DC Gary Goodhew is intelligent, intuitive and the youngest detective at Cambridge's Parkside Station. He is the first on the scene when the body of a young woman is discovered on Midsummer Common and for the first time in his career is given the chance to work on a murder investigation. Soon there is an identity for the victim: Lorna Spence. Richard Moran, her boyfriend and employer, has reported her missing and is distraught to discover that she has been killed. He claims she was loved by his staff and his sisters, reserved Alice and vulnerable Jackie. He says she had no enemies but it isn't long before Goodhew discovers plenty, including her high maintenance colleague Victoria and Goodhew's reckless former classmate Bryn. They both swear that they have nothing to do with Lorna's death but Goodhew knows someone is lying. Then there is another brutal murder and Goodhew knows it is time to use his own initiative to flush out the killer, even though it means risking his job and discovering the truth about the one person he hopes will be innocent.
Cambridge Blue
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Review
Menacing and insidious, this is a great novel. --R J Ellory
An exciting debut from a very promising new talent. --Paul Johnson
A fast-paced gritty tale guaranteed to have you hooked from beginning to end. --Cambridgeshire Pride
An exciting debut from a very promising new talent. --Paul Johnson
A fast-paced gritty tale guaranteed to have you hooked from beginning to end. --Cambridgeshire Pride
Book Description
Some hide the truth. Some hide from it. Goodhew hunts it through every page.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Laura T
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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This crime novel is the first in a projected series by Alison Bruce set in Cambridgeshire and featuring detective Gary Goodhew; I found it an easy read, with some well-written scenes, but ultimately rather unsatisfying. I think my main problem with this novel was the resolution of the murder mystery plot itself; the ending was rather convoluted and clumsily handled, and I found myself losing track of who did what and what the motive was. I enjoyed some of the characterisation, especially the gradual detailing of Lorna Spence, the first murder victim, and found Goodhew a refreshing lead in some respects, with his relative youth and lack of a tortured past thus far (although there are hints that more might be revealed in later novels concerning his family). However, other reviewers here are correct in pointing out that most of the rest of the police force are merely used as foils to showcase Goodhew's supposed brilliance, which does become rather wearing.
I was particularly keen to read this novel as I live in Cambridge, and Bruce clearly knows the city down to the ground. There was something rather creepy in being able to pinpoint almost to the square yard where each murder took place... Having said that, however, I felt that she failed to capture the atmosphere of her selected locality very well; although she runs through an accurate litany of street names and landmarks as the characters move about the city, I was only able to visualise a real image of each setting through my prior knowledge of what the street or area looks like, and so if you don't know Cambridge well, I'm thinking this might all fall a bit flat. This formed part of a wider problem I had with the writing, which was that it seemed very clinical and rather clunky at times. For some scenes this worked well - for example, the early sequences from Lorna's point of view - but I found myself losing interest about halfway through, when in most good crime novels, this is the point at which I'm drawn further in.
Although I haven't really read a huge range of crime fiction, I think this novel reminded me most of PD James's style in the way it delved into the minds of a number of the potential suspects and background figures, while attemping a wider portrait of Cambridge, but it's nowhere near as good as any of her work. However, I would still recommend it to crime fiction fans as a reasonably good read, and I suspect that, as this is Bruce's first novel, later installments might be better.
I was particularly keen to read this novel as I live in Cambridge, and Bruce clearly knows the city down to the ground. There was something rather creepy in being able to pinpoint almost to the square yard where each murder took place... Having said that, however, I felt that she failed to capture the atmosphere of her selected locality very well; although she runs through an accurate litany of street names and landmarks as the characters move about the city, I was only able to visualise a real image of each setting through my prior knowledge of what the street or area looks like, and so if you don't know Cambridge well, I'm thinking this might all fall a bit flat. This formed part of a wider problem I had with the writing, which was that it seemed very clinical and rather clunky at times. For some scenes this worked well - for example, the early sequences from Lorna's point of view - but I found myself losing interest about halfway through, when in most good crime novels, this is the point at which I'm drawn further in.
Although I haven't really read a huge range of crime fiction, I think this novel reminded me most of PD James's style in the way it delved into the minds of a number of the potential suspects and background figures, while attemping a wider portrait of Cambridge, but it's nowhere near as good as any of her work. However, I would still recommend it to crime fiction fans as a reasonably good read, and I suspect that, as this is Bruce's first novel, later installments might be better.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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In spite of some good things about this book, I found it rather hard going. It has a decent plot (although I found the denouement very muddled) and at times Alison Bruce writes very well - I thought the post-mortem scene was excellently done, for example - and she generates a good sense of Cambridge, but stilted language too often made both narrative and dialogue feel rather forced to me.
My biggest problem with the book, though, was that I found the character of the main protagonist, DC Gary Goodhew, increasingly implausible. I suspect that Ms Bruce is more than half in love with her creation - she makes him attractive but unaware of it, fabulously empathetic and non-sexist, far more intelligent and intuitive than any of his colleagues, and so bursting with integrity and the desire to do good that it's a wonder it doesn't give him a nose bleed. He even has cool taste in music. And just in case we haven't grasped the point, we get an anti-Gary against whom he can shine; a colleague who is vain, arrogant, bigoted, faithless, careless...and so on.
The author's infatuation with her creation means that he is allowed to get away with frankly ridiculous behaviour. He constantly acts unprofessionally and sometimes illegally, but (of course) unearths vital clues which skilled and experienced teams of experts have missed. His DI takes him off the case (of course), but within a couple of hours he is reinstated and, although he is exceptionally young and totally inexperienced, the same DI immediately entrusts him with conducting the interviews with the prime suspects in a high-profile murder case on his own. There's rather a lot of this sort of thing and I'm afraid I ended up finding it absurd, irritating and very distracting.
I didn't think this was a terrible book by any means, but it could have been far, far better. Alison Bruce is obviously setting Gary Goodhew up for a series of novels; if she sticks to writing in the unaffected style of the best parts of this book, cuts out the clichés of the genre and brings rather more discipline to her treatment of her characters the novels could turn out to be rather good, but I'm afraid I can only give this one a lukewarm recommendation.
My biggest problem with the book, though, was that I found the character of the main protagonist, DC Gary Goodhew, increasingly implausible. I suspect that Ms Bruce is more than half in love with her creation - she makes him attractive but unaware of it, fabulously empathetic and non-sexist, far more intelligent and intuitive than any of his colleagues, and so bursting with integrity and the desire to do good that it's a wonder it doesn't give him a nose bleed. He even has cool taste in music. And just in case we haven't grasped the point, we get an anti-Gary against whom he can shine; a colleague who is vain, arrogant, bigoted, faithless, careless...and so on.
The author's infatuation with her creation means that he is allowed to get away with frankly ridiculous behaviour. He constantly acts unprofessionally and sometimes illegally, but (of course) unearths vital clues which skilled and experienced teams of experts have missed. His DI takes him off the case (of course), but within a couple of hours he is reinstated and, although he is exceptionally young and totally inexperienced, the same DI immediately entrusts him with conducting the interviews with the prime suspects in a high-profile murder case on his own. There's rather a lot of this sort of thing and I'm afraid I ended up finding it absurd, irritating and very distracting.
I didn't think this was a terrible book by any means, but it could have been far, far better. Alison Bruce is obviously setting Gary Goodhew up for a series of novels; if she sticks to writing in the unaffected style of the best parts of this book, cuts out the clichés of the genre and brings rather more discipline to her treatment of her characters the novels could turn out to be rather good, but I'm afraid I can only give this one a lukewarm recommendation.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By Roman Clodia
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Gary Goodhew is only 25 and the youngest detective in Cambridge. When he discovers a murdered girl he is given the chance to take a lead role in a high-profile murder case, but his maverick abilities cause him to clash with his boss; he and his partner dislike each other, and he knew one of the suspects at school. The case of Lorna Spense uncovers dark secrets in the Cambridge community and touches on more than a few secrets in Gary's own private life.
This is a page-turner of a novel that introduces an attractive young detective working the residential, rather than the collegial, side of Cambridge. Sex is placed right at the centre of the book, with erotic entanglements central to both the suspects and the police.
I liked much of the book: the pace, the tension, the sense of suspense, and certainly found myself unable to put it down - but there are some niggles, too, which become much bigger at the end (no spoilers following).
Some of the plot points seem very odd and unbelievable - e.g. the `anonymous' letters. And there are various threads that are started up at the beginning but which never really go anywhere (the conversations between Victoria and Lorna at the start, the revelations about Lorna's sexual fantasies). But the major issue which had this book dropping a star is the ending: the sudden flurry of revelations certainly keep us breathless but once you close the book and think about them, they cease to make much sense. So I was left wondering not who was responsible for the murders - but why?
So this is a great switch-your-brain-off relaxing read, exciting and fast-paced - but it actually doesn't stand up to much post-read analysis.
This is a page-turner of a novel that introduces an attractive young detective working the residential, rather than the collegial, side of Cambridge. Sex is placed right at the centre of the book, with erotic entanglements central to both the suspects and the police.
I liked much of the book: the pace, the tension, the sense of suspense, and certainly found myself unable to put it down - but there are some niggles, too, which become much bigger at the end (no spoilers following).
Some of the plot points seem very odd and unbelievable - e.g. the `anonymous' letters. And there are various threads that are started up at the beginning but which never really go anywhere (the conversations between Victoria and Lorna at the start, the revelations about Lorna's sexual fantasies). But the major issue which had this book dropping a star is the ending: the sudden flurry of revelations certainly keep us breathless but once you close the book and think about them, they cease to make much sense. So I was left wondering not who was responsible for the murders - but why?
So this is a great switch-your-brain-off relaxing read, exciting and fast-paced - but it actually doesn't stand up to much post-read analysis.
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book
Any one that likes dective books will love this book ever page is a turner. Once you start to read you can not put the book down I have had to get the follow on books
Published 2 months ago by Sue
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN EXCELLENT TALE
The writer has done her research and describes the settings in Cambridge well. Her knowledge of police procedures is authentic and she maintains the suspense ot the end.
Published 2 months ago by stephen walker
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cambridge Blue
It took a while to get into but as it got going I enjoyed it more. Will definitely buy the follow up books.
Published 3 months ago by Sandra Joyce Dennic
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting
If you like crime novels and you are not too bothered by a few grisly scenes, this is a real page turner. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Logistician
4.0 out of 5 stars
A enjoyable read with some nice twists
If you can put on hold the idea of standard police procedure then this book offers an interesting detective, great location and a well crafted plot. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Miss
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read
I bought this after hearing an interview with the author on our local Cambridge radio station. As a lover of crime fiction this seemed brilliant as I know Cambridge well. Read more
Published 6 months ago by K. Starling
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in Cambridge
Cambridge Blue is the first in the series featuring DC Gary Goodhew the twenty-five year old detective based in Cambridge. Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. Bannister
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very average
This book started very well but fell apart quite early on. There sre too any things that just would not happen. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Philip
4.0 out of 5 stars
Home Town Crime!
I jumped at reading this book as it has two elements that I like. Crime and it's set in Cambridge, which is near where I live. Read more
Published 7 months ago by L K Jay
2.0 out of 5 stars
As forgettable as an episode of Inspector Morse
The plot is enjoyable yet forgettable, like a long episode of Inspector Morse. It is about a murder than unfolds to uncover other crimes. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Y. Khatib
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