The Sound of Sirens: Featuring Inspector Walter Darriteau (Inspector Walter Darriteau cases Book 2)
About
The ancient city of Chester, Friday night, and the weekend starts here. High summer, skimpy fashions, short skirts, tight jeans, it’s a hot night, and the town’s relaxed.
It’s 11pm and the pubs are beginning to close. The band has just finished playing; packing their instruments away, but the night is young.
A young man enters the still crowded pub. Walks up to the small stage. Pulls out a handgun and empties four shots into the lead singer. One, two, three four.
Waves the gun at the stunned and shocked crowd. Yelling, hollering and screaming, they part like the Red Sea, and he walks through the valley of death and out into the night, laughing as he goes.
The sound of sirens floats across the humid city. Inspector Walter Darriteau is soon on the scene. He lives locally, and truth is, he’d much rather be at work than lying in bed. The local crime reporter turns up too, Gardenia Floem, nice woman, nice teeth.
‘Is this drugs related?’ she asks.
How the hell do I know? Get her out of here!
So begins David Carter’s new Walter Darriteau murder mystery, “The Sound of Sirens”, but is it drugs related, Walter ponders, and if it isn’t, what’s it all about? He doesn’t yet know it, but this is the first of three equally dreadful killings.
This is David’s eighth book, and a compelling read, available as a paperback, or on Kindle.
Praise for this book
David Carter has triumphed again with yet another Walter Darriteau murder mystery. Believe you me this is not my favourite genre given the gory bits, which won’t disappoint here if you are into that kind of thing, but having said that I like a good puzzle and boy does this one deliver!
Carter sets the scene, two guys, the young one awaiting the old one, clandestine meeting, packet exchanged, opened, the moon setting the newly acquired handgun alight resting in the young guy’s hand, the distant beat of soft rock resonating from the nearby pub.
Luke Flowers has a job to do but can he be trusted? From its horrific inception this story cleverly pulls in characters, their background, their raison d'être. Carter is a master of this, drawing on all the senses until we can hear, see, smell, taste and touch all that impinges on their variety of existence, from local to far flung places giving ethnic and cultural prominence, all successfully geared to creating substantial, believable characters the reader can’t fail to bond with.
I’ve already met Inspector Walter Darriteau in ‘The Murder Diaries Seven Times Over’ (well reviewed here). He’s a solid, dependable, ordinary kind of guy that’s never done thinking. His mind’s sharp, very sharp but is he going to crack this one, or two, or three? Yes this story moves along quickly, it’s a cliché I know but I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, for this story plays with the reader, minute diversions, and false starts.
This book is simply packed with plots and subplots given such coherence in the smooth running of the mystery as to be absolutely astounding. Carter’s an astute observer, too, capturing the non-verbal interaction with skill, drawing out differing characters’ thinking, be it humorous, scathing, suspicious, capricious, just to mention a few of the character traits responsible and piling in to make this book such a credible read. David Carter does indeed possess a remarkable talent, he knows just how to hook his readers and keep them.
This work is action packed, exciting, thrilling, scary, with a twist to the dénouement which can only be described as brilliant. You certainly don’t have to be a fan of the genre to enjoy this one.
It’s high calibre writing but then one wouldn’t expect anything less from David Carter. It’s meticulously researched giving substantial historical background, particularly to immigrant life and present day cultural integration, which is worth mentioning, though it does not constitute the main focus.
Indeed this sense of insight in all its variety permeates and enhances the whole story leaving the reader with a sense of satisfaction from time enjoyed and very well spent in the reading of this book. I congratulate David Carter on yet another superb tale and can but very highly recommend this book to all.
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning mystery!
In "The Sound of Sirens" Inspector Walter Darriteau is faced with one tough crime. A young man, gunned down onstage in a local pub by a hitman, who has just killed the wrong person. There are suspects galore, and clues leading this way and that, leaving the reader wondering until the end, "Whodunit?""The Sound of Sirens" is my first introduction to Inspector Walter Darriteau, but I felt as if I was greeted by an old friend. His character is very well developed, and though he appeared in a previous book ("The Murder Diaries Seven Times Over"), the reader can pick up this book without fear of jumping in the middle of a story.
All of the characters, in fact, are three-dimensional and interesting. As each character is introduced, their role in the tangled web of murder for hire and other such nasty business is carefully revealed, leading to multiple "ah-ha!" and "oh no, no, no!" moments for the reader.
The familiar mystery theme is well-done and contagious, reminding me of all my favorite mystery writers. The truth behind the murder at the beginning of the story is slowly leaked over the course of the story, and the pacing is beautifully set. I couldn't help but turn the page long past bedtime, hungry for that next clue. Though there are a few subplots, they are tied directly to the main plot so that they do not disturb the reader as they race with Walter to solve the crime.
David Carter's writing style is unique and intriguing. Fragmented sentences shouldn't work in a book, that's what all writers are taught, but Carter uses them in such a way that his writing has a tempo of its own, much like a familiar song that soothes one's soul. He masterfully weaves words in and out of the story, planting a perfect picture in the reader's head.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It is fun, exciting, humorous at times, and bloody and shocking in all the right moments. If you're salivating for a new crime-solving hero, look no further than Inspector Walter Darriteau.