Stevie‘s review of Alias by Cari Hunter
Contemporary Lesbian Detective Fiction published by Bold Strokes Books 12 Jun 18
I need to catch up with Cari Hunter’s backlist. I read her very first book, then somehow ended up with a mishmash of her two series on my To Read shelf and got bogged down with the idea that I needed all three of one, the other, or both, before I tackled them. Added to which, I also had it in my head that I was likely to run into her at one author event or another where I could acquire signed copies of the missing volumes. New plan: if she’s not at Manchester Pride and/or they don’t have the books on the Bold Strokes stall, I’m definitely placing an order for print copies as soon as I get back on the right side of the Pennines. In the meantime, I did manage to get hold of a review copy of her new book – not attached to any series (yet!) – and reading that is what truly inspired me to get my act together, by reminding me of all the things I enjoyed about Cari’s first book.
Our story opens on a cold and snowy night, with a crashed car, a dead passenger, and a driver suffering from amnesia…
The driver’s ID gives her a name she doesn’t recognise, and her phone has just enough power and reception for her to call for help, learning in the process that she’s in Wales – nowhere near where the address on her ID tells her she lives. When the ambulance arrives, it’s accompanied by Detective Sergeant Bronwyn Pryce of the local Major Crimes Unit: returning home from a conference and making a detour to help. Pryce stays with the woman all the way to the hospital, and then returns to check on her the next day, working with the woman, the hospital staff and police colleagues to try to discover what happened. It soon becomes apparent that the accident might not be just a result of the weather: the injured woman is really Detective Constable Alis Clarke of Manchester’s Major Crimes Unit, and the dead woman is one of Alis’ co-workers from a local factory where Alis was working undercover.
As some of Alis’ memories start to return, it becomes more certain that the case she was working on was very much the cause of her injuries and her friend’s death. The two women were fleeing from the leaders of a crime syndicate when their car was forced off the road. Fearing police involvement in the gang, Alis begins to investigate by herself, even after being suspended as a main suspect in the case herself. Fortunately, Pryce has every faith in Alis’ innocence and ability to track down those responsible.
As the two women work together, they become increasingly close, even though their involvement could jeopardise the case they are building and also put them into more danger, should the bad guys learn of their feelings for each other. Fortunately, the pair of them are very resourceful, not to mention determined, and in the end no one is going to get in the way of their search for the truth.
I loved this book so much. Alis and Pryce really bring out the best in each other, but also have rich and complicated lives and histories to flesh them out properly. I hope this is the start of another series, and I promise I won’t be playing catch-up with their future adventures if it is.
Grade: A
Summary:
A car lies crashed below a Welsh mountain road. One of the young women inside it is dead, the other badly injured, with no memory of who she is or what just happened. All she has is a bus pass showing her photograph and a name she doesn’t recognise.
As she struggles to recover from her injuries, a startling revelation shatters everything she thought she knew, forcing her into an uneasy alliance with Detective Bronwen Pryce. With danger closing in from all sides, the two women must work together to uncover the truth—even if it kills them.
Read an excerpt.
