Note: This copy of Down Cemetery Road was provided by NetGalley.

I must say that I first heard about Mick Herron when the Apple TV show Slow Dogs was announced. Having not read any of his work, seeing the option to read/isten to Down Cemetery Lane came as the perfect opportunity to get started. This is a suspense-thriller that is part of the Oxford Investigation Series, that is said to follow Zoë Boehm, a private investigator, but this first book isn’t about Zoë Boehm at all. This first book is mainly about Sarah Tucker, a dissatisfied housewife who’s fate gets intertwined with Zoë.

The book follows Sarah as she upends her normal life by deciding to look in on a child that was the only survivor in a bombing incident. What she finds instead is that the child is missing and no one seems to be worried about her. When she employs a private investigator to look into the case, despite reservations on his end, they soon find themselves embroiled in a situation where things aren’t what they seem but also without concrete proof that something is amiss. This disparity from Sarah’s languid and sedentary lifestyle seems to have ignited some spark in her which leads her down paths without much care in the world.

I’m not going to lie, this book was alright. Not exactly as enjoyable as I had hoped but I think the hype around the author and the subsequent apple tv series news may have played into this. It also didn’t help that in this particular book the main protagonist, Sarah, wasn’t very likable at times. Zoë Boehm only appears towards the final third of the book, and while she is a character I could see myself gravitating towards, the presence of a civilian that right-off-the-bat is just very snarky and cocksure about things, who then proceeds to make the kind of mistakes that can get someone hurt without really thinking about the consequences, was a bit frustrating to see.

Granted, this may actually be a very realistic depiction of how things would play out in real life because we all believe we wouldn’t do this and that in a particular situation. Despite that, I found it hard to empathise with Sarah for the majority of the book and that affected my reading experience. Outside of her, the characters were eclectic and enjoyable. The plot was riveting, and the finale quite satisfactory.

Would I continue to read the series? Definitely. I look forward to seeing more of Zoë and her brash attitude solving murders, and if Sarah is to figure as a prominent character, then I really will look forward to some character growth and maturity on her part. Perfect for an airport read. Recommended.

Links:

• Goodreads: Down Cemetery Road – Mick Herron