The Drowning Ground (Thorndike Press Large Print Crime Scene) - Hardcover

Marrison, James

3.73

264 ratings by Goodreads

9781410485113: The Drowning Ground (Thorndike Press Large Print Crime Scene)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410485110 ISBN 13: 9781410485113

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2016

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Chief Inspector Guillermo Downes is a long way from his native home of Argentina, heading up the police department in the English Cotswolds. But he isn't far enough to escape the memories of his past, or to lost the baggage he carries from the loss of two weeks to go missing-Downes makes a promise to the child's mother to find her no matter what it takes.

Ten years later, that promise remains unfulfilled. And though the girls are never far from his thoughts, the job goes on. The body of a local man, Frank Hurst, has just been found dead, sprawled on a hill in town. Frank Hurst also had a past. His second wife drowned in their swimming pool and his daughter, Rebecca, left home soon after. Downes remembers the case well. And although many in the town think Frank murdered his wife, his alibi was confirmed. Still, it now seems that there might be a connection between Frank and the missing girls, which might give Chief Inspector Downes another chance to make good on the promise he made all those years ago.

With the kind of insights into life in a seemingly peaceful village that made "Broadchurch" so powerful, James Marrison's "The Drowning Ground" introduces a terrific new voice in crime fiction.

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Review:

DARK, GRIPPING AND UNEXPECTED (LINWOOD BARCLAY)

An Argentinian DCI in the heart of middle England brings a thoughtful outsider's viewpoint to a murder that has troubling links to unsolved crimes from the past. Guillermo Downes's intelligent, intuitive policework keeps the pages turning (Sunday Times)

An intriguing debut . . . the plot [has] a strength and texture that help set it apart . . . Taut and told with panache, it ushers in a suitably spiky police hero (Daily Mail)

Marrison's tense debut expertly evokes a sense of place . . . the highly unusual denouement will catch most readers by surprise (Publishers Weekly)

A gripping thriller . . . a readable, complex tale, astutely paced . . . If the mark of a good whodunnit is that you can't actually guess whodunnit, then The Drowning Ground does its job well. Despite following the plot closely, I was still taken aback by the denouement (The Herald)

With an intricate plot with numerous twists and an intriguing cop with a complex history, Marrison rivets the reader straight through to the novel's chilling conclusion. An author to watch, he scores high with this impressive debut (Richmond Times Dispatch)

An assured d�but which promises much for the future (crimefictionlover.com)

So many characters with so many secrets and deviant behaviours make this d�but mystery by James Marrison a real winner. The author's complex plotting, haunted characters, and gorgeous descriptions of winter are an absolute joy to read even as the action takes one suspenseful turn, then another and then another to an unexpected denouement. When it seems as though all the clues have been resolved, Marrison saves one last shocking revelation for the final chapter.. . . Expertly setting us up for the next chapter in the series ( I can't wait!), Marrison writes lovingly of his new hero, Guillermo Downes, a detective plagued by demons both internal and external yet determined to expose murder most foul whenever and wherever he can (curledup.com)

A masterful novel . . . The protagonists are wonderfully portrayed. Downes is a bit of a mystery, a man born in Buenos Aires of a Argentinian mother and an English father. What led him to leave his homeland and make a life for himself in this small English town? Perhaps the answer will be revealed in the next novel in the series, something I'm eagerly anticipating (marilynmystertreads.com)

Move over Morse (Oxford Times)

From the Back Cover:

My lungs began to burn and ache. I felt the first beginnings of a rising panic as I sensed the terrible solidity of the bricks around me. But I kept searching. The tips of my fingers ripped through the weeds and slime as I pushed myself further and further down. The pressure deep in my lungs rose. My mouth began to fill with water. I had to go back up now. But for a few seconds longer I refused . . .

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