The Chemical Detective by Fiona Erskine

Author: Fiona Erskine

Title: The Chemical Detective 

Publisher: Point Blank 

Published: 2019

Pages: 432

Genre:  Mystery Thriller 

 

     Dr. Jaq Silver. Skier, scientist, international jet-setter, explosives expert. She blows things up to keep people safe. Working on avalanche control in Slovenia, Jaq stumbles across a problem with a consignment of explosives. After raising a complaint with the supplier, a multinational chemical company, her evidence disappears and she is framed for murder. Jaq must find the key to the mystery. But can she uncover the truth before her time runs out?

     Fiona Erskine is an author that I had not come across before until I saw someone I follow talking about how she was just about to start reading this book. The title grabbed me as it seemed to suggest a genre that I had never read about before. So off I went to go and see if I could dig myself up some more information about it. It was not long before what I was reading grabbed my attention and I knew I would have to get myself a copy and see if it was going to be worth it. So for the first time in a very long time, I got myself a copy the next day and was reading it before it had time to nearly graze my to-be-read pile. 

     Dr. Jaq is one of those characters that I pretty much clicked with really quickly. This is someone who seems to be very comfortable in her place in life and her job. It's a testament to Erskine for delivering to us a hero that genuinely seems well round and to be honest it makes for a pleasant surprise. Maybe I've just been reading far too many crime thrillers with broken heroes. But back to the matter at hand, I think it's also an interesting skill set that she has chosen to give to her hero. It pushes the story into some truly interesting place that a straight-up detective story might not be able to go without some massive mental gymnastics. Here however it's played to great effect, our hero gets to use her brain to work her way out of some more than tricky situations. This withstanding does not mean that when the situation calls for it that she isn't willing to go all-out action hero on us.  It's this combination that I think has created a brilliant hero for the series going forward. You kinda know that she will get out of whatever situation she gets herself into, it's just a matter of whichever of her skills she will apply to do this. 

     The Chemical Detective is one of those books that aims to take the reader on some grand big-screen adventure. The author does not hang about in some sort of slow-burning thriller, instead, she lets off the handbrake in the first couple of chapters and we are sent speeding off hanging on by the skin of our teeth. I loved how much she manages to ramp up the tension all the while keeping the story within the realms of possibility. And that I guess is one of the major things about this book, Whilst the series of events that take place here can at times seem a little out there, there are definitely elements where you find yourself thinking well I'm sure that could happen. It is after all what makes great thrillers work. And when you consider this was her first book it becomes all the more impressive. The Chemical Detective comes across as a very polished narrative and had I not known would have thought this was an author who had been at it for a good few years. 

     It has to be said that I found it really hard to pull myself away from this book and would go back to it as soon as possible. I think it gives you everything you could want in a solid thriller. There's plenty of great action, a solid mystery to wrap your brain around, and characters that you want to come back to. I can highly recommend this to anyone looking for some great entertainment.