Customer Reviews

Crash

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Gerald Hammond isn't for everyone. I'm a fan of his Keith Calder books and I tend to read any Gerald Hammond book if I can get hold of them. He's a Scottish writer and isn't very well known here. He's quite old, in his 80's I think and is going very strong. I stopped reading his books about 10 years ago because his output was so slow, but since then he's written a lot more books that I have to catch up on now.

He is what I call a regional writer and bases all his books in Scotland. Reading any of his books will transport you to small Scottish towns and cities and sometimes Scottish hamlets, not only geographically but culturally as well. So it'll be great reading for those with Scottish roots.

His books are rather slow paced but goes well with the small town atmosphere that the mysteries take place in. I really enjoyed his Keith Calder books because it opened a window into a life and culture I would otherwise have never experienced.

This book, like many others is a small mystery book. A fatal accident has occurred and together with the protagonist, you investigate and discover the mystery behind it. It isn't fast paced, but I quite enjoyed it.

Solicitor, Julian Custer is driving along a rural Scottish road in the Inverness area with his neighbour Grace behind him in her car. They come upon a serious car crash with Julian and Grace doing everything they can to save the driver as the car bursts into flames but fail. The female passenger had been flung from the car so the two keep her stable until the ambulance arrives. Since Julian has minor burns on his arms the police tell him to accompany the passenger in the same ambulance. Along the way she regains consciousness and learns from the paramedic that her travelling companion is a solicitor. Later Custer is told by the nurse the female passenger (Delia) is asking for him to come see her. Bored he does so and learns she has no identification as it all went up in the wreck, that she just arrived from New Zealand and that her brother and her were very rich after selling up back there. She needs him as a solicitor to get her access to the money. However she is a suspect in her brother's death but Custer believes in her innocence so sets about solving the accident and proving those responsible. Meanwhile another of Cluster's clients who incidentally he had planned on Delia staying in the hotel he owns has had valuable copper pipes ripped out of his walls but isn't 100% honest with the police so Cluster has this case to deal with as well, and now no where for Delia to live while she waits no access to her money.

The novel was all right but not in Hammond's best work category. Custer is an old fuddy duddy man who irritates the reader with his embarrassment at his female neighbour undressing in front of him and walking around in a towel. This weak character doesn't make the story flow smoothly.

Hammond novels vary substantially from very, very good, to very average. Other great Hammond reads are The Dirty Dollar, The Snatch, On the Warpath and A Running Jump. If you like Hammond also check out British authors James Pattinson (not Patterson) and Christopher Nicole who write in a similar style.