Two Books by Denzil Meyrick

I had never heard of the Scottish crime fiction novelist Denzil Meyrick until I read of his death online last February. Murder/crime fiction is a genre of novels of which I'm particularly interested in so I downloaded his entire ebook collection - his DCI Jim Daley series contains 12 books.

In March, I read the first two books in that series - Whisky From Small Glasses and The Last Witness. I put Meyrick on my list of writers to read, but things being the way they are, I didn't manage to continue the DCI Jim Daley series until January of this year. Two more books - Dark Suits and Sad Songs and The Rat Stone Serenade.

Having read four in the series, I think I can form a better opinion of the books. The stories are interesting enough and I like the characters, for the most part, but I've mixed feelings on the stories taking place in Scotland. I enjoy reading of the country and Meyrick's description of the scenery and customs of the people. I'm not, however a big fan of Meyrick's putting such a strong Scottish accent into the mouths of so many of his characters. It makes it a bit difficult for me to follow along at times.

Meyrick wrote the scenes as if he were writing a television program rather than a novel. The scenes jump back and forth at a quick pace......too quick for my tastes. And although the stories are interesting, they do tend to drag on in spots.

As I said, I enjoy his novels over all, although I wouldn't rank him as high as some of my other favorites (Donna Leon comes to mind).

The March, 2025 Reading List

 

Of the ten books read in the month of March, all but one fall into the crime/mystery/detective story genre. In February, only five of the ten books read that month fit into the same category. It would appear that my reading selections are heading in that direction.

Three of the books on the list are by Ed McBain from his "87th Precinct" series. I first learned of Ed McBain from my reading the work of Haruki Murakami. A character in one of Murakami's novels mentions reading something by McBain. I did a search of McBain and learned he wrote 55 books in the "87th Precinct" series. The three for this month are The Con Man,Killer's Choice and Killer's Payoff.

I had never heard of Scottish crime fiction novelist Denzil Meyrick until I read of his death recently. Going to the Wikipedia article on him, I learned of his DCI Jim Daley series, of which Whisky From Small Glasses is the first of eleven in the series.
I enjoyed the novel and I'm sure to go on to more. However, there are two reasons why I can't give this book five stars. The stories take place in Scotland, so naturally Meyrick gives most of the characters in the book Scottish accents. Yes, it gives an authenticity to the plot, but it makes it very difficult for me to follow along at times.
Also, without giving away anything, it became obvious to me who the killer was long before Meyrick let it be known in the story. Maybe I'm just too familiar with the crime fiction genre.
The Last Witness is the second in the same series. I'm really enjoying my discovery of Denzil Meyrick's DCI Daley series. The stories are exciting, suspenseful, and oddly enough, humorous at times.

Being a big fan of Donna Leon's novels (set in Venice) when I learned of a series, also set in Venice, by Philip Gwynne Jones, I thought I should look into them. I gave this first book in the series, The Venetian Game, only three stars.....I liked it but it doesn't compare to Donna Leon's writing. I'll eventually get around to finishing Jones' series, but all in good time.

Speaking of Donna Leon, I read two in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. One of my favorite crime/detective series.

Although I grew up watching the Perry Mason tv series starring Raymond Burr, I never thought of reading Erle Stanley Gardner's books until recently when I watched some of the Perry Mason films from the 1930s starring Warren William. I must say, the Perry Mason character in the first book, The Case of the Velvet Claws isn't at all like the character as portrayed by either William or Burr.I'm giving this book three stars....an interesting read. I'll go to more in the Perry Mason series.

Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work by Johann Nikolaus Forkel was a disappointment and the less said, the better.

The complete list:
The Con Man        by Ed McBain
Whisky from Small Glasses    by Denzil Meyrick
The Venetian Game       by Philip Gwynne Jones
Killer's Choice      by Ed McBain
Killer's Payoff       by Ed McBain
Unto Us a Son Is Given   by Donna Leon
Trace Elements        by Donna Leon
The Last Witness   by Denzil Meyrick
Johann Sebastian Bach:His Life, Art, and Work   by Johann Nikolaus Forkel
The Case of the Velvet Claws    by Erle Stanley Gardner