THE COST

The pseudonymous Cry, who also publishes as Gordon Brown, launches a new series by sending a disgraced Scottish ex-cop back to his hometown, where even bigger problems await him.

Two days before his scheduled retirement from the Glasgow police force, Constable Blake Glover planted drugs on dealer Mitch Campbell, convinced he’d finally go down. Instead, Campbell proved his innocence and Glover was cut loose. Now he’s driving a cab for Doddy Robertson’s decrepit taxi service in Fraserburgh, a town of 12,000 his father moved him away from after his cancer-stricken mother, Rhona, died of an overdose of pills her unwitting son became convinced he gave her. Glover’s wallow in guilt and self-pity is disturbed when Terry Lang, a waitress at the pricey Broch House, asks him to investigate the disappearance of her friend Kristina, a Broch House cleaner, indicating that if he agrees, her own grandmother can tell him more about Rhona, who was her best friend. Glover’s not eager to accept this bargain, and when he does, he makes such a hash of questioning Broch House bartender Tomas Ren Kadlinski that Tomas is fired and promptly vanishes himself, but not before throwing out hints that make Glover suspect the place serves as a hub for a criminal ring on a grand scale. A tightly wound skein of police skepticism, job-related misfortunes, and family skeletons ensure that for every step forward, he’ll be forced to take another step or two back.

Fans of Tartan Noir with a taste for appropriately dour heroes will look forward to the coming installments.