Murder mystery set in London

16th September 2016

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole – murder mystery set in London (to be published in February 2017).

Our Advance Reader Copy

I picked up my advance copy of Ragdoll with some slight trepidation. There had been a lot of hype and publicity about both the book and the author, Daniel Cole – and sometimes the reality does not live up to the promotion. But, on this occasion, I am very pleased to say that it did. I thoroughly enjoyed the book as I read it a few days ago – and my mind has returned to it a few times since. That is always a good sign.

Ragdoll is an extremely cleverly worked murder mystery. There is one body, but six murders. I’ll explain… The ragdoll of the title is a ‘body’ made up of the parts of six victims clumsily stitched together. It is left for the police to find, illuminated by a single spotlight in a run down flat in Kentish Town. The flat overlooks that of ‘Wolf’, the detective who is going to lead the murder enquiry. Who are the victims, and what is the connection between them? And what is Wolf’s involvement? The killer anonymously passes the names of six further victims he intends to kill, and when he intends to kill them, to news anchor, Andrea – who just happens to be Wolf’s ex wife. Wolf’s name is the last on the list… Her network sets up a special studio with a Death Clock on the wall to match the countdown.

Wolf, ably backed up by his partner, Emily Baxter and trainee Edmunds (on secondment from ‘Fraud’ to which he returns at the end of the book, having almost seen his own marriage fall apart under the stress of the investigation) set about first trying to identify the  the six victims whose body parts make up the ragdoll – and second protecting the names of those on the list. This is a task in which they fail spectacularly – as one after another on the list is despatched by the killer who seems to have no trouble anticipating the police and penetrating their defences. It is getting very close to Wolf’s turn to die. What is the connection between the six victims of the ragdoll and the six names on the list? Can the police crack it in time? Might it have something to do with a murky and distressing incident in Wolf’s past?

No doubt that Ragdoll is a fast moving and exciting page-turner. It is hard to put down. But it is more besides… It is also a very funny book, with lots of black humour. And it is a book where the reader has to suspend belief and just get carried along. Some elements don’t profit from a too forensic examination. For example, Wolf seems to hold great sway over the security managers at two major airports, and an airline itself. And it strains credulity to find his ex-wife as a prominent television journalist. But, so what? The story carries it off.

The characterisation in the book is not profound – it is not that sort of book. But the characters work well together – from the sometimes strained (but basically friendly) relationship between Wolf and his ex, to the somewhat strange but close friendship between Wolf and his alcoholic work partner, Emily – to the impact being in the murder squad has on the relationship between Edmunds and his pregnant wife.

Ragdoll is an extremely well written addition to the ranks of detective fiction. It is the first book in a series of three, and the television rights have already been sold. Success is thus pretty much assured for Daniel Cole – after years of rejection letters from publishers and script editors. Perseverance can out…

Tony for the TripFiction team

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