Thanks to Black Thorn Books and Netgalley for a free copy of The Sideman by Caro Ramsey in exchange for an honest review.
The Sideman by Caro Ramsey
Genre: Police procedural
Publisher: Black Thorn Books
Publication Date: May 7, 2020 (previously published by Severn House in 2018)
Blurb
Inside a beautiful Victorian family home in Glasgow, a mother and her young son are found brutally murdered.
DI Costello is furious and knows exactly who did it: George Haggerty, the husband and father. The only problem is that Haggerty has a cast-iron alibi – the police themselves caught him speeding at the time of the murders. But Costello can’t let it go. Determined to expose Haggerty as a ruthless killer, she’s gone solo.
DCI Colin Anderson has no time to ponder his partner of twenty years going rogue, as his own cases are piling up. But Costello’s absence becomes increasingly worrying. Has she completely disappeared following the tracks of a dangerous man? (Goodreads blurb of The Sideman)
My thoughts
Trigger alert: Be forewarned that the characters mention rape multiple times, though there are no rape scenes. (Two cops are investigating several rape cold cases–most fatal–that might be connected.) There’s at least one murder, though not shown in graphic detail.
First off, you need to read The Suffering of Strangers to understand The Sideman. I rarely say this when I jump in mid-way through a series, as I can usually figure out the who’s and when’s and how’s. When I read other reviews stating this, I dismissed the comments. But this time, I should’ve listened. You can read it as a standalone; I did. But you might be frustrated at not knowing the background and the characters’ complicated relationships.
Think of The Sideman and The Suffering of Strangers as one big book chopped into two smaller ones. That’s my impression, anyway.
Thankfully, Caro Ramsey provides a list of characters and their role. I spent a lot of time flipping back to that page to make certain I understood who was whom. Trying to piece together the plot of a novel while reading another novel was distracting. I rather wish she’d simply put both books together into one! The publisher might not have liked that, but it would’ve made things clearer.
But my confusion wasn’t enough to turn me off from the book and this series; other readers may feel otherwise.
Plot
Caro Ramsey is excellent at building suspense through this book. Even toward the end, I struggled to see how all the elements fit together. She does a terrific job keeping all the various attacks, assaults, and deaths spinning with multiple possible interpretations.
The Suffering of Strangers featured a sensational case: the brutal stabbing deaths of a mother and her preteen son. Costello and her lover, Archie Walker, discover the brutalized bodies. The press has been all over the police to solve the crime, and continues to titillate the public with lurid details disguised as investigative reporting.
It’s a tough crime to read about. Lots of novels have gruesome murders but this one left me feeling gutted. After reading Costello’s angry resignation letter, I felt connected to her and other sympathetic characters. Costello’s rage and sorrow made me feel the needlessness of the deaths. And then, the possibility that the mom opened the door to her own killer . . . that it was someone she knew and trusted. Chilling.
Characters
There are many characters to keep track of in the book. This isn’t a bad thing! But the relationships are complex and it would’ve helped to have read the first book. The line between work and private life doesn’t exist. There are also two different police forces to deal with and not all the characters from one police department know each other.
There’s also the continuing developments from The Suffering of Strangers. Colin Anderson now has a grandson by a now-deceased daughter he didn’t know existed until the previous book. That daughter had been adopted by George Haggerty, so naturally Haggerty thinks of baby Moses as his grandson, too. He feels free to stop by the Anderson house for chit-chats with Colin Anderson and catch-up time with the baby.
That Haggerty is a suspect in the gruesome deaths of his wife and son and Anderson is a homicide investigator complicates the two men’s relationship. Anderson wants to move forward from the case, but it’s difficult.
Ramsey even develops some minor characters. One person who could’ve been a caricature shows unexpected strength and plays a pivotal role in helping the investigation.
Costello doesn’t show up as much as I expected. However, I got to “know” her through the thoughts, actions, and words of others. But thanks to her resignation letter–the prologue of the book–I sensed a woman who is frustrated with the system and guilt-ridden by her own perceived failure to protect others. She’s moralistic, and while her work partner of twenty years can reel her in, once she resigns, Costello cuts off Anderson and the rest of the world.
Violence
Various other crimes complicate these relationships. Some of the crimes happened in The Suffering of Strangers, some in the distant past, and some are ongoing and unknown. Drugs, baby-selling, stabbings . . . it’s a violent book.
Many of the characters appear traumatized. Valerie, the dead mother’s sister, is an alcoholic. She’s still recovering from being strangled (!) in the previous book. At one point, she awakens in a hotel room, hungover and struggling to remember what happened. She has soiled herself, doesn’t know what she has or hasn’t done, and is deeply ashamed. Ramsey describes Valerie’s emotions so poignantly that I felt the woman’s shame. She’s a sad but compelling character to me.
Narrative Style
This is the second book I’ve read recently that had long monologues from characters that didn’t always include dialogue tags. At several points, I wasn’t certain which of the possible two to four characters was speaking. As I’ve run across this twice in police procedurals by UK authors, I wonder if this is simply a US vs. UK style-issue.
There were also some “throwaway” characters, ones that show up only to discover a major clue/the body/etc., and never reappear. Given that there were already so many characters to keep track of, this needlessly complicated things, especially at the beginning when I was still trying to figure out who was important. (Especially true in this novel, where the backstory is VERY important.) If I read two or three pages about a particular character’s actions, I tend to believe that person will be important somehow later on. Then, when it’s clear they were the dramatic extras, it’s disappointing. Maybe not everyone is like this, though.
Recommended
I think many readers of police procedurals will enjoy this, especially fans of previous Caro Ramsey novels. I recommend reading The Suffering of Strangers first, though. I’m adding that to my to-be-read list!
Like this? Read that!
If you enjoyed The Sideman, be sure to check out my list of new police procedurals for fall 2019/spring 2020.