Thursday 19 June 2014

Read in 2014 - 21: Rope Enough

These days, I usually parallel-read two books: one "physical" book, the kind that is made of paper and can rest on your bedside table or adorn your shelf while you are not reading it, and one on my kindle. The kindle-reading is mostly limited to the train trips to and from work, but I made an exception last night: The ebook I had been reading for a while was 90 % finished, and I really HAD to know the end, so I read the last few chapters in bed, not waiting for my next trip to work.

The book was "Rope Enough" by Oliver Tidy, a self-published author from the UK who now lives in Istanbul. You can find out more about the author and his books here on his wordpress-page.


"Rope Enough" is the first of a series of four books, "The Romney and Marsh Files". The books are set in Dover and describe the cases DI Romney and his sergeant Marsh have to deal with. Romney is, I believe, in his mid-to-late forties; a single man with at least two serious relationships (marriages?) under his belt but convinced he won't find a suitable candidate for a third try, not at his age and not with his requirements.
Marsh is a young woman who has been transferred to Dover only two months ago and has not yet had much time to get to know the place and its people very well.
The two are very different in their approach to their work, but make a successful team - probably because of their differences.

A young woman working at a garage is brutally raped at her work place. She happens to be the girlfriend of one of the most notorious criminals in town, a man Romney would very much like to see behind bars. When more crimes linked to the first one happen, he sees his chance to finally prove the man's involvement in them and other illegal activities. But something does not add up, and it takes a while before the DI and his sergeant realize that there is more to this case than meets the eye.

The way they go about solving it is very well described; I am no expert in police procedure, but it all sounds very much like I'd imagine a real police unit going about their daily work, along with the tedious paper work, reporting to their superiors and so on.

People are portrayed in a believable way, and although I have never been to Dover, I am sure that those who know the place will recognise it well in the book.

This is no cosy mystery. It is contemporary crime fiction, and although Oliver Tidy never goes into too much gorey detail, some scenes are realistic enough to make you want to get on safer ground in the next chapter. Having said this, I very much enjoyed "Rope Enough" (which, contrary to what the title and cover image imply, has nothing to do with anyone's death by hanging).

For a self-published book, it was well edited; I found few typos and only one editing error: A witness changes his name from Nick Holmes to Ricky Holmes a few pages further on.
It was free on the kindle shop when I came across it, and I will certainly go and find the other three books in the series, no matter whether they are for free or not.

8 comments:

  1. Hello Meike:

    We do rather like the image of your travelling to and from work on the train passing the time of your daily journey reading. And for this we imagine a kindle is most useful although, as we may have said previously, we have yet to succumb.

    Only one of us reads crime fiction but your recommendation here is much noted.

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance,
      I've said it before and I'll say it again - my kindle is the ideal travel companion. No other way would I be able to have enough reading material with me to last through my holidays, or without weighing down my handbag on the way to and from work. Also, the choice is much wider than what I'd ever be able to find in my local library, and none of the dozens of books on my kindle takes up any shelf space. Plus there is the environmental aspect: no trees were cut down for the paper to produce these books, and no lorries congested the motorways to deliver them to warehouses and bookshops.

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  2. Hi Meike

    As the author, I would like to thank you sincerely for your positive and encouraging review of Rope Enough, and for getting in touch to let me know it was here to view. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You have made my day.

    I appreciate your thoughts and editorial suggestions. As a self-published author I am always interested in reader feedback. It has helped me a lot with my writing.

    Rope Enough is always free to download through Amazon. As a self-published author who is virtually unknown in the ebook market place I have to offer prospective readers an encouragement to try me. The hope is that they will enjoy the first in the series enough to purchase the second, and so on.

    If and when you get around to the next in the series, please let me know what you think. (I wouldn't expect another blog-post, but as I said, I'm always interested in learning what readers think of my books.)

    I quite agree with you over the 'real' book, ebook thing. Ereaders are so convenient, but for the multi-sensory pleasure that a 'real' book brings you can't beat a physical book.

    Best wishes and thanks again.
    Oliver

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    1. Hi Oliver,

      Thank you so much for stopping by and not only reading my review, but commenting as well!

      Your strategy to interest readers enough via the free first book in the series so that they'd buy the rest of the series certainly works with me. I think it takes some courage and determination to go through with self-publishing, so your "reward" in the shape of many downloads is well deserved.

      Of course there will be blog posts for the other Romney & Marsh files; I review every book I read on here, as much for myself (to keep track of what I've read) as for the benefit of those who read my blog.

      Best wishes
      Meike

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    2. Hi Meike

      It's my pleasure to engage with readers who take an interest in my writing.

      I can't claim to have 'invented' the free give-away initiative. When I started out with self-publishing I saw that it was working for others. My great good fortune was that when I decided to throw my lot in with self-publishing I already had the first three R&M Files written. So I put them out very close to each other. That way, of course, if readers enjoyed the first they immediately had others to go to.

      I must confess to not feeling particularly courageous when I decided to self-publish. I was just desperate to be read by someone other than my mum. I remember feeling that self-publishing had a stigma attached to it - shades of vanity publishing. I certainly don't feel anything like that any more. It has been truly liberating, exciting, an adventure, that I wouldn't have missed for anything.

      Best wishes
      Oliver

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  3. I just "bought" it for my kindle. It was free. But first I have to finish up the Corpse Way series. I also enjoy "real" books but just now seem to be on a kindle spree.

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    1. Glad you liked my review enough to download "Rope Enough" to your kindle, too! We must have quite a few books in common by now, I think. Isn't it just so immensely convenient, the whole kindle-thing?

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    2. Thanks, Kristi. I hope you enjoy it.
      Best wishes,
      Oliver

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