February 18, 2020

Book series are interesting to me. Individual books in a series can be read as standalones, as the author drops enough references to understand past events without having to read the previous books. Other series require full knowledge of earlier books to understand the current plot. The Harlech Beach Killings fell somewhere in the middle for me.

The story itself was stand alone, and it was a pretty good one. I liked how the investigation unfolded; it was natural and seemed true to real-life police work (i.e., following leads, making connections between victims and suspects, etc.) The focus of the investigation (murderous drug dealers) is always a timely one as well.

There were also a few twists along the way that propelled the narrative. I thought the author waited almost too long for one of them, as it was a good one, but came about very late in the story. That’s a risky maneuver, as it seemed a little contrived by that point. There were clues to it earlier, however, the reader just doesn’t know that they’re clues. (How’s that for cryptic?)

I also appreciated the two seemingly disparate investigators. Both Ruth and Nick had their personal demons to deal with as they pursued the case. But this is where the narrative faltered for me. Having both characters with such albatrosses (alcoholism and a missing person) seemed forced – almost like the author was trying to make them more interesting.

I didn’t think they both needed the embellishment. I will say, though, that everything I know about UK police work I know from reading novels. Someone with the severity of Nick’s issues would not last long on a force, or (at the very least) would be put on desk duty for repeated violations. Maybe it’s different in the UK? And I never quite got where Ruth’s personal life fed into her police work. I prefer it when the two have a bearing on each other, and I never got that feeling here.

I think that’s why this book was in between a “standalone” and a “must read in order” for me. Maybe if I had read the first book, I would have had a better grasp of Ruth, which might have improved my perspective.

Regardless, it was a good book. I’m just not sure that I got everything I could have out of it. My suggestion would be to read the first book before this one to avoid any confusion.

About Simon McCleave

Simon McCleave was born in South London.

When leaving University, Simon worked in television and film development. He was a Script Editor at the BBC, a producer at Channel 4 before working as a Story Analyst in Los Angeles. He worked on films such as ‘The Full Monty’ and television series such as ‘Our Friends In The North’.

Simon then became a script writer for television and film. He wrote on series such as Silent Witness, Murder In Suburbia, Teachers, Attachments, The Bill, Eastenders and many more. His film, ‘Out of the Game’ for Channel 4 was critically acclaimed – ‘An unflinching portrayal of male friendship.’ (Time Out)

‘The Harlech Beach Killings’ is his second novel.

Simon lives in North Wales with his wife and two children.