Absolution: An Anderson and Costello Thriller - Softcover

Ramsay, Caro

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140590934X ISBN 13: 9781405909341

Publisher: Penguin, 2012

Synopsis

Caro Ramsay's Absolution is the first in her much-loved Anderson and Costello series.

The Crucifixion Killer is stalking Glasgow ... leaving victims' mutilated bodies in a Christ-like pose. DCI Alan McAlpine - a renowned and successful police officer - is drafted in to lead the hunt, supported by local officers DI Anderson and DS Costello.

But the past holds horrific memories for McAlpine. He last worked this beat some twenty years earlier, when he was assigned to guard a woman - nameless and faceless after a sadistic acid attack - at a Glasgow hospital. An obsession was born at that hospital room that has never quite left McAlpine . . . and now it seems to be resurfacing. For a reason.

As the chase to halt the gruesome murders intensifies, so Anderson and Costello find chilling cause for concern uncomfortably close to home . . .

Reissued with a stunning new package, Caro Ramsay's Anderson & Costello thrillers have been widely recognised as one of the most significant new series in the genre in recent years and Ramsay's utterly unique investigators are ready to become the nation's favourite Scottish cop duo. Absolution is the amazing opening to this stunning series. Subsequent titles include Dark Water and Singing to the Dead. Fans of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid will love this series.

Praise for Caro Ramsay:
'Brilliant in twisting the tension tauter with each page' Guardian
'Ramsay handles her characters with aplomb, the dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns' Observer
'Many shivers in store for readers, followed by a shattering climax' The Times

Caro Ramsay was born in Glasgow and now lives in a village on the west coast of Scotland. Absolution is her first novel, which was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. This success was followed by two further DI Anderson and DS Costello novels, Singing to the Dead and Dark Water. The fourth book in the same series, The Blood of Crows, is also released this summer.

About this title

Review:

When no less an authority on the crime genre than Val McDermid grants the royal seal of approval to a novel, attention must be paid. Caro Ramsay's Absolution is the latest recipient of the McDermid largesse, and this is undoubtedly one of the most impressive debut novels in the field in some time. Of course, the Glasgow setting is familiar territory for aficionados of the tough modern crime novel (and hard-edged Scottish crime writing has been pretty thoroughly colonised by such writers as Ian Rankin), but Ramsay shows that there is still new work to be done in this area.

The Crucifixion Killer is cutting a bloody swathe through luckless female victims, leaving them to bleed to death with their arms outstretched. The case is a hot potato for DCI Alan McAlpine and his associates -- and not just because of the imperative of catching a savage killer. In 1984, McAlpine was just a PC on the beat, assigned to guard a woman whose face been mutilated by an acid attack. Disaster followed this assignment, and McAlpine has been living with the consequences ever since. But as he gets closer to the truth about this more modern monster (aided by his colleagues DS Anderson and DS Costello), it's clear that he needs to settle accounts with ghosts from his own past.

As this synopsis might suggest, we are most definitely in disturbing territory here -- this is the kind of crime writing that takes no prisoners, and those who want comforting Home Counties mysteries should steer well clear. While Ramsay's uncompromising novel has hints round the edges that reminds us it's a debut novel, the final effect is genuinely accomplished, and it's clear that Caro Ramsay is a name we'll be hearing from again. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Ramsay handles her characters with aplomb, the dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns (Observer)

Many shivers in store for readers, followed by a shattering climax (The Times)

Brilliant in twisting the tension tauter with each page (Guardian)

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 140590934X
• ISBN 13: 9781405909341
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416