Killing the Beasts (DI Spicer Book 1) by Chris Simms.

Follow DI Jon Spicer in this crime thriller set around Manchester. People are very busy in Manchester with the opening of the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002, when a body is discovered.

Okay, this story is set in 2002 but do not let that put you off. People remain the same, the world over and what we have here is a gritty urban drama. This story is not dated, although you should ignore all the smoking in enclosed public spaces, which is now thankfully illegal.

This is a lovely balanced story, it is not purely a police procedural tale. Character development is great with a lovely diverse range of people. The plot is very good and the pace at which this story unfolds is spot on. It was a pleasure to read and DI Jon Spicer is a very likeable chap who does enjoy a pint in a pub giving you a wish to join him for a night out.

Crime thrillers are a crowded market but Chris Simms offers more in his books. You get the regular crime and it’s detection but also lots of local colour and a social life among the characters. Chris details how Manchester was re-generated in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and how the ugly parts of the city were covered up. He gives the reader the impression they were living there at the time. This novel has a very British feel to it and I like how it is set in the real Manchester rather than a fictitious city. There is also lots of social commentary spread throughout this story and I particularly liked the focus on consumerism and all forms of litter.

Chris has done a lot of research for his novel and this is explained at the end of the book in a section entitled “The ideas behind the story”. I got an awful lot from reading this book, pleasure, a method of killing I had not come across before, the importance of the number 7 through history and a shiver whenever I walk past a branch of B&Q. Killing the Beasts is a great book that I am very happy to vote the top score of 5 stars. This book stands the test of time just like a beer Jon was offered in the novel called Summer Lightning, which is not brewed in Manchester but in Downton near Salisbury, an old favourite of mine and a winner of many real ale awards over the years.

Killing the Beasts is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2005.