For the Death of Me

Oz Blackstone #9

by Quintin Jardine

It's summertime in Monaco and Oz Blackstone is sitting on the verandah of his opulent mansion - one of three homes - idly gazing at Roman Abramovich's luxury yacht as it gently cruises into the harbour. Life doesn't get much better than this. But somebody knows where he lives. A struggling author sweet talks him into buying the movie rights to his latest novel for $50,000, and a shocking trap is laid. The demons of the past begin to creep up on Oz's sunny blackmail and murder are lurking in the shadows. Oz travels all the way to Singapore to track down the owner of some incriminating photographs but he's in grave danger of over-exposure. And when organised crime muscles in on the picture, Oz is getting perilously close to losing a lot more than his wealth and reputation...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Quintin Jardine (born 1945) is a Scottish author of three series of crime novels, featuring the fictional characters Bob Skinner, Oz Blackstone, and Primavera Blackstone. He was educated in Motherwell and in Glasgow where he studied at what was then the city’s only University. After career as a journalist, government information officer and media relations consultant, he took to the creation of crime fiction.

His first wife, Irene, with whom he shared over 30 years, from their teens, died in 1997. He is married, to his second wife, Eileen. They live in both Scotland and in Spain

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oz Blackstone book 9 On the face of it, a Scots born Hollywood actor as a detective hero shouldn't work, but Jardine manages it. Oz Blackstone is looking to liaise between a dispute between his soon to be Supreme Court judge brother-in-law and his quite unpleasant ex-wife and gets drawn into a crossing paths with a South East Asian Triad based in Singapore. Quite an entertaining read with a not so easily predicted plot with some good twists. 5 out of 12

[comfort · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was a bit disappointed in this story, it takes us all over the world and introduces a number of characters, but I found it all a bit much.
Oz is approached by an unknown author to read his manuscript as he thinks it would make a great movie starring Oz. It turns out this unknown author is no other than his old buddy who is thought to be dead.

Prim also comes back into his life after being released from goal as she had tried to not only kill him but to ruin his family. He, Oz, lets her back in(spare me!).

The three of them go off on a merry chase jumping from Monaco to Singapore to USA.

Ultimately I found this book my least favourite of the series, except for one huge bombshell Janet's (his first wifes)mother tells him after much coercing. (There is a bit of the ick factor with this revelation.

[Redfox5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've jumped in at book 9. This is a simple kind of book than can be read as a stand alone. You get fed enough background history, at no point did I feel lost.

Oz Blackstone gave me the ick. Married to his third wife Susie, he swans off on a mission with his ex wife Prim, who at one point he is causally holding hands with while walking around New York. How disrespectful. And even before this he flirts and kisses another women. Later on in the story, fucking that woman ends up saving his life. Cue lots of eye rolling from me. So yeah I had trouble warming to him.

The plot is pacey but completely over the top and very unrealistic. Also some incest thrown in there. A book for when you can't be arsed to do any thinking. Not in any hurry to read the rest of the series.

[Amelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast paced and a bit weird but still enjoyable... The main character is definitely not a good person but I liked him despite myself - he was written very well

[Nerucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is adultery so normalized in this book??!
The only good part was the ending

[Ljohnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last of the Oz Blackstone series leaves us mourning Prim and Dylan, who reappeared a book or two earlier. Oz as always needs to help out his brother in law with a potential embarrassing situation. This leads him and others to Singapore tracking an ex. Death and deceiving is on the menu until the very end.
It’s too much for Oz as he appears to have faced adversity to many times and needs to settle down with family and kids . No further excitement means no more Oz stories to tell or books to read.
A nice nine book series tying in a mention here and there of various books in the author’s Skinner series of which there are 30 books and counting. Some characters just don’t last. Farewell Oz.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another rapid-fire Oz Blackstone romp (#9 in the series). He's a bit more smug even than before, but given enough good plot-twists (triads are the baddies this time) and scenic tours (Monaco to Singapore, Malaysia, Scotland and New York) to make for entertaining distraction.
The self-references to Jardine's other protagonist, Skinner, get their usual cameos (I suppose it's now become an anticipated, irrelevant sales-pushing vignette, hard to dump). The other motif that's getting a bit hackneyed is the return-from-the-dead link that bounces from novel to novel (kill 'em off in one, revive 'em miraculously in the next). This one starts and (presumably) ends with one - different characters, though.
Quick read for an airport layover or red-eye flight.
(Why do I enjoy these things, despite my cynical expectations? I finished my last NY Times Sunday X-word puzzle book is why. My mental and sleep-deprived nocturnal world obviously needs such harmless, time-limited rounded-off experiences.)

[Hannah Polley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book must be a book in a series as it kept referencing previous dramatic events and there seemed to be a lot of assumed knowledge but I was able to follow the story without this so it does not affect the book too much.

The main character is an A list movie star, Oz Blackstone, and I just couldn't warm to him. He seems like a control freak and he cheats on his wife. The book dedicates one paragraph to his wife finding out and her reaction - one paragraph?! Really!

Apart from my feelings towards the main character, I did enjoy the book and I didn't work out the mystery before it was revealed so it had the suspense element all the way through. An easy read but I won't go out of my way to read any other books in this series.

[Lbaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I set this as a Scottish murder although it mostly happens elsewhere, however Oz is so thoroughly Scottish that the setting really doesn't matter.

The only thing keeping me from making this a 5 star book is the author's liking of bringing characters back from the dead, there are a lot of people on this planet, if you kill one off in a book, leave them dead and find a new person!

However, Oz is his normal egotistical bigger than life, likable self surrounded by interesting good and not so good characters.

I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Deeksha Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it completely! The book bound me to itself, careful and amazing characterisation and storyline is quite impressive. The writer beautifully pulls the suspense until he decides to reveal stuff! The climax was completely unpredictable, as far as I'm concerned!
A perfect blend of suspense with romance!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oz triumphs again, enjoyable light read.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light hearted, liked the first person humour. Story line was fair but not exactly gripping.

[Kay Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a bit of getting into, different from his 1st series of books. Would try another.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

first of his I have read. Straight pulp but quite fun. Good bits of scottish humour but characters and story a bit over the top for my taste. A good filler