Edinburgh Twilight (Ian Hamilton Mysteries #1)
Written by Carole Lawrence
Published on September 5, 2017 by Thomas & Mercer
446 pages
Historical Fiction: Mystery

Synopsis:

As a new century approaches, Edinburgh is a city divided. The wealthy residents of New Town live in comfort, while Old Town’s cobblestone streets are clotted with criminals, prostitution, and poverty.

Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton is no stranger to Edinburgh’s darkest crimes. Scarred by the mysterious fire that killed his parents, he faces his toughest case yet when a young man is found strangled in Holyrood Park.

With little evidence aside from a strange playing card found on the body, Hamilton engages the help of his aunt, a gifted photographer, and George Pearson, a librarian with a shared interest in the criminal mind. But the body count is rising. As newspapers spin tales of the “Holyrood Strangler,” panic sets in across the city. And with each victim, the murderer is getting closer to Hamilton, the one man who dares to stop him.

My Review:

I love historical fiction mysteries and Edinburgh Twilight is a nice beginning to a new series. I have been looking for a new series start and now I have found one. I have found that the first book in a series is the hardest to write. The difficulty of establishing new characters can be daunting. However, the author has done a commendable job of creating new characters that are convincing and memorable.

Ian Hamilton is a dark, brooding character who has a mission to save the city from its criminal underbelly. However, he is a deeply flawed human being. His inability to recover from the tragedy that claimed his parents is always at the forefront of mind. All of his relationships are stained by it. However, through the capture of a serial killer, he is able to heal and create new relationships. I liked that: through death there comes healing. There’s always a balance to life.

The minor characters that surround Hamilton are interesting as well. I guess Derek, Donald, Lillian, Sergeant Dickerson and Chief Inspector Crawford will make up the Hamilton’s supporting crime-solving team. I like that each character had his/her own story that really didn’t take away from the over-arching storyline. Their stories only added to it.

I would like mention another character that was prevalent throughout the book…Edinburgh. You really have a sense of the darkness of the city. The criminal underbelly is ever-waiting to come to surface and make a nasty appearance. However, the underbelly has decent people trying to survive. It seemed that Hamilton was more comfortable in the underbelly that on the surface. When dealing with the people, Hamilton showed his mercy and empathy.

I really enjoyed the first book of the Ian Hamilton series and I look forward to the next one.