Out in the Cold by Stuart Johnstone

Out in the Cold by Stuart Johnstone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Allison & Busby

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

INTUITION IS EVERYTHING IN THE POLICE FORCE, SOMETHING THAT SERGEANT DON COLYEAR KNOWS BETTER THAN MOST.



When a superior officer's decision not to respond to a routine disturbance has fatal consequences, Colyear finds himself sent away from Glasgow to work in a remote Highlands town.

Despite not wanting to be there, a feeling shared by his commander, Colyear soon settles into life investigating petty crimes. But it isn't long before he discovers something sinister about the town. A series of teenage disappearances seem to have been ignored by the authorities, and when a groundsman from the local country estate is gruesomely murdered, Colyear suspects that long-held secrets could be coming to the surface. As the town's dark secrets are revealed, Colyear must trust his instincts to stay alive.



My Review

Colyear is a cop, transferred from Glasgow to a wee town, punishment for something that happened that we aren't immediately clued up on. Colyear is a good cop he also happens to have something different about him, a wee bit more than "cops instinct". When he tried to find his place in the new town he ends up with more than he bargained for. Secrets, lies, romantic interest and instead of the wee petty crimes he initially thought he was going to be dealing with, there is something bigger going on, something people may not want him looking at.

So the "gut instinct" thing he has going I think some readers may not like but actually I really did and hopefully this will be more developed in books to come. This is book one is what I hope is a long series. I think the reason I like Colyear, besides being a good guy, is because he is down to earth, he seems to find himself in trouble A LOT but he is a decent guy.

Settling into town Colyear finds himself the focus of speculation, not exactly wanted, getting into trouble when he tries to help. And as always a wee town, it's colourful characters (language and personalities) and dodgy happenings. Chapters aren't overly long and I got pulled in quite quickly, really looking forward to book two and seeing where the series goes, 4/5 for me this time.

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