Open Season (Bob Skinner Book 34)

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Scottish crime-writing at its finest, with a healthy dose of plot twists and turns, bodies and plenty of brutality' SUN So... part of the fallout from Covid means that Bob is called upon to head the board of the media company he works at. This means travelling to head office more - something not that easy these days. Meanwhile there are a few fatal accidents happening at the homes of the same vulnerable he has been visiting - putting him on the radar of the Police as a suspect no less! The novel is told mostly from Bob Skinner’s first person point of view. This is interesting as I never really understand where he is coming from. He always seems so many steps ahead of the rest and sees angles no one else could conceive. It seems exhausting. At the same time he is a family man, albeit rather unreconstructed with the job coming first. As the secrets start unravelling, Skinner realises he has gravely underestimated someone close to him - and the effects will cost him, and those he loves, dear . . .

So once you have been taken down the most complex of family trees and “Super Bob” has once again been the power behind the two murders being solved you are still left with the unsolved Glasgow case.

Amidst a family celebration, a cataclysmic storm uncovers long-buried horrors - and a team of detectives struggle to solve a thirty-year-old double murder. We find Bob and his wife, Sarah, coming to the end of their self-isolation period, after suffering from Coronavirus. As the pandemic hit his home town of Gullane, Bob volunteers in his community offering help to the older residents. When a series of unexplained deaths occur, he yet again finds himself at the centre of a police investigation, and even becomes a suspect himself at one point. He’s not the only one of his ex-police colleagues to come under suspicion – when a headless body is found in a Glasgow flat – the secrets of a nation and one of it’s rising stars are at risk of being exposed. The gripping new mystery in Quintin Jardine's bestselling Bob Skinner series, not to be missed by readers of Ian Rankin and Peter May. I would also describe this story as rip-roaring - just when you think, as a reader, you've been done out of a story one emerges and the ending will surprise everyone. But again, you will have to read the next book to find out what happens, ha ha.

As Skinner helps the elderly in his local community, several residents seem to die of natural causes. But when a gruesome discovery is made in a Glasgow flat and one of Skinner's long-time friends - an aspiring politician - emerges as the prime suspect, things become very murky indeed. Alongside each inquiry as it evolves is former Chief Constable Sir Robert Skinner, relishing his new role as a media magnate, but drawn into reluctant action and towards a chilling discovery of his own. The dialogue continues to be be stilted as the author tries to use conversations to provide context from previous novels, or to convey the genius of Skinner and his considerable number of talented offspring who will never grow up to be anything other than lives in the shadow of the “great” man.Whatever happens next one lives in hope that some almighty secret from Skinner’s past comes out and blows the ego out of the water. It can’t be because I am attracted to the egotistical dinosaur that is Bob Skinner, without whom it seems Police Scotland simply would not function, as he is as far from appealing as it is possible to get. His nepotistic approach to filling the ranks with only those who are in awe of him is as infuriating as the inability of anyone to stand up to his bullying tactics. The fiction is further stretched by suggesting that such a man would have a functional family - surely they would all be on medication living with him. And Bob Skinner himself. Well, he is the gift that keeps on giving. Not the stereotypical MC but he has had his fair share of personal tragedy which has both expanded his ever growing family and made him a wiser man all told. I really do love my time spent seeing what he is up to next which is why the only bad thing about this book is the fact that now I have a long wait for the next one! Will that be Robert’s next outing or will he have fathered another unbelievable budding genius whilst his daughter, who was thankfully missing for most of this story, becomes the greatest lawyer Scotland has ever witnessed. Early hours of New Years Day and Bob Skinner gets a call to arms. He is summoned to Torpichen Police Station where two people have been found shot dead in car abandoned outside. But if that wasn't bad enough, the two bodies are very familiar... former Detective Terry Coates and Inspector Griff Montell who used to date Bob's daughter Alexis.

From acclaimed author Quintin Jardine comes the latest gripping mystery in his bestselling Bob Skinner series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter May. Jardine has a style of writing that draws the reader in, together with an excellent handle on the workings of Scotland’s police force. He keeps the reader engaged throughout both with the story line and the characters – many of whom have been with him since the start of the series and it’s always interesting to see these develop. In the early hours of New Year’s Day Bob is asked to consult on a difficult case. Two bodies have been found in a car outside Torpichen Police Station and both have been shot. One is Terry Coates, a former detective with Strathclyde Police and the other is Inspector Griff Montell, former lover of Bob’s daughter, Alexis. As ever I awaited the return of the most egotistical policeman, now media mogul, in fictional history and was I disappointed ? So why do I keep reading. Well it’s like an old cardigan that is comfortable and easy to wear but alas this latest outing seems a bit tired. Characters that we have met before go bad but it is all tied up in the complex web of family relationships that have developed over all the years and are becoming a bit tiresome.I have read all the Skinner series, but am beginning to think it may have "jumped the shark" a they say. Skinner has now been retired from the police for some time and the way appointments have fallen into his lap become a little unbelievable, although perhaps I am being naive! He is starting to come across as a bit of a bombastic bully these days. It also gets a little repetitive in the way the members of his old team seem to get promoted, often on his say so though retired. With that and the way his family and friends get involved makes it feel a little incestuous to be honest. I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of The Roots of Evil, the thirty second novel to feature former Chief Constable Bob Skinner, set in Edinburgh.