The Flood: A totally unputdownable crime novel (A Fiona MacLeish Crime Thriller, #1)

by G. N. Smith

The flood waters are rising. And so is the body count…

Police officer Fiona MacLeish has been ordered to step back from her role in Police Scotland. Haunted by the murder of her parents, she’s dangerously close to breaking point: and is back in her remote childhood home nestled in a valley on the Scottish border. But there’s a terrifying storm coming…


When Fiona finds the bloodied body of a neighbour in their flooded house, a chill runs through her veins. The bruising around his throat tells Fiona someone wanted this elderly man dead. And with the torrential rain cutting the farming village off completely, the murderer must still be nearby.

But flood waters continue to rise, and landslides force Fiona to take shelter with a crowd of locals at the highest-standing farm. Then, another victim is found, with more suspicious wounds. Trapped at the farm with a killer, with no hope of outside help, can Fiona catch them before more of the isolated community become victims?

The Flood is the first book in the Fiona MacLeish series. With an unforgettable setting, a strong female lead and packed with twists, this is the perfect read for fans of J.M. Dalgliesh, J.D. Kirk and Simon McCleave.

• ISBN10: 1803149140
• ISBN13: 9781803149141
• Publish Date: 22 September 2023 (first published 22 September 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 294
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

Unfortunately, The Flood did provide the suspenseful, twisty and exciting read I hoped for. It did not work for me. Advertised as a totally unputdownable crime novel, I expected it to be a one siting read. However, this was not the case. The slow pace and the repetitiveness of the story line contributed to me putting the book down   several times throughout the course of my reading. I almost DNFed it, however, my curiosity to learn the identity of the villain and their motives had me holding out until the end.

 

The prologue made me excited to dive into the story. However, the deeper I went, the more my excitement dwindled. The story lacked suspense and there were no exciting moments. One would expect there to be some amount of adrenaline pumping moments in light of the fact that the story took place in the middle of a storm. Also, I hoped there would have been some plot twists, but this was not the case.  

 

The characters were interesting. I was especially intrigued by Fiona and her backstory. I am curious to learn if she will learn who is responsible for the tragedy that changed the course of her life. For that reason alone, I may consider continuing the series.

[Jeff Sexton]

Atmospheric Novel Can Get Repetitive At Times. This is one of those detective novels - not really a police procedural, since it is almost a "locked room" scenario (with the "room" in question being a sequestered area of a small town) with only a single detective available - where the setting seems as much as character as any of the actual human characters. Smith manages to put the reader right in the titular flood and the fight for survival from both the elements and the murderer that only our detective knows lurks in their midst. And yet, in repeating the detective's personal motivation *so* often... Smith does in fact get repetitive enough to at least warrant mentioning in the review. Indeed, it becomes as tedious at times as seeming *every* Batman movie with a new actor portraying the character having to do some version of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders, or every new Spiderman movie having to do some version of Uncle Ben's murder. With those franchises... guys, we get it. We already know these characters. With this particular book... the first mention was solid character development. Maybe a reference back here or there could have been good. But to be hit with a near word for word repetition of the motivation *so many times*... the editing could have been better here, at minimum. Beyond this though, the story itself was quite strong indeed, even within the "locked room" type space, and the overall plotting was quite solid, with the tension ratcheting up at a fairly steady pace and the reveals coming at enough of a clip to keep the pages turning. Overall a strong series starter and I'm interested to see where we're going here. Very much recommended.