In Review

04 December 2008 04:25 BST

Dark Angels by Grace Monroe

Published by Avon, out now, paperback, 446 pages, £6.99.

In a nutshell…

Complex, Dark, Violent, Confusing, Train read.

What's it all about?

Working class Scottish lawyerBrodie McClennan has risen through the ranks of Edinburgh's most successful law firm but her career is put in jeopardy when she is forced to defend a prostitute accused of murdering a top lawyer. Things start to get complicated when Brodie receives an obscene photograph from a previous unsolved murder and nothing is quite as it seems. An attempt on Brodie's life follows and a host of shady characters are roped in to try and solve the mystery of the murder, and to keep Brodie alive in time for the trial.

Who's it by?

Grace Monroe is actually a pseudonym for Maria Thomson and Linda Watson-Brown. Dark Angels is their first novel in a planned series featuring Brodie McClennan.

As an example...

"I've often wondered how dirt with a degree is the rising star of the Scottish Bar. Even getting a traineeship at Lothian & St Clair should have been beyond you... just who has been opening doors for you?"

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

No way, maybe an episode of Taggart…

What the others say

"If you are easily offended, squeamish or troubled by sensitive matter. Do not read this book." –Woyano

"This is a shocking thriller and I couldn't put it down. Dan Brown fans looking for something more hardcore will love this."- Closer magazine

So is it any good?

The violent murder of a Scottish Lord by a beautiful dominatrix outside a gay hangout works as well on paper as it does saying it out loud on a crowded bus in engaging people's interest and things start off quite well. Brodie, the main protagonist is quite likeable, although her constant inner monologue, sarcastic asides and one-liners feel laboured at times. Paedophile rings, murdered children and a mysterious gang of goths keep things interesting for a while but then it all starts to get a bit ridiculous. The Knights Templar are wheeled out and we are treated to various tedious lessons about Masonic arts and crafts, which may have been ok if Dan Brown had not already done it to death. The cast of characters is endless and the storyline needlessly complicated, and you'll never guess whose Sang Real runs in whose veins... or perhaps you will... I did.

4/10

Francesca Elliott