The Judas Flower by Douglas Lindsay
Book #2: DI Pereira & DS Bain Series
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 3/5 stars

Round two of the DI Pereira and DS Bain series has the two intrepid detectives hot on the heels of a sick killer with a penchant for symbolism.

As with so many things in life (and books!) the whole mess Pereira and Bain find themselves a part of started with a secret and whole mountain of money. Archie Wilson won the lottery, and by won the lottery I mean life-changing, never have to worry about anything ever again kind of money. That kind of money brings out the crazies, and one of those crazies had an ax to grind with Archie Wilson. When Pereira and Bain get called to the scene, Archie Wilson has had a very bad night and finds himself all kinds of dead in a cemetery with a Judas flower in his hands and a metal cross pounded into his skull.

As they should, Pereira and Bain begin their inquiries by following the money, all the money. What they discover is a long, winding path leading them to the Catholic Church and an ill-fated day many, many years ago that left a young boy dead and three others safe and sound all telling the same story about a horrible accident. Trouble is, the story the survivors have been telling for so many years isn’t quite the truth, and the truth has a way revealing itself, eventually. What’s more, Archie Wilson was one of three survivors and as Pereira and Bain quickly discover, this case isn’t about the money at all, but about the righting of a terrible wrong.

The Bottom Line: At the end of the first Pereira and Bain book, I asked for more time and space to develop the characters, to give me more full-bodied characters I could feel invested in and connected to. That sort of happened here . . . . As the plot of the Judas Flower unfolds, there is a great deal more information about DI Pereira and very little, once again, about DS Bain. This isn’t a terribly fast-paced book, but it doesn’t necessarily drag either. There is just enough weirdness and twistiness to keep one turning pages, but not so totally absorbing that you can’t put the book down and sleep. As you can clearly discern from my comments, I wasn’t at all blown away by this book, but I wasn’t completely disappointed either. At the end of the day, I am sticking with the assessment I had of the first book: I will recommend this book, but not recommend it be added to the top of your TBR list. If I come across a third book in this series, I’ll likely give it a shot, but I’m not going to go searching for that third book either. Yeah, I’m completely on the fence 😊 ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

A recent lottery winner is discovered dead in a Glasgow cemetery and other murders follow. The narrative is from the perspective of DI Aliya Pereira, who juggles solving the case, managing her boss, and finding time for her children. While there was a fair amount of time spent on Pereira's personal life (and the imperfect decisions she had made and continued to make), the main focus was the investigation itself.

I thought this was an excellent police procedural; I read it in one sitting and found the twists and turns compelling and the identity of the perpetrator both a surprise and entirely logical. There was a good sense of the Glasgow setting and of Pereira's "otherness". I would be keen to read more instalments of this series.

Highly recommended. ( )