Wasn't a huge fan of the use of scottish dialogue through this. A solid crime novel otherwise

A very accessible and well written crime story. Some great characters and a decent mystery.

I particularly enjoyed the sweary DS with his “take no prisoners” attitude and football references.

There is a good chance that I will revisit this series and hopefully the few minor weaknesses will be avoided.

WHISKEY FROM SMALL GLASSES is the first in the DI Jim Daley (yes he does go to the gym daily) and DS Brian Scott series, which I've started listening to, as opposed to reading, and very fine listening it is. Narrated by David Monteath, the series is now up to book 6.

Starting out with a good balance between introduction and set up of new characters, and an interesting investigation to be getting on with, WHISKEY FROM SMALL GLASSES comes with a unique setting and some dark humour into the bargain. There's also more than enough intrigue, marital issues, and police politics to keep a reader amused.

Set in a seemingly fictional version of Kinloch, one hundred and fifty "long way round" miles from Glasgow, the area has recently come under the overall control of the Strathclyde Police. Superintendent John Donald, once footsore copper and compatriot of Daley's, now his boss, is determined to get these remote outposts to step into line, so a murder case seems like the perfect opportunity to send Daley and Scott off to the countryside, get a quick turnaround on the case, and show these yokels a thing or two about effective policing. Not exactly the best timing for Daley's personal life as his marriage to the serially unfaithful Liz is tanking rapidly, his waistline is expanding and his reserves of patience sorely tried. When Liz lobs into Kinloch with her suspect brother-in-law in tow, it's the last thing Daley wants or needs, although the arrival of his investigating buddy, friend and sounding board Brian Scott, him of the highly colourful turn of phrase, and pointed turn of snark, has given Daley the friend and support he needs.

Listening to this novel washing past was a very enjoyable experience. There is a hefty concentration on Daley's problems with his marriage, enough that I'd have normally expected to be rapidly over it, but it does kind of work here. The concentration on the case, the friendship between Daley and Scott, the idiotic behaviour of the local police chief, all sort of slot together, making everyone feel real, and conflicted, and trying hard. With the Daley's being away from home, in a place where they are unknown there is always the hope that they might eventually decide whether it's a yes or no on the marriage. With Daley and Scott being in town, even though the body count does grow, there's always a feeling that there might not be Donald's longed for quick turnaround, but a resolution to the murders will be found. All the while there is the real feeling that Kinloch and it's people are working their way into Daley's admiration and life.

There is much more to these murders than originally thought, and things quickly go from a murder investigation to sorting out an international drug-trafficking ring, and at that point the investigative side of the novel does get a bit ropey, although where it's heading becomes obvious at the end. Write this one off to a major amount of set up for the rest of the series and you should be able to forgive things getting a bit messy, to say nothing of some very heavy darning to pull some threads into place.

Having now listened to the first couple of books in the series, I think I'll stick with them in audio format as the dialogue, the place names, even the thought patterns of the characters are quintessentially Scottish and part of the enjoyment was hearing it in just the right accent.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/whiskey-small-glasses-denzil-meyrick

This is a tough one for me. There were elements of this book I loved and then some that moved this down to a three-star rating rather than four. I loved the main character, DCI Daley and the fact that it was based in Scotland and set in a small community. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it was a very predictable outcome which led to me feeling slightly dissatisfied at the end.

Would that stop me from reading this author again? No, it wouldn't. I'd like to see more of this character and I enjoyed the writing and the setting. I'd like to see if next time, the journey and ending are a little less predictable.

I’ve read quite a lot of Scottish noir over the years, I pretty much always enjoy it, but this was on the lower end. Even for someone like myself who is quite willing to allow myself to be deceived and is generally stupid enough to miss the obvious It was unusually predictable, which is a shame, who dunnits are like fun little presents but I found myself mostly just waiting for this to finish on the off chance I was wrong.

Again in comparison to other Scottish crime fiction this was unusually conservative in terms of its political tone. Very concerned with the degeneracy of drugs and sex practically all the characters look down on the victims and generally seem to think they deserve it, painting the murderer as only going too far. This is probably closer to the truth of Scottish cops but it’s nice to use fiction to explore the why of things or even imagine how policing could be better. Not that I expect radical anarchy from copaganda.

Not a perfect mystery but a great debut and a lot of fun. I plan to read the sequel.

I think the reason I can give this book 3 stars is Daley. He's a very likeable character, realistic most of the time, and full of flaws that just make him even more appealing. His wife on the other hand is honest-to-goodness a bimbo. Airheaded and kinda stupid, although she changes over the course of the novel. She needs a job and some purpose besides being a pleasure seeker. The violence of the deaths was a little over the top, as was the villainy of the murderer (and also the "slow burn" up to the climax). Also felt a little cheated when Hamish stepped in and saved the day.

May continue just to see if it gets any better.

The audiobook is very well performed by David Monteath. Five stars for that. The story is a standard, written-for-tv police thriller. There’s a lot of the usual ‘let’s visualise a naked young woman’s corpse that’s been violently raped’ and a) just no; b) it worries me that this is a norm. Apart from that, if it’s Scottish you’re after, this is it, and I liked the dialogue, it was authentic and recognisable.