Within a short time she receives a call from someone claiming to be giving his own obituary, before he commits suicide.
Deaths and mysteries pile up by the page, and a series of connections between characters lead to a violent finale.
Martha is an in-your-face character, troubled by deep depressions that have to be dealt to by ECT, and surrounded by family members who have a fair few problems of their own. She's likeable, and is the best-drawn character in the story.
Johnstone is a no-nonsense kind of writer who hits the ground running and keeps moving forward at a brisk pace.
There are only occasional moments to get a breather before the story zips off again. His Edinburgh is even seamier than Ian Rankin's, and at an opposite extreme to Alexander McCall Smith's. Four-letter words abound.
If you prefer your thrillers to be no-nonsense and without frills, try this one out for size.
- Mike Crowl is a Dunedin writer, musician and composer.
