Review: FOUL PLAY, Fiona McIntosh

• 
  This edition available on Amazon in Kindle 
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CB1YNVX7
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin eBooks (January 9, 2024)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 403 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

Superstar footballer Luca Bruni is being blackmailed for a night of lust he swears he didn’t participate in...except the ransom photo denies that. A media darling on and off the field, he has powerful charisma, a perfect home life he’ll do anything to protect, and more money than he knows what to do with. He’s determined to defy the extortion racket.

When Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth learns that the cunning mastermind behind this crime has already swindled a dozen of the world’s most highly prized male athletes, he is instructed to keep the situation from escalating and prevent a media frenzy.

Intrigued by the creativity of the crime and the shockwaves it is creating through the global sporting fraternity, Jack begins a journey into a case that has tentacles far more wide-reaching that he ever imagined – and far more deadly. 

My Take

This is the 5th in this series.

I read the first in 2008, BYE BYE BABY, when the author had decided to use pseudonym Lauren Crow for her crime fiction titles. It was republished under the name Fiona McIntosh in 2013.

Since then there have been a further 3 in the series which I have not read.

Since all 5 titles have the same central characters, there is considerable back story which I am not familiar with. There are some references (and details) in this novel to what has gone before, and probably enough to allow you to read FOUL PLAY as a stand-alone.

Jack Hawksworth has been warned by his commanding officer more than once about mixing his private and professional lives and once again he ignores this warning to the detriment of someone he is using and whom he has promised to protect. Although both Hawksworth and his offsider Kate are supposed to be at the top of their game, they are in many ways unlovely personalities and their actions did affect the way I eventually felt about the book.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read 

4.2, BYE BYE BABY (as Lauren Crow)

From Fantastic Fiction

DCI Jack Hawksworth
   1. Bye Bye Baby (2007)
   2. Beautiful Death (2009)
   3. Mirror Man (2021)
   4. Dead Tide (2023)
   5. Foul Play (2024)

The author has written another 30+ books, mainly fantasy. 

About the author

Originally from Brighton, Fiona McIntosh moved to Australia in her teens and forged a successful career in travel - running a business with her husband - before becoming a writer. She continues her work and on top of this not only writes at least two books a year, but also spearheads the Fab Fantasy Bookclub - Australia's premier fantasy bookclub. She lives in southern Australia with her husband, her two lovely sons, two mad dogs and two insane birds.

BYE BYE BABY, Lauren Crow

I gave a progress report a couple of days ago, so in a way I am just reporting that I've finished the book and letting you know what I thought of it. I will repeat a little from earlier post.

Three months after Mike Sherriff of Louth was found brutally murdered in Lincoln, another man is found dead in Hackney Marshes in a public toilet. Both men are in their early 40s. The MO for these otherwise unconnected but grisly murders appears to be the same. Scotland Yard is putting together a high level taskforce to deal with both cases under DCI Jack Hawksworth. Jack gets to choose his own team called Operation Danube and their headquarters will be on the 12th floor of Tower block overlooking the Thames.

There are interesting tensions in the members of the Operation Danube team: Kate Carter, as sharp as a tack, holds a real torch for Hawksworth, despite the fact that she is engaged to be married. Kate sees any other female as a rival and almost stalks Hawksworth after hours. She particularly sees DS Sarah Jones, a rather dowdy young woman who is an expert on HOLMES, as a threat to the boss's good books. Jack Hawksworth himself appears to have a history of flouting the rules.

This is a very long book, and I feel that it really needed some judicious editing, to bring it down from 500 pages to a more manageable size. It took quite a while to get going, even though there were 2 murders in close succession. However the various threads are brought together well, and the scenarios are quite believable. The final denouement, from the point where we put the pieces together (about 150 pages from the end), to final conclusion is just too long and really tempted me to skim read. Having said that there is no doubt that Lauren Crow should write another, but I'm not sure I want a sequel to this one. I like Kate Carter but wasn't really too taken with the character of Jack Hawksworth.

Lauren Crow is an Australian author quite well known for her fantasy fiction under the name of Fiona McIntosh.

My rating: 4.2

BYE BYE BABY, progress report

BYE BYE BABY is the debut crime thriller by South Australian author Lauren Crow.
It is quite a long novel , just over 500 pages, and I have been taking my time in reading it.
Maybe writing about it will help me sort some of my ideas out.

Three months after Mike Sherriff of Louth was found brutally murdered in Lincoln, another man is found dead in Hackney Marshes in a public toilet. Both men are in their early 40s. The MO for these otherwise unconnected but grisly murders appears to be the same. Scotland Yard is putting together a high level taskforce to deal with both cases under DCI Jack Hawksworth. Jack gets to choose his own team called Operation Danube and their headquarters will be on the 12th floor of Tower block overlooking the Thames.

The novel begins with the first murder, from the point of view of the murderer, and so far Crow has been dropping tantalising clues about who this person is. Nearly 250 pages in, I think I know who the murderer is, and even why the murders are happening. But if the murderer is successful, there are at least 2 more to come, which may explain why it is going to take 250 more pages for this story to end.

There are interesting tensions in the members of the Operation Danube team: Kate Carter, as sharp as a tack, holds a real torch for Hawksworth, despite the fact that she is engaged to be married. Kate sees any other female as a rival and almost stalks Hawksworth after hours. She particularly sees DS Sarah Jones, a rather dowdy young woman who is an expert on HOLMES, as a threat to the boss's good books. Jack Hawksworth himself appears to have a history of flouting the rules.

So far there are a number of side stories, all connected presumably, by gossamer threads to the main cases, that are described and told in great detail. Perhaps that is what is slowing my reading down, I am having trouble deciding what I need to remember and what I can skip over quickly. However, now half way through, some threads are beginning to strengthen and converge, and I feel more at ease than I did 100 pages ago.

For more about Lauren Crow go here. The publisher Harper Collins have a blurb here.