SCREAM - Nigel McCrery

I doubt it's much of a coincidence being a big fan of the scripts and the acting in the TV Series NEW TRICKS, that I'm also a fan of the DCI Mark Lapslie series.  After all, Nigel McCrery is a writer and creator of both.  (Along with many other excellent TV series including Silent Witness and All the King's Men.)

SCREAM is the third in the DCI Mark Lapslie series, Lapslie being an unusual central protagonist who suffers from a particularly acute form of synaesthesia.  In other words he experiences sounds as a variety of different flavours.  Which makes receiving a very disturbing email; with a sound file attached which appears to be a recording of an unknown woman's death throes particularly confrontational for him.  The situation isn't made any easier as Lapslie is in Pakistan at an international course on counter-terrorism, which means he has to fly back immediately to lead the investigation as it's obvious that the killer wants him involved.  

In the meantime Lapslie's sergeant, Emma, is leading an investigation into the murder of a woman on Canvey Island.  It seems that the victim was tortured before death, and whilst they do manage to identify the victim, it doesn't seem to move the investigation any further.  Eventually it's trace evidence and the search to see if they have a serial killer that edges it slowly forward.  

Lapslie and Emma have been developing a tentative working relationship in all three of these novels now, although in SCREAM things are complicated by Emma's ongoing relationship with local crook and police informer Dom McGinley.  He's a most unlikely love interest for Emma, but there's something very pointed about Lapslie's objections, not that he's got any romantic feelings for Emma himself, his concerns are partly paternal, partly professional.

Obviously Lapslie's synaesthesia (which does contribute to his investigative ability) has been a major element in all the books thus far, although in SCREAM he is getting treatment, and the condition is not as overpowering, and therefore it's not as major a thread throughout the entire book.  Which is actually a really good thing.  Not only has the condition improved, his life in general is improving, he's even able to enjoy concerts or meals out with a new girlfriend.  A considerable change, particularly from the first book, where he was effectively housebound.  That sense of moving on helps make this a very engaging series, but I suspect, if you've not read either of the earlier books, you could be missing out on the importance of Lapslie's improved circumstances and outlook.  It may make reading this book out of sequence a little less of an enjoyable experience.

But that won't make it an unpleasant experience.  McCrery has a very deft manner in the way that he plots out a story, and draws a verbal picture of the forensic and crime scene details.  Having said that, the books don't read as a film / TV script in the making - SCREAM is a great novel, with pace, humour, intrigue and tension.