Falling Into Crime
Annie Raymond Private Investigator
The Annie Raymond Mysteries Books 1-3
Penny Grubb
Fantastic Books Publishing, June 2019
ISBN: 978-1-912053-93-3
Trade Paperback
Here’s a fascinating trilogy of stories that follow the burgeoning career of a fledgling private investigator in the United Kingdom. Annie Raymond is a sharp young girl out of a small town not far from the Scottish border, who looks at her contemporaries and yearns for something more. Now she’s in Hull, a small city just south of Scotland on the Eastern side of the U.K.
Her dad is a local cop and Annie’s desire is to have a career as a private investigator. She’s been recruited to a job in a tiny agency in Hull. It will be her introduction to life as an investigator and her training ground. This story is called Like False Money, the second which takes place several years later with a different cast of characters is called The Jawbone Gang, and the third, set in a later time after Annie has moved to a larger agency in London, is called The Doll Makers.
Even though the three stories cover a span of many years, nearly all the action takes place in and around Hull. Annie Raymond interacts in meaningful and logical ways with youngsters, adults and even some on the verge of conclusions to their long lives. The crimes she investigates and solves are varied and unusual. There’s a lot of description of people and places in this book, all adeptly handled such that it adds to tension and the narrative pace. Never will you find characters misplaced or misread, the writing is strong, consistent and enthralling.
Annie Raymond is a fine investigator, and an excellent protagonist. There are additional volumes to her life and career and her stories are attractive and addicting. I have no hesitation strongly recommending Annie Raymond as a private investigator readers will enjoy coming to know and follow.
Reviewed by Carl Brookins, April 2020.
http://www.carlbrookins.com http://agora2.blogspot.com
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Buried Under Books 