A Dance of Ghosts

PI John Craine #1

by Kevin Brooks

PI John Craine is struggling to cope with the weight of his past. Sixteen years ago his wife, Stacy, was brutally murdered. Craine found her body in their bed. And since then, to escape the pain and the unanswered questions, he has buried himself in work by day, and whisky by night.

But one phone call changes everything. The mother of missing young woman Anna Gerrish calls on his services, and Craine soon finds himself at the centre of a sinister web of corruption and lies that leads back into the murky waters of the past - and to the night that Craine has spent over a decade trying to forget. As he delves deeper and deeper into the case everything gets increasingly, terrifyingly, personal. And it's down to Craine to stop history from repeating itself ...

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, British Literature, Crime, Fiction

405 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2010

About the author

Kevin Brooks was born in 1959 and grew up in Exeter, Devon, England. He studied Psychology and Philosophy at Birmingham, Aston University in 1980 and Cultural Studies in London in 1983. Kevin Brooks has been in a variety of jobs including: musician, gasoline station attendant, crematorium handyman, civil service clerk, hot dog vendor at the London Zoo, post office clerk, and railway ticket office clerk.

Kevin Brooks's writing career started with the publication of Martyn Pig in 2002 through The Chicken House which won the Branford Boase Award 2003 and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. He also wrote Lucas (2002) which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and Booktrust Teenage Prize in 2003 also winning the North East Book Award in 2004.

In 2004 he published Kissing the Rain and Bloodline and I See You, Baby and Candy in 2005. In 2006 he published 3 books including: Johnny Delgado Series - Like Father, Like Son and Private Detective as well as The Road of the Dead; a standalone novel. In February 2008 he published the standalone book Black Rabbit Summer.

As a child, Kevin Brooks enjoyed reading detective novels. He writes most plots of the various books he has written around crime fiction. He likes mystery and suspence and enjoys putting both of those components into each and every story he writes in some shape or form.

Reviews

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this foray into adult literature - not that it really seems much different from KB's YA novels. His writing is of that certain style that easily transcends the audiences.

This book was full of suspense and tension and twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat, turning the pages as quickly as I could, reading as fast as I dared.

But wow, was it brutal. So, I cringed and squirmed in some parts, but I'm a wimp and so I can't wait to read the next book and find out what happens next. Because despite all of the graphic gore I think I'm addicted.

Reminds me a little of Ian Rankin's Rebus. Only Craine isn't a detective inspector and he swims in whisky.

[Vicki Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

• 4 stars •
*re-read*

[Linda Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Craine's pregnant wife was brutally murdered - stabbed, raped, strangled - 16 years ago. The killer was never caught.

Present day - John is a private investigator, still trying to get through day by day. A woman arrives in his office and wants to hire him to find her daughter. When he finds the body, there is evidence that she was killed by the same man who killed his wife.

Throw in a corrupt detective in charge of these cases, a flirty female tenant, a nephew who is a computer genius and a dog named Walter and you get a pretty good mystery.

The characters are strong, the plot is good, there were a couple of twists and turns to keep things interesting. I did not really like the ending .... but there are 2 more books in the series and I'm presuming that the 2nd in the series will pick up right where this one stops.

I gave it 5 stars and now I need to find the next one with John Craine.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who needs dystopian futures when you have Kevin Brooks's present-day England? Run-down council blocks, neglected terraces, drugs and crime everywhere. Our hero is a hard-boiled detective on the surface, but underneath he's a completely broken man, unable to get over his wife's murder.

If it hadn't been for John Craine's personality, I think I would've found this book too gritty and violent for my taste, but I found myself caring about the character and that kept me reading.

[Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Crane is having a rough life and that's a huge understatement. John is a good man and unfortunately ife has not been kind to him. His father was a policeman who uncovered corruption in the police force and tried to do the right thing and report it. But turns out his superiors were in on it and they made his life hell. He ended up committing "suicide". John's beloved wife, Stacy, who was pregnant with their first child was brutally raped and murdered and John came home to find her body. Naturally he fell into a deep depression, started drinking heavily and using drugs. His life was going down the drain rapidly when a friend of his father's offered him a job in his detective agency. Of course John had to clean up his act which he somehow managed to do and started heading in a more positive direction. Things are going mostly well for him. He has a business, a cranky but lovable secretary, an upstairs tenant who happens to look a lot like his dead wife and a nephew who is a computer genius. Then one day a woman comes to him and asks his help to find her missing daughter. The police haven't found any clues and she has no one else to turn to. So John begins the investigation and ends up finding out way too much information and ends up making the still corrupt police detective mad. A good story, very suspenseful and I really liked the characters and felt sympathy for them. There's three books in this series and I am looking forward to the next one.

[Joey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this is the worst book I’ve ever read. It was so bad that I knew I liked Brooks, so I decided to order one of his books and I unknowingly ordered this book that I had already suffered through. I prefer Brooks’ one-offs rather than series...

[Sarah Stocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

PI John Craine is a man with a past that haunts his everyday….I love a flawed hero! I enjoyed this but beware dog lovers of the ending which bothered me.


I would continue with the series as I want to know more about this character….even though his liver must be shot!

[Devilinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good thriller!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsive read

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I found it compelling and wanted to keep reading as the story unfolded. A quick and good read.

[Sue Tabram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent e-audio book. Loved the male narrator Paul Thornley. He made listening to the story a excellent experience. I will now look to find Paul Thornley....

[Ber Spiteri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading it. A bit of a twist in the end, but I think the book needed a couple more pages to the ending.

[Brian Springett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awful lot about the main character and his feelings, trauma etc feels more like setting up for further books rather than the main story.

[xarual · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als Gelegenheits-Krimi-Leserin hat "Schlafende Geister" für mich eine tolle Kriminalgeschichte mit einem gut ausgearbeiteten Fall geboten.

Meine vollständige Rezension: http://watchreadtalk.blogspot.de/2017...

[Ken Finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much from 'A Dance of Ghosts', Kevin Brooks' first adult novel. A couple of pages in and I was thinking that maybe it was time to pull the plug ... and then it took off like a rocket. When it comes to P.I.s there is little or nothing new under the sun so, for me, it is about the writing, the setting and the pace. This has all three in spades.
There's murder, historic and in the present, violence (John Craine can certainly take a beating and, on occasion, hand it out), and a strong cast of interesting characters.
I enjoyed it tremendously.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dance of Ghosts is crime novel where the lead character is John Craine a Private Investigator who is hired by the mother of a missing young woman Anna Garish as she doesn't think the Police are carrying out an investigation.

John Craine fits the standard for British crime novels in that he is a man with a past who bends (and breaks) rules to get to the truth but basically a likeable character. He has an older lady as his secretary and plenty of links to the Police who worked alongside his dead father who are instrumental in him exploring the past whilst he tries to get to the truth about Anna Gerrish.

The story moves at a pace and it is an enjoyable read although I found some basic errors in timelines off putting. For instance Cal (John's dead wife's nephew) is 28, John had known him for 14 years but his wife had been dead for 17! Someone John knew in 1991 had reminded him of Fred West although no-one knew about him for another 3 years. Little things maybe...

Although there are still some outstanding questions about characters that appear (particularly John's father) this book was better than many in this genre and I will look out for this author in the future.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awful. Just awful. Unreadable. Gave up.

Had heard such good things about his young adult fiction so I picked up this adult crime thriller. Honestly, so badly written. Who thinks people talk like that.

Firstly he goes to a house which might as well have a banner hung outside saying "Pedo" and then a family which reinforces every cliched stereotype you can think of. Then he has the character who survived this abuse just blurt shit out about it down at the pub. Coz yeah, that's what people do. If your dad had raped you since you were a little girl, you would talk about it down the pub, to the folk you work who are not even your friends. Aye, that's how folk act.

Honestly so stupid and so badly written. Set my teeth on edge it did. Gave up.

[Benita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author and I was pleased with it. The characters were great and their actions were believable. The author drew me into the story and I could hardly wait to see what would happen next. I even found myself frighted at times. Fast paced, great writing. I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Nidofito · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Kevin Brooks and I've read almost all his YA novels. I think I prefer those as compared to adult literature. I found the story a little slow but I think it might be due to the fact that it's part of a series. The story was full of suspense and tension and twists and turns, though (and I loved it!). And if you've ever read his books, you'd know that that is his forte.

[Doreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

i found the story plot to be average. the MC has a flawed character which is understandable since he suffered from a tragic loss - a chain smoker, alcoholic and occasional drug abuser (simply for the purpose to stimulate his brain and to keep awake). after it was revealed of the connection between the villain(s), it was easy to guess the outcome of this story. i prefer the author's YA books.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

first kevin brooks book i've read, fantastic, couldn't stop turning the pages and finished in less than a week, will definitely read more of his. built up the suspense and the ending was brilliant, left me wanting more

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

good plot re man who crashed and burned after his wife was murdered by a serial killer and is now a PI trying to solve disappearance of a prostitute whose mother is in denial. A story of corruption and another killer. Ending a little too neat.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought this was very good. The way he went about solving the crime. Kept me looking forward to reading every night. Usually I won't pick up a book over 350 pgs, but was intrigued by cover and title.

[Danni Goss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but there are quite a few parts of this book that were not well thought out and a lot of facts that contradict themselves.

[Rachel Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about the book to start with but the satisfying plotting meant that overall it was a good read. I think this is the first in a series, so I'll be looking out for the next one.

[Patsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Angeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

AMAZING TWIST IN PLOT!! .... BUT A VERY DISAPPOINTING CLIMAX!! .... :(

[Cayla Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing. Suspenseful. I wasn't a fan of the ending ... or was I?

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

good start to a for me new series/ author.
exciting plot.
ending was a bit blunt and sudden , (but ok)
carries on to next book
great narration by Paul Thornley