Hardback by Head Of Zues, £12.99
Debut novelist Clare Carson has taken inspiration from the old TV
series The Sweeney, and her father, who was a real-life undercover policeman in 1970s London, and holidays she enjoyed as a child in Orkney, for her clever crime thriller set in 1980s London and Orkney.
Sam grew up knowing her father, Jim, was an undercover policeman
but the rest of his life was on a strictly need-to-know basis –
she never asked and he never told.
In the summer before she heads to university, she, Jim and her
friend Tom leave the dusty streets of south London for the remote
ruggedness of Orkney.
Sam knows her father is hiding something and Orkney is part of a
bigger plan. Sam and Tom spy on Jim as a he travels the island
with a mysterious envelope. Sam discovers her father’s true role
and she finds herself more involved in his dangerous world of
covert operations than she ever thought possible.
Twilight is an original, haunting thriller about fathers, daughters
and the ghosts of the past and the author cleverly weaves the
political struggles of 1980s Britain with the beauty of
Orkney. She explores the relationship between fathers and
daughters while explaining Norse mythology.
The novel is a clever take on crime fiction, she changes the
perspective which is refreshing and passages about the history of
the island are not only interesting but unusual for a thriller. Orkney Twilight is a solid debut and I’m looking forward to more from Clare Carson.