Read in 2016 - 41: Lethally Married

"Lethally Married" by Bill Wenham is crime fiction a bit different from what I am used to: The story as a whole is told by the leading character, Detective Chief Inspector Meacham, looking back on the events. Therefore, the "who" and "how" of the crimes are made known to the reader from the start, while the suspension lies in learning how Meacham and his team solve the case.

A married couple tour the UK, robbing small shops at gunpoint. To them, it is just a job - like other people go to the office in the morning, they go looking for their next target, always on their black motorbike, always in black leather, wearing black helmets.

At one point, things go wrong, a shot is fired, and from then on, murder becomes part of the "game".

The dynamics in the couple's relationship and their shift from robbing to murder is told in much detail and not from the detective's persepective. Some of it I found hard to bear and quick-read over a few scenes.

The detective's life and how it is changed forever by the terrible deeds of the "lethally married" criminals is much more interesting.

An altogether good read, not overly long, not too much gruesome detail (in spite of my remark about having quick-read a few scenes) but still plenty of suspense.

The author was completely unknown to me and has, I suspect, not been a writer for very long. His style is... how shall I put it; a little clumsy at times. Many exclamation marks, several sudden (and sometimes wrong) switches in grammatical construction of a sentence, and typos which could have been avoided with some editing. However, it was a free ebook and still a good read - just not a great one. 

PS: From his Amazon author page, I found out that Bill Wenham is 84 years old and has been writing since 2005. In the 1950s, he served in London's Metropolitan Police Force until he emigrated to Canada in 1957, working for Air Canada.

There is an entire series of Inspector Meacham mysteries; the one I have just read is # 3.