Tears of Angels, The

Detectives Anderson and Costello are dealing with a couple of bizarre summer solstice murders. One involves a 92-year-old woman burned to death in her own home, the other, man found mutilated in a farm field with the Tarot card “the Fool” sticking out of his mouth. The man in question is one the detectives have been looking for – he was reported missing a year earlier. It seems the victim was responsible for the deaths of several children; was this s revenge killing? Then how does the old woman enter in? This is another stellar British police procedural by Ramsay, throw in a harrowing conclusion on Loch Lomond and you have a book that’s hard to put down

It has been close on five years since I last read a book by Caro Ramsay and I can’t for one minute figure out why it has taken me so long to pick another title up in the Anderson and Costello series, especially considering my enjoyment with this title. My first introduction to this rather intriguing coupling was with Dark Water, their third adventure and when I had the opportunity this week to take a look at the next in the series with The Tears of Angels I jumped at the chance.

It did take me a few chapters to find my feet with this book, there’s so much going on and a plethora of characters, both old and new, to reacquaint and discover, so many names in such a short space of time, witnesses, victims and police. Once I did, I found my footing and my pace never wavered, such is Ramsay’s storytelling and writing style.

The plot is intriguing and well thought out and developed. There are a number of shocks instore and more than a handful of brutal murders that will have you reeling! No one is safe and that’s what I like about an author who isn’t afraid to take risk and is not afraid to eliminate a character you think as a reader should run and run. The Tears of Angels isn’t all about our intrepid duo, Loch Lomond is a winner too and I lost count on the number of times I wanted to visit this part of the world while reading about murders and past crimes, Caro Ramsay certainly brought the area to life with an imaginative and compelling narrative.

As the story develops I was convinced I knew the truth, only to be shot down in flames at the end. I love books that do that to me, it doesn’t happen all that often but when it does, you know you’ve met your match!! Excellent writing, a great and complex plot and characters you both love and hate equally. I guess you can’t ask for more, maybe a return ticket to Scotland might help!

Two years ago, on Midsummer's Day, on the banks of Loch Lomond, a young girl died - presumably by accident. The following year, as the families re-unite, the three boys head out in a canoe to an island with one Warren McAvoy. Only one returns - McAvoy killed the other two and then vanished without trace. Until almost exactly one year later...
Five days before Midsummer's Day, DCI Anderson's investigation of the murder of an old woman, burned to death inside her own home, is interrupted by the discovery of another body. McAvoy has been found at last - but the person who found him tied his arms to a pair of horses and... well, let's say the horses are made to run in opposite directions and I'll leave the rest to the imagination.
As Midsummer's Day approaches, the death toll begins to mount. Someone is out for revenge - but against who?
This is the sixth book in the Anderson & Costello series from Caro Ramsay - I'm new to the series myself but on the strength of this, I'm very tempted to return in the future. This copy was provided by Severn House for me to review.
It's a fast moving novel, probably more of a thriller than a fairly clued mystery, but it had me gripped from start to finish. The murderer certainly doesn't hang around, with a pretty high body count when all is said and done, and it kept my attention throughout - one of those books that I found myself carrying around to keep reading as much as possible.
There are gripes - I found Costello a bit of an enigma as a new reader (I don't think her forename is ever mentioned), and some of the ongoing plots would have had more impact with me if I'd read the rest of the series. And some of the killer's behaviour (and victims) seems to boil down to the fact that they're, well, mad. Oh, and one aspect of the mystery won't surprise any experienced reader of crime novels.
But despite all of those moans, I really enjoyed this book. It's a fast-paced exciting crime novel that twists and turns all over the place, building to a thrilling emotional climax.
Definitely Well Worth A Look, and I'll be dipping into the earlier entries in the series at some point in the future.

First, if you haven't read this author before, no worries. despite the large returning cast this can be enjoyed as a stand alone. And if you're a fan of gritty police procedurals, you want to pick this up. Just set aside some time for the nap you'll need after you finish. Ms. Ramsay takes us on quite a ride.
DCI Colin Anderson has reconciled with his wife & is back home. But he's about to have a really bad day. A little old lady was burned in her bed. Then he gets called to a farm where a young man was found dead after having his arms ripped off. Yep, you read that right. All I'll say is horses were involved. But perhaps more shocking is his ID names him as Warren McAvoy, a man they've been hunting for a year. He's a prime suspect for the murder of 2 boys in 2013 & possibly that of a little girl the year before. All occurred at a holiday lodge on the summer solstice. Then things get weird(er). In his mouth they find a tarot card in a black envelope.
Anderson is less than thrilled to be handed the case. The deaths of the children will have to be reopened & media attention was merciless the first time. Luckily, he has DS Costello to fend off the press with her usual charm.
Elvie McCulloch is interested in the news. She works for a PI firm that was hired by Warren's long lost American father to find his son. She knows Anderson & Costello (previous book) & is soon pulled into the whole mess.
Amy Lee is a young girl in Revelstoke, BC. She lives with bert, her Scottish grandfather, & decides to look into his past as a genealogy project for school. She needs a contact in Scotland but Amy can google with the best of them & finds Elvie online.
And so it begins. Anderson assembles a team which includes Prof. Mike Batten as behavioural analyst, pathologist Dr. O'Hare & DS Sammy Winterston who is part of the unit that initially investigated Warren. They need all the help they can get. A large number of people were involved with the boys' deaths & many of them lie like they breath. Then there's those pesky tarot cards that are popping up at an alarming rate. Unfortunately some are found with a dead recipient.
The book begins with several disparate story lines that gradually intersect in ways you never saw coming. The plot is intricate & spans decades as pieces start to fall in place. There's a blizzard of red herrings & facts trickle in slowly but each time one does, it may force you to rethink what you thought you knew. Turns out "facts" are slippery things, capable of mutation depending on who delivers them.
The cast is large & many share history. Anderson & Costello play well off each other as the result of a long established relationship. Anderson is a good cop & decent if flawed man. Costello is his perfect foil with her caustic wit & lack of regard for office politics. Scenes where she deals with an amorous co-worker are particularly entertaining.
All the characters are well developed & feel like real people. Their personal & professional challenges make you care about many of them & this adds an intensity as the plot heats up & horrific deaths occur. Unlike some authors, Ms. Ramsay doesn't hesitate to bump off a main character & you may find yourself holding your breath during the last few chapters. As events spiral out of control, you truly have no idea who will be left standing. This is a smart, layered thriller that grabs you from the get-go. Once you begin it becomes compulsive reading with a need to know who did what. It's also a sly commentary on how quick we are to judge sometimes & how easily we accept most things at face value.
Since I stayed up late to finish, it's time for that nap....right after I check the mail for a black envelope.

Two years ago two boys were murdered on an island in Loch Lomond. A third boy made it back to shore, hysterically telling of their murder by a man who was trusted by all on the campground. These are not the first children to die violently in this place and at this time of year. Now the suspect has been found ripped apart in a field.
That is the background to this excellent police procedural story. I have never read any Anderson and Costello books. This did not spoil my enjoyment of the story although it did make me want to read previous books.
The characterisation was very good. The story was complex and well plotted. It kept me guessing throughout.
Thanks to Netgallery and the publishers for the chance to read and review this Five Star book.

I'm new to Caro Ramsay and the Anderson and Costello series, so went into Tears of Angels as a standalone. It works well enough although I felt I wanted to warm just a little more to the main characters. The plotting is fast and well paced throughout. If I have any criticism, it is that I felt slightly lost in the early section. There's such a lot going on; an elderly lady dies in an horrific house fire, a corpse, with arms ripped from the body is discovered, there are Tarot calling cards and links to past crimes. It's a complex and compelling police procedural, supported by realistic dialogue.

The locations are strong and there's a great sense of place as the action moves across and between settings. Loch Lomond and the beauty of the area comes across really well in stark contrast to the crimes. Once I'd sorted out the characters, the story really picked up. I was wrong footed more than once, thinking I'd worked out the who, what and why. But I was totally wrong! Clever plotting.

For me, a great introduction to a series I'll pick up from the beginning and follow with interest.

My thanks to publisher, Severn House for a review copy viaNetgalley.

Read this book in two settings. Very easy to get into. Likeable characters and a very believable storyline. Will look forward to more works by this author.

I was prompted to read this book after listening to Caro Ramsay at Bristol’s Crimefest where I found her to be both interesting and knowledgeable on the subject of psychopaths. And there’s no doubt that you do get an awful lot of book for your money! There is in depth characterisation, thorough plotting and Ramsay cleverly interweaves the story lines until they come together into a satisfying whole.

This is the 4th in her Anderson and Costello series, and it worked perfectly well for me as a stand-alone novel (though I will now be going back to read the other three).

Set in Glasgow and in an off the beaten track location by the shores of Loch Lomond, near Balloch, The Tears of Angels is an engrossing police procedural. In Glasgow, an old lady is burned to death in her home. Elsewhere, a man's body is found in a field, mutilated in a quite disturbing fashion. Each body has a black tarot card though it’s unclear whether anything else links these two victims. Then the police believe that they have identified the dead man as a wanted suspect, Warren McAvoy, who has been successfully eluding their grasp for over a year.

On the shores of Loch Lomond, tragedy has struck more than once. The three families that used to regularly holiday there during the summer solstice, suffered tragic loss when three of their children were killed – and the disappeared Warren McAvoy is the chief suspect.

The media are all over the discovery of McAvoy’s body and the deaths of the children now are at the top of their agenda again. Questions are being asked about the police’s competence in the investigation.

Elvie McCulloch works for a PI firm that was hired by Warren's estranged American father to find his son. She is also contacted by a young girl, Amy Lee, from Canada who is looking into her grandfather Bert’s Scottish roots as a genealogy project for school. She asks Elvie to help her with her project.

Anderson and Costello begin the task of investigating these crimes and in so doing they need to re-investigate the deaths of the children – it’s clear that all these crimes are connected.

This is where Ramsay excels. She takes an intricate plot and slowly, through many twists and turns, she reveals how each piece of the puzzle finally fits together. Her characters are flawed with very real human foibles and the key players all have their own domestic issues to deal with, not least of which are many fractured relationships.

As the tarot cards begin to turn up with increasingly regularity, it is clear that revenge is top of the killer’s agenda. But is this vigilante behaviour or something more sinister? Ramsay takes us on a fast paced and complex journey during which many more bodies are found and the quiet peace of Loch Lomondside is ruptured by death and devastation once more.

The Tears of Angels combines excellent characterisation with deft and detailed plotting to produce a police investigation that enthralls and keeps you guessing right to the end.

I read and enjoyed The Night Hunter which was the last in the Anderson & Costello series, but as it didn’t really feature the two detectives at length I was unsure about this duo and had the usual question, is it possible to enjoy part way through the series? The answer is yes, this read perfectly well as a standalone and I didn’t really feel that I had missed anything pertinent to the complex mystery that unfolded.

In short there at the time of the solstice an elderly woman burnt in her bed, clearly not an accident but who would want to kill a defenceless old woman? There is no time to dwell on this at all though as a man has been found dead in a field in a particularly nasty killing. When the detectives find his ID they realise that he has links to crimes committed around the solstice a year previously. On this occasion two young boys were the victims but it appears that there is more to this tale than meets the eye.

This is not a book for the squeamish; there is a lot of violence and a high body count but there is also a solid and intricate mystery at the heart of the book. With a mixture of tales from the past and a wide range of characters the reader needs their wits about them to follow the storyline, particularly in the beginning where I began to despair especially since my concentration is well below par at the moment, but the perseverance paid off. This was one hell of a tale, impeccably plotted with all the sub-plots working out to perfection.

Despite the darkness of the story, the descriptive writing made me want to visit the location. In this case the setting by Loch Lomond was beautifully depicted, I was quite tempted to join one of the cast swimming in the clear blue water off the island as she examined the scene, imagining the night that three young boys played together on the island while their parents partied on the shore keeping themselves warm next to a bonfire. The other scenes are set in Glasgow and surrounding countryside which is equally vivid as Anderson and Costello work hard to find the culprit and clear up a few other mysteries along the way.

I have to admit, and maybe this is where the previous books in the series would have made a difference, that I found both these detectives a little hard to warm to. Anderson has been having an affair and there are complications caused by that but at the heart he seems to be a decent sort of man. Costello is a woman with a nice line in caustic wit and adept at moving things along having a healthy disregard for police politics. These two don’t spend all their time together and seem to be able to work independently and with others which gives the reader a chance to see them as individuals and not just a partnership. As this novel has a large cast, there are plenty of secondary characters ranging in age from youngsters to a man in his eighties and all appear to be credible and well-rounded. It isn’t always to spot the bad guy (or gal) that’s for sure.

I will be continuing to read this series, and I may well be tempted to take my library card and see if I can start at the beginning of this series with its intelligent and engaging writing.

I’d like to thank the publishers Severn House for providing a copy of this book ahead of publication on 1 September 2015 in return for this honest review.

How has this series got to number 6 without me discovering it!? I am actually quite ashamed of myself being as this is exactly my go to genre of book. Obviously, after that little admission above, I read this as a stand-alone but, as the story is self-contained, I don't believe that this impeded any on my overall reading experience. There were, of course, the odd references to previous cases but these weren't too intrusive and the lack of prior knowledge of these didn't affect me at all.
The case is an intriguing one. An old lady is burned to death in her own home and very soon after, the body of a tortured man is discovered in a field not too far away. It is believed that the man is the same man that has evaded the police for nearly a year, they wanting to speak to him in conjunction with the murder of two children. Is the timing of these two incidents coincidence or are they connected? And, if so, how?
Enter Anderson and Costello (am I the only one who sees this but really reads Abbot & Costello!?!?) as they try and piece together these two present-day crimes as well as revisiting the boys' murders with the original team that investigated it. Talk about a can of worms as soon they are going back farther in time... how far do they really have to go to get to the real truth! How many more people will be affected before they solve the crimes?
I have read a few books recently that involve the deaths of children - is this theme becoming more prevalent these days? As with my previous read, this quite sensitive subject matter is dealt with very well without needing to sensationalise. Crimes are graphic enough to get across the nature of them but not too much - at least for my taste anyway!
The pacing is good throughout, The book is set in and around some beautiful places. The description of which didn't distract. The crime and methods of solving etc are well plotted and quite meaty in places. I stopped trying to work things out quite early on and just let the story carry me to the conclusion which, when it came, was not a shock exactly, just not what I was expecting, but at the same time, perfectly flowing and natural.
The characters - and there are a LOT of these - are all well crafted. I do admit to getting a little confused at times but that is probably more to do with me than the book and also, I would assume, that those more familiar with the series and "ensemble cast" would find thing easier. All in all, a great, solid read that I completed in only a few sittings.

As I already said, I can't believe I have never read this series/author before, I am definitely going to go back to the beginning of this series as soon as I get time!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.