Torn
"..Randall is going to keep us all gripped for many more books to come. "
Synopsis:
2004: The court case had been harrowing. The fifteen jurors sat in silence while the prosecution produced evidence of how a man with obsessive sado-masochistic fantastically had turned into a killer. Fourteen of the jurors were repulsed. One was secretly enthralled. A new world of possibility had opened up.
2014: When an actress is found dead, the ligature marks suggest that she had been involved in extreme sex games. When DIs Wheeler and Ross begin to investigate, they uncover not only an industry with varying degrees of regulation but also a sinister private club where some of Glasgow's elite pay handsomely to indulge their darkest fantasies. As Wheeler and Ross uncover the secrets surrounding the club, they realise that their investigation is being blocked by some of Glasgow's most influential citizens.
Meanwhile, Skye Cooper, Scotland's latest indie-rock sensation, is playing the final gig of his sell-out tour but his dreams of stardom are on a collision course with the obsession threatening to consume him...
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Review:
What stands out the most in Anne Randall's fiction is the glorious attention to detail she installs in every single character. The protagonists are deliciously drawn, but then so are the background ones, the one pagers, the characters who have just a few lines of dialogue are so richly drawn you're often wrong-footed into thinking they must surely have a larger part to play in the story. Anne Randall is a fiend for these wonderful red herrings. 'Torn' is Randall's third novel in the Wheeler and Ross series. Set in Glasgow, and using the city to maximum potential, Randall paints a murky and dangerous picture as she takes us into the uncomfortable world of private sex clubs, sado-masochism, and pornography. The story is well researched and the characters working in these industries are carefully created so they don't fall into cliché. This is a multi-layered story with many characters. However, everything is linked together and this large cast of characters feel like genuine, real people. Their emotions and feelings climb out of the pages making us sympathise with the victims and hate those who exploit. The double act of Wheeler and Ross is developing well. The interplay between the two is fun and natural. I get the feeling Randall is toying with us. There is a rich history between them, or a complicated future (I'm struggling to decide which), and Randall is going to keep us all gripped for many more books to come. If they're all as good as 'Torn', she is going to be a major player in the Scottish crime fiction scene.