Containment by Vanda Symon
Chaos reigns in the sleepy village of Aramoana on the New Zealand coast, when a series of shipping containers wash up on the beach and looting begins.
Detective Constable Sam Shephard experiences the desperation of the scavengers first-hand, and ends up in an ambulance, nursing her wounds and puzzling over an assault that left her assailant for dead.
What appears to be a clear-cut case of a cargo ship running aground soon takes a more sinister turn when a skull is found in the sand, and the body of a diver is pulled from the sea ... a diver who didn’t die of drowning...
As first officer at the scene, Sam is handed the case, much to the displeasure of her superiors, and she must put together an increasingly confusing series of clues to get to the bottom of a mystery that may still have more victims...
Vanda Symon is a crime writer, TV presenter and radio host from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the chair of the Otago Southland branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. The Sam Shephard series has climbed to number one on the New Zealand bestseller list, and also been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for best crime novel. She currently lives in Dunedin, with her husband and two sons.
Vanda is lovely! I met her as part of the Orenda roadshow and she comes across as such a great person. She is also pretty active on both instagram and twitter and is great to connect with! She has hooked me in with her afternoon teas pictures!
Review
The opening scene evokes scenes from the great Scottish novel and film Whisky Galore - people scavenging and looting across a beach full of items from the wreck of a container ship. Normal societal rules have been forgotten, law does not apply and this is what our main character, Sam, steps into. It’s no small wonder that she ends up being attacked after she tries to stop the above. The opening scenes hit you right in the face - life for this little area of New Zealand is never going to be the same again.
I haven’t read the previous Sam Shephard books (something which I am going to remedy as soon as I have some money again!) but you can certainly pick up this book and enjoy the story without having read them. Sam is a straight talking, highly intelligent but new to the detective pool at Dunedin. Her partner Smithy is a bastion of strength and experience and helps her navigate round her dick of a boss! The least said about him the better.
I loved how human Sam was - she still lives with her best friend, can’t commit to her very lovely boyfriend, hasn’t got a close relationship with her brother, but is a complete daddy’s girl. She is feisty and sassy, wants to do what is right and has become a character which I love!
This is a slow burner of a book, where the amazing plot creeps up on you and you end up being hugged by Sam and her cohorts. The emerging plot is one of greed, frayed and strong friendships and Sam being determined to close this case. The first major one she has been given. Which she does with aplomb.
I really enjoyed this book and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. Sam is sharp and witty and I would want to be her friend! It’s a great introduction for me to Sam’s world and I am going to return to the start of the series - I will soon be in self isolation for 12 weeks!
