Whiskey From Small Glasses

Whiskey From Small Glasses by Denzil Meyrick
Published by Polygon
Ebook
Published 12 February 2014 (first published 1 November 2012)
368 pages
Library book

Connect with the author Buy the book: UK (affiliate's link) I read this as part of the new Together We Readdigital book club. WHAT'S IT'S ABOUT

When the body of a young woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the west coast of Scotland, D.C.I. Jim Daley is despatched from Glasgow to lead the investigation. Far from home, and his troubled marriage, it seems that Daley's biggest obstacle will be managing the difficult local police chief; but when the prime suspect is gruesomely murdered, the inquiry begins to stall. As the body count rises, Daley uncovers a network of secrets and corruption in the close-knit community of Kinloch, thrusting him and his loved ones into the centre of a case more deadly than he had ever imagined. The first novel in the D.C.I. Daley Thriller series, Whisky from Small Glasses is a truly compelling crime novel, shot through with dark humour and menace.

OPENING

Lights sparkled and flashed before her eyes. The movement of her limbs slowed as though of its own accord. The pain she had felt was dull now; the panic subsiding. She was aware that her bowels had opened; she no longer cared. Her last emotions were a fading mixture of anger, injustice and overwhelming sadness, the cause of which she could barely recall.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I didn't enjoy Whiskey from Small Glasses as much as I expected. Some elements worked and others didn't. For me, the book was too uneven to really work. I loved the setting. Kinloch is a fictional, remote community. This makes it the perfect place for sinister events to take place. The author does a good job of bringing the community and the sense of isolation to life. I felt like I was really there. The plot was okay but nothing really original. It reminded me too much of so many crime novels that have come before. I just felt that Whiskey from Small Glasses didn't offer anything original. Been there, read that a few hundred times. The author creates good atmosphere in the novel but the lacklustre plot left me cold at times. The book contains quite a lot of Scots dialect at times which is really unnecessary and came across as cheesy and rather cringeworthily at times. This part didn't work for me. The local dialect was completely unnecessary. Whiskey from Small Glasses didn't work for me and I won't be reading the rest of the series.

Published