Remember, Remember by Lisa Cutts

Remember, Remember by Lisa Cutts
Buy Remember, Remember by Lisa Cutts at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: The second book in the DC Nina Foster series doesn't disappoint: great characters, tightly plotted and real. Definitely recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 368	Date: August 2014
Publisher: Myriad Editions
ISBN: 978-1908434395
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Detective Constable Nina Foster has just returned to work after after a stabbing which nearly killed her. Everyone - even Nina - thinks that she's going to be taking it gently and easing herself back into the job. She's working on cold cases - this time it's a train crash which happened in 1964 - but what she's given is just a little tame compared to the cases which her colleagues are struggling to cope with. Drugs deaths and robberies are a lot more immediate, but then - with one of those peculiar quirks of fate - evidence emerges which links the crash which happened half a century ago to the current spate of drug deaths. The woman who is supposed to be taking it easy is back in the thick of it.

We first met Nina Foster in Never Forget, which has now been optioned for a TV drama. It was evident then that this was going to be a series to watch, not least because Cutts is a serving officer with Kent police and she writes about police work as it really happens. Rather than the maverick detective going out there and solving the case all on his own she emphasises the team work, the organisation and the sheer drudgery of some of the work. Her great skill is that she can convey what it's actually like, without allowing the tedium to be reflected in the plot. She's also got some great characters: Nina's not young or gorgeous - she's just a little bit flawed and very real.

You could read this as a stand alone, but why deprive yourself of the pleasure of reading the first book in the series? You will know far more about Nina Foster's background and have a greater grasp of who's who. When I read Never Forget I did have a problem coping with what seemed like a cast of thousands, but it was a great deal easier in this second book. Even after a year's gap I met the characters like old friends.

I love the fact that Cutts writes in short chapters: it makes for real pace and you can easily justify 'just one more chapter'. I finished the book in just a couple of sittings. The plot is not so much a 'whodunit' as 'getting whodunit' and establishing who is involved on the periphery. It's a splendid illustration that even after five decades crimes can still come back to haunt.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals then we know that you'll love books by Elizabeth Haynes, also a police insider. We've recently been taken by the first in a new series - Under A Silent Moon.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Remember, Remember by Lisa Cutts at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

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