The Bonnie Dead by Andrew Raymond
A stolen child. A killer stalking the streets of Glasgow. A troubled detective running out of time.
Five years ago, DCI John Lomond led the search for notorious Glasgow child-killer ‘The Sandman’, until personal tragedy forced him off the case.
In Lomond’s absence, the killer was never found.
Now, with nothing but work left in his life, Lomond remains obsessed with the case – despite the nightmares it brings.
When a child is abducted in a similar Sandman fashion from an affluent Glasgow suburb, Lomond is brought in to find them before it’s too late.
But the only forensic evidence belongs to a little girl who was abducted and murdered twenty years ago.
Could the Sandman’s identity lie buried in the coldest of cold cases? Or is a new killer about to claim their first victim?
The Bonnie Dead is the explosive debut Scottish crime thriller from Andrew Raymond – author of Amazon UK number one political thriller Official Secrets, which has now sold over 100,000 copies.
Shot through with dark Glaswegian humour and thrilling twists, he captures the voices of his beloved home city, taking you into its hidden depths, and the iconic hills and glens of nearby Loch Lomond and Arran.
If you like writers like JD Kirk, Ian Rankin, and Stuart MacBride, this addictive thriller will have you gripped until its haunting, heart-in-the-mouth climax.
About the author
Andrew Raymond lives and writes in Glasgow, Scotland with his wife and little boy.
His first book, Official Secrets, has sold over 100,000 copies, and the series in total has over 10 million Kindle Unlimited page reads.
His first crime book, The Bonnie Dead, introduces Police Scotland’s premier investigator DCI John Lomond. The first in a thrilling Scottish crime series, shot through with dark Glaswegian humour and gripping twists, that take you into the hidden depths of Andrew's home city, as well as the iconic hills and glens of the Scottish highlands.
Review
‘The Bonnie Dead’ is a brilliant debut to a brand new tartan noir series set in Glasgow! I was blown away by this book and loved every page of it. I might be slightly biased as I love most crime books set in my home city of Glasgow but this one seemed to be a level above some I have read recently. It was the standard of writing, brilliant characters and a storyline that was complex, chilling and ultimately very compelling. Despite suffering from very severe migraines this week I could not put this down and I was thoroughly engaged with the plot! This is the first of the author’s books that I have read but it won’t be the last!
DCI Lomond has been working in Paisley CID for the last five years. He has previously been head of the Major Crimes Unit at Govan which deals with the most serious of cases. He was in charge of ‘the Sandman’ case but ultimately was unable to solve it. The Sandman abducts a child, leaving sand in their bed and five days later the child’s body is found. However, when a personal tragedy affected DCI Lomond he was taken off the case and the killer was never found. But Lomond never stopped working the case. His living room is covered in evidence and every night he is chasing down leads and reworking the old leads etc. The worse thing imageable happens when another child is taken and Lomond is thrust back into the case as they know they only have five days to save the child!
Lomond is an intriguing character who despite his circumstances still has a passion for his work. He encourages his team and is constantly training them in the background despite being on a super high profile case. You can slowly see him coming alive again despite the horrific case he is having to investigate and it’s lovely to see this as a reader. He isn’t jaded. Many may say that he life is only work and therefore not fulfilled but this is incorrect - he has a calling and this is what he wants to be doing! The rest of the team compromise of great characters as well I can’t wait to see how they are developed as the series continues.
If you can’t tell I quite liked this book and I am eagerly awaiting the next instalment!
