Review: Blue on Blue by Dal Maclean

Title: Blue on Blue

Series: Bitter Legacy: Book Three

Author: Dal Maclean

Publisher: One Block Empire/Blind Eye Books

Length: 407 Pages

Category: Contemporary, Murder Mystery, Police Procedural

At a Glance: Blue on Blue has done nothing less than cement a place for Dal Maclean on my list of must-read authors, once again delivering a suspenseful and corruption-packed mystery amongst the riot of mistrust that has left Will Foster and Tom Gray on the brink of relationship destruction.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: After three years working as a private investigator, newly reinstated Detective Inspector Will Foster still holds himself responsible for the death of an officer under his command. But he’s returned to the Met bent on redeeming himself and that means bringing down gangland boss Joey Clarkson.

Will’s prepared to put in long hours and make sacrifices for his work, even if it comes at a cost to his nascent romance with international model, Tom Gray. After all, Tom has a history of wandering but crime is a constant in London. And Will has committed himself to the Met.

But when a murder in a Soho walkup leads Will into the world of corruption, he finds himself forced to investigate his own friends and colleagues. Now the place he turned for redemption seems to be built upon lies and betrayal. And someone is more than willing to resort to murder to keep it that way.

Review: Author Dal Maclean burst onto my reading scene with the release of her debut novel, Bitter Legacy. With the release of Object of Desire, my love for her brand of storytelling only solidified. And now, Blue on Blue has done nothing less than cement a place for her on my list of must-read authors, once again delivering a suspenseful and corruption-packed mystery amongst the riot of mistrust that has left Will Foster and Tom Gray on the brink of relationship destruction.

This third novel in the Bitter Legacy series draws Jamie and Ben (from Bitter Legacy) into the story by virtue of their friendship with Will and Tom as well as the case Will finds himself embroiled in when a sex worker turns up dead—a case that will end up peripherally including Ben. The evidence accumulated from the murder scene proves the suspected killer to be a categorical impossibility—and yet the only prospect—and with the investigation hinging on the testimony of known criminals, not to mention additional evidence that turns up unexpectedly from someone from Jamie’s past, the two detectives must team up to find out who the killer really is. When you don’t know who you can trust, the logical conclusion is to trust no one, but Will and Jamie have little choice but to rely on each other rather than go this alone.

Whether they’ll survive is another matter altogether.

Maclean leaves clues and dead ends and bombshells along the way, and weaves suspicions and doubts expertly through the story. At the same time the anxiety induced by Will and Tom and their suspicions and doubts of each other and their commitment to their relationship, escalates to the extreme when it becomes clear someone is manipulating them, their feelings, and the residual misgivings over their past. The why is clear, but the who remains another mystery in the story, and then it ends up becoming a significant cog in the machine that escalates the danger and furthers the chaos of an investigation that uncovers layers of evil within the power structure.

Amidst the black and white, there are gray areas—those ethical conundrums where doing nothing would mean a disproportionate amount of harm in relationship to the misdeed—that come into play for Will, who has always been by-the-book. It’s what has always made him such a good copper. But there’s also being a kind and compassionate human being, and he’s proved he can be both.

Blue on Blue is another winning novel in the mystery/procedural genre. Here’s to the hope this won’t be the last we see of these characters.

You can buy Blue on Blue here:
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