love to hang around with. I highly recommend these books to anyone who likes intelligent well-developed characters, plots, and a beautiful sense of place. You won't be sorry!
This series just gets better and better as the characters grow and you follow along. I'm totally invested in Brady's life, both professional and personal. He's at a bit of a crossroads in this one in his personal life and the turmoil is palpable with Ash growing up and wanting answers relating to her mother's death and then there's his relationship with Siobhan. At the same time, the wife of an MP is killed after falling off a cliff. Brady is sure its a murder but isn't sure he can prove it.
There are a few new characters in this who are really interesting, Magic Pockets being one I really liked. The intrigue didn't let up for me throughout with the constant question in my head of how will Brady get to the bottom of things. It's a wonderful read with a satisfying ending and a little teaser that makes me restless waiting for the next instalment.
I absolutely loved The Edge of Truth, could be my favourite Brady tale yet. They just keep getting better.
It’s always good to reconnect with the characters we now know and love in the series but the new characters that are introduced are just as wonderful. I absolutely loved Magic, he is brilliant and I hope we meet him again in the future! Also loved Gerry and his story.
Brady’s life should be becoming simpler but it seems there’s always something to untangle! Looking forward to the next book 🙂
The wife of a member of parliament falls off a cliff. Accident or murder? Brady's boss wants it cleared up immediately - how can it be anything but an accident? Brady has history with this MP (as related in an earlier book) and he seems very unmoved by his wife's death. I really enjoyed Brady's dogged pursuit of the truth, even when it puts him in danger. These characters are developing brilliantly and I like the way we see Brady's thought processes. He gets help in this case from a couple of unexpected characters, and the finale is hugely exciting. Love this series.
Excellent British police procedural (?) While I know little about actual police procedures in the UK, the background is one of civil order (the usual layabouts and skinheads being marginalized), and the protagonists take their policing seriously. They are also shown as members of the community, not vigilantes swooping in to save the day. In this case, murder is occasioned by the usual mix of fear and hate, against a background of dodgy politics, with a thoroughly believable plot and cast of characters. I look forward to the next in this series!
No disappointment s with book number 5, the continued story of Michael Brady.The only disappointment is having to wait for #6! One of my favorite series and authors! Highly recommend especially if you love detective fiction set in England! Whitby is on my bucket list!
Not as enjoyable as previous books in the series. I have read them alongside many others and couldn’t remember the references…. Added to that, too many reflective passages - and too many repeats of them.
The overall story was good and it’s always pleasant to catch up with these characters. Pity Brady has taken to living in his head - and memories.
This series just keeps getting better and better. Once you start a book by Mark you won't put it down like me. I Absolutely enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend to other avid readers like me.
A well paced book that kept me guessing until near the end. It was great to be back with Brady and Frankie and the others. Nice to meet a couple of new people that I hope to see more of. A wonderful series that are best read in order.
This fabulous story kept me guessing. I kept thinking I had it worked out but nope. I love the way the characters come to life in these books. Definitely well worth reading.
Not bad. Exciting in parts and plodded for a bit. The stream of consciousness is getting bit annoying. Isn't it about time there was resolution to the wife's death? It seems to strung out a bit too far.
This is the fifth book in the Michael Brady series and they just get better and better. Full of twists and turns. With an unexpected ending. This book is has lots of interesting and likeable characters. Very highly recommended.
enjoyed more than #4, good secondary chars. daughter continues to sparkle. main annoyance is the repetition of dialogue in his thoughts, again and again.
I've loved these books since the beginning and am now firmly attached to the characters and enjoy picking up with them again to see what they're up to. This book belonged to Brady and Frankie with a cast of wonderful side characters, perhaps my favourite being magic pockets but its a tough call. A woman goes over a cliff, did she fall or was she pushed? Brady is sure it's murder but can he prove it. Along with quite a frantic pace with the case taking the team all over there was a lot of introspection, Brady wondering about his career. Ash, Siobhan and other characters all tell him he needs more, and one day Whitby may not be enough. There is the ongoing mystery of who killed Bradys wife, Ash wanting to know and Brady wondering whether he done the right thing moving them away and not investigating it, whether he could progress his relationship if he doesn't. I read this cover to cover in one hit (sorry Mark) but I couldn't put it down. It was written so you just had to know. I think this is Marks deepest most serious book yet and the best. The writing, characterisation and plot are all impeccable. This can be read as a standalone but I strongly recommend you start at the beginning because it's a wonderful series.