Today me and Jen are kicking off the blog tour for the fabulous Runaway by Claire MacLeary* which is a #LoveBookGroupsTour. This is the third book in the series and it's absolutely brilliant. I read the first two books last month and you can see my reviews in my book round-up HERE. I totally warmed to the unlikely duo of Maggie and 'Big' Wilma. Runaway could be read as a standalone but you get a flavour of the duo if you read Cross Purpose & Burnout first. *I received a free copy of the book for review.
"When Aberdeen housewife Debbie Milne abruptly vanishes without trace, leaving behind her two young children, husband Scott is too distraught to sit out the police's 72-hour window and await developments. He turns to local detective agency Harcus & Laird.
Put off by previous "domestic" cases, Maggie Laird isn't keen, but is cajoled by partner Wilma Harcus into a covert operation. Together they comb through meagre scraps of information, eventually trawling the city's women's refuges and homeless squats, in spite of the deadly danger.
Then a woman's body is discovered in a Dundee builder's skip. With the clock ticking and the police struggling to make identification, the race is on. Claire MacLeary fashions a surprising, gritty, fast-paced tale with the warmth and wisdom of ‘women of a certain age'".
My thoughts?
Oh it was so nice to catch up with Maggie & 'Big' Wilma again - you have no idea!
Debbie Milne's husband phones the police in a panic to say his wife has gone missing. He's absolutely distraught when he learns he's got to wait 72 hours just in case she turns up. He's got two kids at home desperate to see their mum.
Brian still holds a torch for Maggie even though she's not over the death of her husband George. Maggie meanwhile is still fighting to clear her husband's name and hopes DI Chisholm will be true to his word and help her take things upstairs.
Kirsty is back from Uni and gets a job as a cocktail waitress. She lasts a few days and flares up at Maggie when she asks what went wrong. Meanwhile her son Colin is keen to make amends.
Scott Milne finds he can't wait for the Police and calls in the services of Harcus & Laird to find his wife... what follows is a humorous and sometimes downright dangerous search by Maggie and 'big' Wilma. Which takes them to women's refuges (where Wilma finds she knows one of the women there who passes on a snippet of information which will mean something to Maggie), to homeless squats and searches in the field on their own which could lead to dire consequences..
It turns out a childhood friend of Debbie's has come back into her life and shown her the high life of nights out with dinners and cocktails in the company of interested and attractive men. Sam has always lived on the edge and Debbie's totally drawn in especially as her own life's routine has been getting her down. Tayside Police are alerted to a body in a skip and Police Scotland in Aberdeen are on tenderhooks until it's been identified...
Brian hopes for something more with Maggie but realises her kids will always come first. She wishes she could feel for him half of the attraction and sparks which fly when DI Chisholm is around!
As ever, the Private Investigators seem one step ahead of the police although Maggie lefts something slip that they don't know when she meets Chisholm for a drink.
Kirsty's pal from Uni Shaz turns out for a visit and is freaked out by something he's seen and Maggie & 'big' Wilma waste no time in thoroughly questioning him. it also seems that Colin has found himself a girlfriend and Maggie finds her kids are moving on and growing up.
Both Maggie and 'big' Wilma get in a spot of bother more than once in the course of the case and due to smart thinking and in Maggie's case a spot of help from Brian they come out the other side. When the Harcus & Laird help to solve the investigation Maggie feels pride tinged with frustration. 'Big' Wilma on the other hand feels like it's been total team work and a result which must be celebrated large!
The story covers people trafficking, gambling, money laundering and gangs and is a fast paced and sometimes humorous story with lots of tense and downright scary moments. I absolutely loved it! Roll on book #4.
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