The Judas Flower

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.

A man has been found murdered in a cemetery in Glasgow. His death caused by the metal cross hammered into his skull, he holds a branch from a flowering Judas tree in u=is hands. DI Aliya Pereira and DS Marc Bain catch the case and learn the victim. Archie Wilson, has recently won the lottery. There definitely seems to be a connection between his winnings and his murder, but can Bain and Pereira find out what it is before someone else is killed? I love the contrast between the gritty, gruesome police work and the “real lives” of Bain and Pereira. Pereira in particular struggles with being a working mother and faces prejudice because of her perceived religious and racial background. A fantastic story on all levels

Oh how I loved this! Since reading Cold Cuts, the first in the Pereira and Bain series I have fallen massively in love with Douglas Lindsay's writing. I have already lined up the rest rest of his books to read in the not-so-distant future.

After Cold Cuts I was waiting with high expectations to read book number two and The Judas Flower did not disappoint. The stories Mr. Lindsay writes always have elements that set them well apart from other writers in the genre which is part of the attraction for me but they also are so easy to read and are endlessly engaging. Cold cuts was slightly more comical due to the storyline with the same excellent writing that pulls you in making you read on and on but I enjoyed the more serious plot with the mix of money, revenge and religion.

Again, as in Cold Cuts there is plenty of black humour - this usually wouldn't get a proper laugh from me but I laughed a lot through this book. As in Cold Cuts Lindsay deals with issues of prejudice and doesn't shy away from presenting these very real problems. I also loved the passing mentions of Uig and Newcastle university both of which are close to my heart.

Pereira is an interesting character and we get to know more about her personal life in this book compared to the little snippets we got in Cold Cuts. This being a full length novel and Cold Cuts a novella I guess it was a good time to expand on her development as a character in The Judas Flower.

I hope this series is planned to go on for a long time as I for one will look forward to each and every book featuring Pereira and Bain. I recommend this series to all crime fans, an absolute pleasure to read and review. I won't hesitate to read more of Pereira and Bains' Glasgow antics in the future, I cannot wait! I am rarely this excitable over a book, author or series.

I also plan to read more from Bastei too, I don't want to miss any other great crime fiction in their catalogue.

Thank you to Bastei/Douglas Lindsay and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an impartial review.

DI Pereira and DS Bain are called out to solve the murder of Archie Wilson, a 130 million lottery winner who had been found with a metal cross buried in his skull and the flower of the Judas tree in his hands. The book takes place on the streets of Glasgow and includes in its subplots the struggles of DI Pereira bringing up two children whilst trying to do her job. A gritty police procedural which will keep the reader entertained and thinking. Recommended

Dang, finally some interesting characters! I read so many books that most of the lead cops tend to blend into each other. These two were distinctly different and interesting. The mystery itself was a true whodunit. Truth is that I liked this book so much that I went ahead and bought a few others by this author. Eh, they were on sale, so what the heck? Great location too!

We first met DI Pereira and sidekick DS Bain in Cold Cuts a couple of months ago. The story in that book was definitely a little different and not for the more squeamish of readers. This one however reverts more to type and our terrible twosome are charged with the task of hunting down the killer of Archie Wilson who is found in a graveyard with a small metal cross embedded in his skull. He is also holding the blossom of the Judas tree in his hands. But is his death religious, or does his recent lottery win have anything to do with things? Delving into his past sheds little more light on the case until there's another body with obvious similarities to the first. Can Pereira and Bain cut through the noise to find a link and, if so, where will it take them? Can they get to the crux of the matter and arrest the perpetrator before they kill again, or even worse, finish their list and disappear for good?
Mr Lindsay is never shy of pushing boundaries with his fiction and here, like usual, he pretty much tramples over them. In Pereira, he has created an HR tickbox dream. Single mother, Asian and bisexual to boot; her personal life being more of a hindrance than a help but, despite the odds and curve balls thrown at her from all angles, she does get the job done... eventually! She makes a good pairing with Bain too. A bit chalk and cheese, there's an obvious mutual respect and they definitely have each others's backs, despite the banter and bickering along the way. I would however like to get more under Bain's skin, He's like a straight man to Pereira's comedienne insofar as he is pretty vanilla. Well, he appears to be thus far...
Plotting is tight and well done. There are all the usual secrets, lies, red herrings and dead ends that you would expect from the genre but not too many to overshadow the actual truth, when we do eventually get to it.
Another of this author's trademarks is front and centre in this book too; his really rather excellent black humour. He really is good at including the right amount at just the right time for it to really work with the, often heinous, crimes being described. Sometimes rather irreverent, the way he works it into the narrative is just sublime.
All in all, another great addition to the author's already impressive back catalogue. With more than a couple of series on the go, I really can;t wait to see what he serves me up next time.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The second in the DI Pereira and DS Bain series, this book was even better than the first. This one features the murder of a lottery winner, who has been struggling with what to do with his new found fortune. Found dead in the Glasgow Necropolis, his murder resembles a ritual killing, and when more bodies are found, Pereira and Bain have to discover the link between the victims and a possible motive.
Plenty of twists and turns, and no shortage of suspects, this is a brilliant read. The main characters are much more fleshed out in this book as we learn more about their family lives. As always with Douglas Lindsay books, there is a strong thread of black humour running through the book which I love! Love all his books and I would highly recommend this one.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this as an arc.

This is an excellent book. With really great characters and a brilliant plot. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book and would highly recommend it.