Crack Down

Kate Brannigan #3

by Val McDermid

There was only one reason Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan was prepared to let her boyfriend help out with the investigation into a car sales fraud – nothing bad could happen. But by now Kate should know that with Richard you have to expect the unexpected.

With the unexpected being Richard behind bars, Kate seems to be the obvious choice to look after his eight-year-old son – who proves even more troublesome than his father. Kate finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, fraudsters and violent gangland enforcers… bringing her face to face with death in the most terrifying investigation of her career.

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

307 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.

She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.

She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talk about "things escalating quickly"


First Sentence: If slugs could smile, they'd have no trouble finding jobs as car salesmen.

I'm still not sure how McDermid gets form stolen cars to child pornography; but hey, it was entertaining.
I still feel that everything is just a little to convenient for Kate, but I've come to accept that and is now just enjoying these books. It is quick reads and overall not to bad, not as good as I know McDermid can be, but alas.

[Ivana Books Are Magic · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like a good detective story with a strong female lead, this one will not disappoint you. For me, this is one of those books that I enjoyed while reading it, but forgot soon after. I do read and enjoy detective stories from time to time. Modern ones are typically not my first pick, but I did enjoyed quite a few of them and this one falls into that category. My encounters with this genre being based mostly on my love for Agatha Christie, I'm not really an expert as modern detective stories go, but I liked this novel. The main reason probably being that I liked the heroine. Kate B. is really unromantic, down to earth, no nonsense kind of heroine. The reason why I'm often not attracted to this kind of novels is that lately I feel bombarded on the subject of murder by the media, especially the television (How many CSI shows are there, something like 10? Sometimes it feels like there isn't anything but crime and murder in the media). So, vintage crime with less blood and more psychological stuff is usually my pick. That being said, the story did not seem as something already seen. The protagonist seemed like an interesting character and I liked that. However, the ending was not difficult to guess but maybe that is to be expected. Easy to read. Fun. I do recommend it.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars - The Kate Brannigan series isn't the best of Val McDermid's work, but it fills that perfect place for a "2-3" day book. Perfect for the commute and a few chapters at night, and then bang, it's wrapped up.

What is personally notable about Crack Down is that it is the 16th Val McDermid book that I've read, so that pushes her a notch up my Most Read Authors list on GoodReads. Most importantly, that means there is one more author listed above James Patterson. When I first found the "Most Read Authors" list, Patterson was in the top 10. With a little bit of work, I've moved him down to #16.

I plan to read the final 3 Kate Brannigan books sooner, but then should find another author to move past the James Patterson line. I am glad to know that there are many more books by McDermid that I want to read...and many more authors who deserve a higher place on my list. (Quick reminder note to myself: I found my first McDermid book because it was mentioned in Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)

Oh, since I've said nothing of real pertinence about Crack Down, I'll include this fun passage: "It's a piece of cake, being a lawyer or a doctor or a computer systems analyst or an accountant. Libraries are full of books telling you how to do it. The only textbooks for private eyes are on the fiction shelves, and I don't remember ever reading one that told me how to interrogate an eight-year-old without feeling like I was auditioning for the Gestapo."

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Val McDermind

[jules revel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was a slow start but by book 3 I am seeing glimpses of the exceptional writer McDermid has become.

[David]

If Sam Spade had been fortunate enough to be born British and female, Kate Brannigan might be the result. This one is deep into drugs (as the title might suggest) and its villains are pretty vile (pedophilia and child pornography also play a role). Brannigan is more than up to the challenge of muscling in where angels fear (and police know it is illegal) to tread.

[Naomi (aplace_inthesun) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Kate Brannigan but I enjoy McDermid’s police characters more.
I read this as an audio book.

[Lillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Mary Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third Kate Brannigan book and in my opinion the best yet. I do think Val McDermid is good at highlighting social problems and is effective in how her characters deal with them.

[S.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Kate Brannigan PI is cool. Such an atmospheric, quick read. Definitely worth reading more in the series (probably should read the first two next as I somehow ended up with book 3 first!)

[Jerry B · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDermid's protagonist Kate Brannigan seems to have potential as an appealing female private eye, but this third in her six-book series seemed a little ho-hum. The first part about she and boyfriend Richard posing as car buyers is great fun, but then Richard gets framed in one of their spiffy short-term auto capers and lands in jail on a drug charge. Predictably, the police do little to consider alternatives, so it’s up to Kate to investigate the who and why on her own. Most of that involves rather dull car chasing and surveillance scenes, in which clues to explaining the whole mess appeared almost too easily. The bit about babysitting Richard’s son was a mere distraction.

We notice other readers feel this set is a bit lackluster compared to the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series. We’ve also read two of those and perhaps might find better entertainment there. That said, it’s almost like McDermid needs a better editor for the Brannigan set – it seems it could be way better without Kate appearing on every page – she’s just not that interesting after a while.

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the Kate Brannigan series, and more interesting than the last one, this has her investigating a drugs ring when her boyfriend Richard is arrested for driving a car with 2kg of crack in the boot. She drags in some of her friends that we've met in previous books to help when Richard's son shows up for a visit, so she can do a lot of driving around doing surveillance, while wearing dubious 90s fashion and eating a lot of junk food. As before, these books feel very dated now, although at least she's acquired a mobile phone and doesn't have to explain what a modem is now, but the musical references are a good reminder that this was published 20 years ago, and Val has developed a lot as a writer since then.
It's not bad, she's a likeable enough heroine and there are some witty jokes, but nowhere near as good as the Tony Hill series.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I really like this series of books but not as much as the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. Kate Brannigan is a very different character but the books are enjoyable. What I like about this author is that she has created very different characters in both sets of books. Often when you read books by the same author or even listen to songs by the same singer you start to recognise a style. I can't say this about these books which is a good thing. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Tububa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading the Brannigan books in order, and this is my third series of McDermid's (Hill/Jordan first, then Pirie). The worst thing about the Brannigan books is that occasionally, the plotting gets a bit baroque without being super-engaging. This was a fault of the second book, Kick Back, where I couldn't quite keep up with the real estate scams that underlay the narrative there. This is a bit of a problem in this book, too. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I found myself so confused about 60% into the book that I had to backtrack and listen again from about 25% in. On re-listening, I noted that my attention flagged around the point where the protagonist starts following the car thieves/drug dealers.

The main plot here is that Brannigan's boyfriend Richard is in trouble--he gets arrested for having drugs in his car. The car isn't even his, and it gets stolen from him, but of course the cops are not receptive to the explanation. Naturally, it falls to Brannigan to rescue Richard. This leads to subplots involving little boys on E(cstasy), child porn, drug dealing, car theft, guns for hire, and a lot of other things. Not all of these things are connected in an obvious way. At some point it feels like just a random pile-up of villainy, and when I listened to the book again, I realized it wasn't really my problem but Val's.

The action is not always engaging, but the voice of the narrator is fun, and for that alone, I have to say that I am enjoying these books a lot more than some of McDermid's other output. I can just imagine how she went through her days, occasionally jotting down Noir-style wisecracks to use in her Brannigan book. This is just fun to read, even if it is ephemeral and relatively lightweight. Good summer listening.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

PI Kate Brannigan has enlisted her boyfriend Richard Barclay in her investigation of fraudulent reporting to an automaker’s loan company. The scheme is pretty brilliant. Kate and Richard pose as a married a couple in search of a new car, buy the car from the dealership while the loan company awaits the interest payment that never comes. This all goes swimmingly until one evening when Richard takes the flash car to his work. The car is stolen when he’s inside. When he sees the car a couple of days later and still has the keys in his possession, he decides to repossess the car and fix it all. Well, fix it he does except that the police pull him over and discover two kilos of crack in the trunk. Try and talk your way out of that one Richard.

Poor Kate, she’s really stuck now. With infinite patience, Kate continues to trace the movements around the car, the establishments that could be involved. Working night and day she locates the car thief and further investigation inevitably leads to drug trafficking. But can she trust the drug squad with the information and get Richard out of jail?

Richard’s 10 year old son Dave is scheduled for a visit and the ends Kate goes to to cover childcare responsibilities is very funny.

A bit whimsical, not what I expect from McDermid, but readable nonetheless.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in Val McDermid's series about Manchester PI Kate Brannigan is the best one yet, as if McDermid was finally finding the way to spin these stories.

Brannigan is working a fraud investigation involving car financing, and so she's been taking her boyfriend Richard along with her on undercover assignments. They "buy" a car, and then two days later it's picked up by the client. But one night a snazzy car they bought is stolen. Then Richard spots it parked and decides to do his own repo. Unfortunately, he's then pulled over by the cops, who find crack in the trunk and child porn tucked into the backseat. Richard's arrested and tossed in jail.

Oh, and did I mention this is Richard's week to have custody of his 8-year-old?

Kate is seriously under the gun as she tries to figure out how to spring Richard, find the real villains, keep litle Davy oblivious to where his dad has gone and, oh yeah, satisfy the client whose snazzy car has now been impounded as evidence.

Kate calls in a bunch of favors and winds up being supported by friends as she juggles Davy and the investigation, which in the end leads to her literally being under the gun as a hit man comes for her with a loaded shotgun.

The end is very satisfying, and for once I followed the plot pretty clearly. I look forward to reading the fourth book in the series.

[Mindy McAdams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot moved along fairly well, but this book retained some of the flaws of the first two in the series — particularly a tedious attention to outfits that Kate is wearing, which adds nothing to the story, in my opinion. I wasn't enthusiastic at the start, as Kate and her boyfriend, Richard, are buying a fancy car as part of an investigation that's as dull as they come. Then the car gets stolen, and later, Richard finds it in another location, with different license plates, and while driving it home he gets stopped by police and arrested. Complications ensue. Richard spends most of the book in jail, and Kate works desperately to unravel the tangled criminal enterprises that have put him there. Meanwhile her friend Alexis and Alexis's partner provide an unbelievable number of hours of free childcare for Richard's 8-year-old kid, because otherwise Kate would not be able to do stakeouts and other surveillance for about 20 hours a day.

The plot was in some ways more interesting than the previous two, after Richard gets arrested and there's a genuine mystery to solve — but it still wasn't a gripping page turner like, say, a Jack Reacher novel or even the lighter, breezier Elvis Cole books.

.

[Lorne Strachan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty mediocre effort from a writer who has shown she can do so much better. It’s almost a cozy but fails to offer the humour or comfort of a cozy, while straining the reader’s patience with one of the silliest and most improbable lead characters imaginable.

Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan was prepared to let her boyfriend help out with the investigation into a car sales fraud because nothing bad could happen -- but of course it does, landing Richard behind bars and forcing Kate to expose much more serious crimes and solve cases that the police fail to even recognize as cases.

She gets herself into numerous difficult situations but is clever enough to outwit drug traffickers, child pornographers, fraudsters and gangland enforcers. The only thing she can’t seem to do is deal with her partner's eight year old son on an inconvenient visit.

I think I can tell where McDermid was trying to go with this one but I’d have to declare it to be a failure. It doesn’t work in any genre from what I could tell. An improbable, silly narrative peppered with absurd similes is not a guarantee of humour or success.

[Jackie Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit of a fan girl for Val McDermid's books so it is probably not a surprise that I enjoyed this.

It is like going back to see an old friend when I read one of her books. The Kate Brannigan series gives me a strong sense of place and time, occasionally tripping me up and reminding me that they are set in the near past before ubiquitous and small mobile phones, for example. I enjoy being taken for journeys around the North West of England.

This book hits the ground running, or driving, as Kate and her live-in, Richard, test drive a car. It's part of a successful investigation but it all goes a bit "Pete Tong" after the initial transaction. And then Richard's 9-year-old son comes to stay...

I love the depth of the relationships and the mixture of investigative and domestic detail and the hints of something more complicated going on and gradually revealed. It all ended very satisfactorily with the case closed. Excellent stuff.

[J Fearnley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read all the other Kate Brannigan books some years ago I thought it was time to complete the set.
Here Kate is looking to help prove that her boyfriend, Richard, isn’t a drug runner/trafficker and get him out of custody. Meanwhile, as had been planned, Richards son arrives for a visit.
Val McDermid weaves various strands of the story - car sales fraud, drug trafficking, child pornography, gangland crime and, of course, what to do with an eight year old when his father is behind bars (and you don’t want him or his mother to know) whilst you are working his case - seamlessly like the writing queen she is. There is humour, tension and pathos in this crackingly good read.
Well worth every one of these four stars - I would recommend this book and, indeed, all the others that make up the PI Kate Brannigan series.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Another solid entry in the series. I'm binge reading this and my only fear right now is that I'm going to finish it too soon.

I'm appreciating the humour in the series more and more, which wasn't that prevalent in the author's other series with Tony Hill and DI Jordan. But it's on full display here and I love it! Humour is very subjective so it may or may not work for others. For me, it's exactly my type of humour. Some might find it mean but that's how I function irl so I am all for it.

Apart from that, this book follows the same formula as the previous books where multiple mysteries were investigated and they all started with relatively low stakes, aka no murders. In this book, the stakes at the beginning were higher than the previous ones because Richard was wrongfully arrested. It was a good choice because now that we got to know and like Richard, it felt much more personal. The introduction of Richard's son Davy was delightful. Val McDermid is very good with writing memorable characters with little screen time. As a result, the murder of Cherie Roberts, the struggling single mother of Davy's two friends, did leave an impact on me, even though she only showed up in a couple of scenes. I also like how much we get to know more about Kate's friends. These side characters really made the series much more interesting.

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her nextdoor boyfriend Richard gets arrested when he decides to take back the car he reported days ago as stolen. facepalms. The problem is the crack cocaine in the boot and the child porn shot down the side of the seat.

Her only way to get him out of gaol [and out of the drug courier firing range] is to prove who are the real dealers.

He also is supposed to have custody of his kid this week. Oopsies. But the kid might be fine heading off to play with his friends from the housing project.

888

Brannigan really is a one woman wrecking ball. Goodness me.

3 stars

So far this year, my library saved me A$3,367.40

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in a six part series about the PI Kate Brannigan. I would recommend reading the series from the beginning, as you will find many characters recurring in each story. This one concerns, Kate being asked to investigate a car sales fraud and after asking her long term boyfriend Richard to help out, is soon involved in a case involving drugs, child pornography, fraudsters and enforcers. The series has a light hearted even black comic edge, with Kate, as central character being extremely easy to like! Enjoyable shorter reads and highly recommended.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I remembered reading from the first time around— and either I enjoyed it far more this time, or my memory confused this book with another series. In this one, Kate’s boyfriend is helping her with a car scam, and accidentally gets caught with a book [trunk] full of someone else’s crack and it is up to Kate to find the real culprits and child-mind her boyfriend’s visiting young son without letting him find out that his father’s in jail.

I like the fact that the mysteries usually develop into several different plots.

[Andy Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another retro-classic from Val McDermid’s back catalogue that fizzes with pace, suspense and Val’s trademark punchiness. This, the third Kate Brannigan novel, sees the Manchester private investigator involved in a case that is far too close to home for comfort. There’s the usual cast of characters involved in Brannigan’s life and only three books into the series, you can’t help warming to them. Crack Down is an excellent read and left me happy that book four in the series is waiting for me at home after it’s short journey from my local library.

[Sudhagar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5 star

My first book by McDermid.

Val really can write great plot and dialogues and creates colourful characters. The plot here is quite interesting with Val adding her own social and political commentaries to her story line. She has done some good research and that shows.

However on the flip side, it is rather unbelievable that a single PI like Kate can do things that the police have no clue about. Some of the plot is also rather illogical like Kate able to follow or staking the bad guys for so long without being discovered.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I've read a lot of this author's later novels, I hadn't read any of the Kate Brannigan series until a friend, amazed that I hadn't, passed on this one, as well as #4 in the series. Whilst it soon became clear that the author's writing style has 'matured' in the intervening years, I nevertheless found this story engaging enough to be prepared to spend time reading the next one before deciding whether I'll then pick up on the others in the series! I loved the Manchester setting - and being reminded of how much the city has changed in the past thirty years!

[Nicky Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Val McDermid is another author I really enjoy reading but finding her PI Kate Brannigan novels seems harder than her Tony Hill books or stand alones.

This is a Kate Brannigan book (#3) & we find her dealing with a client trying to catch dodgy car dealers offering the wrong finance packages. Things get complicated though when her boyfriend is arrested for driving a stolen car & she has to work extra hard to find the evidence to prove his innocence.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot to review this at the time I read it, but I did quite like it.

But then I made the mistake of deciding to try out one of McDermid's other series, and The Mermaids Singing, and that book was so homophobic and awful I don't think I"ll be reading any more Val McDermid books, unless I find out she has in more recent years addressed the horribleness of that back. (Yeah, I'll write a review of it on its own.)

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Brannigan junior partner of Mortenson & Brannigan Private Inquiry Agents does all the actual investigating. She has enlisted her lover Richard Barclay to assist her in sussing out fraud in various luxury auto dealerships. Purchase a car, record where they are referred for financing and a week after driving away, return the car to the manufacturer. This time the car gets stolen, then RB sees it and steals it back. Things don't go quite the way expected as he is picked up driving a stolen car and the boot has a large amount of crack in it, also a porn picture of a youngster in the back seat. Richard's 10 yr old son Davy is due for a 2 week school break visit and KB ends up not only responsible for keeping a 10 yr old entertained, but she has to prove that the charges against are unwarranted. To top things off Davy comes home stoned out of his mind from instant tranfser tattoos which he has pretty much covered himself with. Then the mother of the 2 boys Davy was playing with is murdered. Action cover to cover.