Book Review – Dead Man’s Shoes by Ed James – Fluid and Convincing
Table of Contents
My Rating – 4.5 out of 5
Plot Summary – Dead Man’s Shoes
Formerly an IT project manager, Ed began writing on planes, trains and automobiles to fill his weekly commute to London. He now writes full-time and lives in the Scottish Borders, with his girlfriend and a menagerie of rescued animals.
Introduction to Ed James from his website www.edjamesauthor.co.uk
As an introduction to the series, let me say that this is one series that I am a huge fan of! Though Ed James is not a widely known author, I stumbled upon his works through one book of his DI Simon Fenchurch series and realized that he’s one hell of a good writer!! And I have been hooked ever since…. Though the books can be read in any order to begin with, you would want to read the backstories as you get hooked on to the life and adventures of Simon Fenchurch, then the series order would start mattering.
Click here to know more about the DI Simon Fenchurch series
In this latest sequel – Dead Man’s Shoes – two young, upcoming hipsters, arranging an old world Still in the basement of their newly started brewery business, come across a door they’ve never opened before. When curiosity gets the better of them, they break the door down only to discover a grisly sight! A dead body lying in a pool of blood with another set of shoes near it which does not belong to the dead man. DI Simon Fenchurch and his team are called in to investigate, and the first question facing them is who does the set of shoes belong to? Are their two victims though there’s only one body at this site?
DI Simon Fenchurch is now a Senior Investigating Officer, required to do more paperwork, attend budgetary and diversity meetings, and essentially delegate of lot of the operational moves of a murder investigation. But he’s restless and uncomfortable in his new administrative role and is itching to get on the streets and the interview rooms to actually solve cases and not just oversee the process. He feels he is better suited to the legwork of the investigation than to the delegation of responsibilities. His relations with his new boss, Julius Loftus, is tenuous at best and both have a wary outlook towards the other.
Coming back to the story line of Dead Man’s Shoes, through more friction with Julius Loftus, Simon gets more and more into the nitty-gritty of the investigation and together with his team runs down the leads and goes from one lead to another in a very logical manner. there are no leaps of faith, no brilliant intuitive deductions or some fantastic jump from speculation to conclusion, but just focused police work. In the course of the investigation, many links from Simon’s past crop up again, Dawn Mulholland and Liam Sharpe, who again play crucial roles in this novel.
Conclusion – Book Review of Dead Man’s Shoes
This is neither an earth shattering story line or written in the style and manner of a literary genius, but it’s most definitely a very well written book, which is coherent, fast paced and logical. For an author who’s lesser known and has, by now, a pretty wide array of books, you understand why. He’s rather accomplished as a writer and if you are keen to exploit new authors he’s among the best that is there.
I would strongly recommend this book and also that you should read them in the order in which they have been published, there is an excellent back story that has been built up over the earlier books, building Simon Fenchurch’s character with some delectable traits and the trials that he’s come through to get here. His personal life has played a major role in building up the character and you would empathize more with his emotions if you have gone through his earlier novels, in order. This one is also a recommended book deserving far more attention and plaudits than it has actually received.
