Living on a Prayer. Sheila Quigley. Arrow Books. (2006)

This is a very enjoyable crime story with a savagely bleak undertow. A teenager is found hanging at a local scenic spot, the assumption is suicide. Neither the boy's mother nor Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt are convinced, if for very different reasons. Richard's friends, a group of teenagers, each one with significant family problems appear to know considerably more than they are willing to say. A man is brutally assaulted and a group called the Blessing Guides have established themselves in the area. The story moves quietly, the extensive cast is given plenty of space to move, there is as much attention given to the lives of the cast as to the action. The reveals are cleverly staged, the action is sharp and nasty, it arises very naturally from the actions and personalities of the cast.
Sheila Quigley has developed a considerable reoccurring cast and uses them very well to frame the central plot. The people living in the Salthills estate, few working , most on some form of benefit are all involved to some extent with marginally legal or simply illegal activities in an effort to have enough to raise their families. Sheila Quigley clearly has both great affection and sympathy for them, without ever being blind to their weaknesses. This gives the story a tremendous context, the plot has real and visible consequences and implications for the cast.
One of the most striking aspects to the story is the way that the astonishingly grim plot is carefully covered by the warmth of the writing. The villains are credible in their callous greed and callous manipulation of wounded teenagers. They depth of their brutality is revealed clearly, without any hyperbole. It sneaks up on the reader making the full realisation of what is going on all the more effective.
The central romance is also handled with flair and quiet humour, there are enough complications to generate tension and the writing is good enough to make it enjoyable rather than cringe inducing. A gripping read.

Run for Home. Sheila Quigley. Arrow Books (2004)

A great cast and a savage plot combine very enjoyably in this gripping thriller. A long buried headless corpse is uncovered and a young girl, Claire Lumpsdon, is kidnapped. Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt heads up the investigations into both events and finds a connection to other missing girls. Claire's mother realises that her darkest fears about the past are coming back as she hears details of the corpse. As the police investigation and the family's efforts to find Claire develop a terrible web of violence, hatred, revenge is uncovered. The plot has great momentum, the reveals are really well staged, the conclusion is brutally effective.
Sheila Quigley has created a great cast in a brilliantly realised context, a run down housing estate in the North of England. The poverty and dismal atmosphere of pervasive long term unemployment are established quickly and vividly. The impact of these elements on the cast are made brutally clear in the lives of the Lumsdom family and their neighbours. The hidden factors which target the Lumsdon family in particular are revealed in a very natural way, the reactions and responses of the family are very engaging.
Lorraine Hunt is a forceful and energetic character. Ambitious and competent, she is given enough space and trouble to demonstrate a genuine depth of personality. She is credibly steely as a professional police officer and faced with a devastating personal crisis responds with heart and passion. One of the very striking aspects in the book is the very clear demarcation between the career criminals, ultimately betrayed by the vicious stupidity and greed that led them to crime and the illegal activities rooted in poverty. The deadly selfishness of the criminals is quietly contrasted with the strained community and generosity of those they exploit. Gripping and thoughtful, this is a great read.

Bad Moon Rising. Sheila Quigley. Arrow Books (2006)

A sharp and distinctive crime story, very well written and hugely enjoyable. In Houghton-le-Spring,an annual festival, known as the Feast is due to start and a woman is found murdered. Inspector Lorraine Hunt starts the investigation, and more women are attacked. With the influx of strangers to the town for the festival the possible suspects are numerous and then a young girl goes missing. The plot treads are developed in a very satisfactory fashion, the reveals are well staged and the conclusion is excellent.
Sheila Quigley manages a very difficult task with considerable flair and wit in this book, the crime plots are a means to explore the lives of the huge and varied cast in the book. The crimes draw the members of the cast into and out of the spotlight and they way that their lives, personal and professional overlap and interact is at the heart of this book. Sheila Quigley has an astonishing gift for conjuring up credible characters in a short space and the major players are very engaging and lively. The circumstances that the cast find themselves in are nicely revealed and as the pressure of the plot increases on them they respond in surprising and entirely believable ways. The time taken to develop the context of the town and the cast is well spent and provides considerable depth to the impact of the murders and the disappearance of the child.
Lorraine Hunt is a warm and capable leading actor, she is involved in a romantic sub-plot which just stays on the right side of stupid, she is such a vibrant and confident character that she does bring it off. There is the near obligatory struggle with an, apparently,incompetent male superior officer. Happily this is a minor part of the book and does not interfere with the story. Smart, confident crime fiction, a great read.