Customer Reviews

The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths (Unabridged)

This is the third book in the DC Fiona Griffiths series and it's the best yet. Fiona goes under cover as Fiona Gray and she is so convincing she starts to lose connection with her real persona. The Stieg Larsson Dragon trilogy introduced us to a vulnerable yet feisty heroine. Fiona Griffiths fits that description. She is spectacularly vulnerable and at the same time intelligent, resourceful and endearingly brave. Fiona loses her sense of self but gains something that might well end up strengthening her tenuous grip of planet normal. I recommend this book highly. I love the immediacy of the writing. There is not a single word wasted and every page steadily contributes to a very satisfying read. It will be a long wait until book 4.

In my review of the previous Fiona Griffiths novel, Love Story, With Murders, I noted that it would be good to see how this character develops.

And so we have book 3 which is better than book 2 for which I also gave 5 stars. FG in this story goes undercover and becomes Fiona Grey which just about sums up her place in the system. A superstore has a payroll mystery, money paid to invisible people, so FG is sent in to see if there are any clues as to who is doing this.

From this point, we have a deep and sometimes dark police procedural but based mainly on the activities of FG.

In this book, she is much harder, even more determined to see the job through and even more beholden to her almost schizophrenic self. It is this illness which determines, more or less, how she plays out her undercover role.

The payroll theft is just the start; one store becomes many leading up to a mega heist of such complexity to the layman but so easy to an expert in IT Payroll that you have to keep reading to see how it is made to work.

FG is still chasing her birth parents, still much adored by her adoptive parents but for this book, there is little time to progress. We know, of course, that sooner or later this will feature more to the fore and we know , thanks to this book, that an individual such as FG will not leave any stone unturned to achieve closure.

It's a good read, for sure. FG moves almost seamlessly into her second life, becoming involved with the main criminal, still finding time to become engaged to 'Buzz', her policeforce lover, keeping one step ahead of a paranoid security check almost daily. We know that she will have to face these contradictions at some point, so when the finale does arrive, the outcome is fairly certain. However, the author handles the writing of this with some panache and FG remains a hard-nosed yet fraught individual with an inward illness which at times works well for her, at others not quite so; it all depends where she is.

So, we await book 4 for which I am certainly putting down my name once published.

One of the most interesting characters in Detective fiction. I am sure she will get "them" in the end. The series gets better and better

How does a male writer, Harry Bingham, create such a 3-dimensional female character? Fiona Griffiths is totally plausible - a screwed-up, young, policewoman. It's a pleasure to meet her again, on her third outing.
The criminal plot, finely crafted and credible, is a definite second place to the development of Fiona's character. A wonderful read, as much for the South Welsh details as for the workings of Fiona's mind.
The author has a superb turn of phrase, and eye for detail.
I would strongly recommend reading the first two FG novels, in the right order, in order to get the most satisfaction from this book.

This is a crime novel with a compelling central character. His books have great plots with a modern sensibility. I highly recommend them.