Remember Remember by Lisa Cutts
When Nina returns to work after recovering from a near-fatal injury, she’s supposed to be keeping her head down. But the cold case she’s working on – an infamous train crash from 1964 – is no match for the lure of the shootings, drugs deaths and robberies keeping her colleagues busy.
And before long she uncovers crucial new evidence linking the historic crash to the current spate of heroin-related deaths. Once again, she’s back at the centre of a complex case which brings her face-to-face with a network of criminals who will stop at nothing to protect their empire.
My Thoughts;
This is the second novel in the Nina Foster series and having read the first one, Never Forget, I can say that Cutts comes back stronger than ever with this book.
She has created a wonderful protagonist in Foster who is realistic and amusing. As she goes about her job as a detective returning to duties following a stabbing, we feel her thoughts and fears and well as her determination and sharp wit. It made me smile when she described someone using the ‘geezer walk’ and said they looked ridiculous but were unlikely to ever find out, as those who recognised this particular gait as belonging to a moron didn’t want their teeth knocked out for delivering constructive feedback“. This was both observant and witty and made me smile.
Foster has a wonderful relationship with her colleague Wingsy that flows naturally. It is obvious that Cutts is a serving police detective. This is a definite police procedural, sometimes a little heavy on the procedural detail but for fans of procedurals and those who want to know how it really works behind those secure doors of your local police station, this gives a very real insight.
Cutts has also delivered a protagonist who is three dimensional, who has a life, worries and concerns, and family issues that need to be addressed and balanced with the demands of a heavy job. During one particular family meal, Foster really became a deeper person within the novel for me rather than just a cop trying to solve the crime she has been given. It is this insight into the protagonist that will keep me reading the series because having a protagonist admit to feelings that Foster has to, without getting heavy and losing the plot of the story, takes some delicate work.
An interesting procedural with a likable protagonist that you’d probably want to go out for a drink sometime with!
You can find Lisa Cutt’s First Draft answers on the blog Here.
With thanks to the author and publisher for the advance copy.
This sounds like a great read Rebecca, one for me to check out.
Rebecca, I like to read novels that are heavy on police procedural, so I’ll check this out. My interest in police procedural has been rekindled after I recently read “Public Murders” by Bill Granger.
Wingsy – funny character name.
Ooh, a novel that combines historical crime and the present! I’m already intrigued! I’ll have to have a look at this one.
I also read the first book in Nina’s series. New series fall into two categories: 1) the heroine and her story gets better, likely because I already know and like her/him, 2) the heroine gets weaker because the author doesn’t have enough depth and layers. I’m really glad Nina seems to fall into the former.