Lead Review

  • Book: Seven Bridges
  • Location: Northumberland
  • Author: L J Ross

Review Author: tripfiction

Location

Content

The novel opens as Ryan is handling a tense situation. He is leaving Jen and she is threatening him. It makes for a corker of an opener! That was 2007. Moving forward to 2018 and not only is there an untimely death – a presumed murder – but there are also bomb threats being made to blow up one of the seven iconic bridges straddling the river at the quayside between Newcastle and Gateshead. The Tyne Bridge is probably the most iconic and therefore the most likely to be targetted but the so-called Blinking Eye Bridge (Millenium Bridge) and the High Level Bridge could also be strong contenders! Which one does the bomber (calling himself/herself The Alchemist) have in his/her sights – the Tyne River itself is 70 miles long, with 40 bridges along its length. All the bridges see both traffic and trains crisscrossing the river, so any threat to any bridge is going to cause total mayhem.

This is a breathless start to no.8 in the DCI Ryan series of sleuthing in and around Northumberland and Newcastle.

There are enough threads to create a cracking storyline, with the usual team trying to unravel the clues. There is a good sense of tension and what the author always does really well is create banter between the colleagues and friends. The interactions are really one of the strengths of this series. Ryan is assertive when ordered about by superiors and does not stand for any nonsense and he is a charming man. He and his wife Anna make a convincing team!

There are plenty of location references in the story and as always the local food gets a look-in. This time it is the turn of the ‘Pie-Van’ offering among other things the old favourites like Scotch Eggs, Pease Pudding and Stotties. Enjoy your ‘trip’ to the North East of England!

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