‘A Blind Eye’ by Marion Todd

Published by Canelo London,
8 June 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-80436 213-6

When local solicitor Harry Richards is reported missing, nobody expects him to be discovered in his car in a local forest with his throat cut. His wife, Louise, who reported him missing, thinks she is being stalked. Soon after DI Clare Mackay starts investigating, the wife of Harry Richard’s paralegal, Simon Miller, is killed in a bizarre accident when she drives into a small electricity substation. What is going on in this peaceful part of Scotland that embraces St Andrews with its ancient university and isn’t that far from the bustling metropolis of Dundee?

One hint comes from Harry’s former trainee, Emma Halliday. She has been heard commenting that perhaps Harry wasn’t always as ethical as he should be. Enquiries suggest Harry might have been involved with Colin “Coke” Grandison. Colin is a thoroughly unpleasant character who likes to portray himself as a local charitable benefactor whilst making money by all sorts of underhand dealings. Unfortunately, up until now, the police have never been able to pin anything on him.  Has Grandison trapped Harry into using illegal practices?

In A blind eye, Marion Todd skillfully weaves a myriad of threads, some pertaining to the police’s investigations surrounding the dead solicitor, some to the personal lives of those who serve with DI Mackay, and others that relate to DI Mackay’s own circumstances regarding boyfriend DCI Alastair Gibson and her English bulldog, Bengy, who to everyone’s horror, is deliberately injured during the investigation.  I hadn’t read any of Marion Todd’s DI Clare Mackay books before.  I found this one delightfully easy to read, I enjoyed the characters and intend to go back and read the previous books in the series.
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Reviewer:  Angela Crowther.

Marion Todd studied music and worked for many years as a piano teacher and jobbing accompanist. A spell as a hotel lounge pianist provided rich fodder for her writing and she began experimenting with a variety of genres. Early success saw her winning first prize in the Family Circle Magazine Short Story for Children national competition and she followed this up by writing short stories and articles for her local newspaper. Marion has also worked as a college lecturer, plantswoman and candle-maker and now is a full-time writer, penning the DI Clare Mackay series of crime fiction novels set in St Andrews. Marion lives now in North East Fife, overlooking the magnificent River Tay. 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.