Dead Catch

What comes to mind when you think of St Andrews? Golf, or maybe the town’s university. However, in the world of TF Muir’s Dead Catch, the seaside town is a much darker, sinister place.

With nine books of his DCI Andy Gilchrist series published, Muir is certainly one of the country’s most popular crime novelists. He can often be seen in and around St Andrews garnering inspiration for his writing and his latest effort certainly brings the town’s streets to visceral life.

Dead Catch begins in Fife’s Tentsmuir forest where Gilchrist has been called in to investigate a mutilated body found in the hold of a fishing boat washed up on the shore. When the police pathologist retrieves a £5 note from the dead man’s throat, the investigation deepens further.

The dead man is found to have been on the payroll of crime patriarch Jock Shepherd, and when three more of Shepherd’s men turn up brutally murdered, Gilchrist fears a tectonic shift in the criminal underworld.

With drug shipments, police corruption and family ties rife in the investigation, complexities reach far beyond the walls of Fife Constabulary, stretching Gilchrist and his team to the limit.

In his previous novels, Muir has been praised for his gritty style and tactful use of suspense and intrigue in his storylines – and Dead Catch follows suit. What starts off as a body found on a boat quickly develops into something far-reaching, like a giant web that catches all passing debris. Once trapped, there’s little chance of escaping.

Muir’s use of imagery is refined – which lays testament to his regular visits to the area. Some of Fife’s quieter spots – including Guardbridge and Dunfermline, as well as St Andrews – acquire a murkier tone in Dead Catch as the county becomes the scene of a murderous trail.

The plot’s intricacy and depth makes for a gripping read. Yet, as gruesome as the investigation becomes, Muir does not shy away from witty humour. This makes the diverse range of characters featured throughout feel all the more unique and recognisable, and helps to ground some of darkness of the storyline in reality.

In all, with Rebus being synonymous with Edinburgh, and Laidlaw with Glasgow, perhaps the time has come for St Andrews to be a part of the country’s crime fiction map through the work of TF Muir and DCI Andy Gilchrist.

Review by Jamie Wilde.