Things have been a little quiet lately, so I've been catching up on some reading. One thing I checked out this month was Queen of Grime, a crime thriller by Helen Forbes. This review is part of a Reading Between the Lines blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams.
Blurb
The Queen of Grime is about to pay. Big time.
Erin Flett is used to clearing up the sad debris of forgotten lives and tragic deaths. A crime and trauma scene cleaner from a deprived Edinburgh housing estate, she’s made a good life for herself and her daughter. But a secret from the past is about to catch up with her.
Ten years ago, Erin told a desperate lie with serious consequences. Now, someone else knows, and they’re determined to make Erin and her loved ones pay.
Following a terrifying late-night attack, the tension mounts until Erin doesn’t know who she can trust. As she struggles to keep her family safe, little does she realise just how close the danger is…
Queen of Grime is the first in a new series introducing Erin Flett, crime and trauma scene cleaner, and a rich cast of characters, set against the backdrop of the city of Edinburgh. With an occasional undertone of dark humour, it is a tale of family lies and family ties, friendships, secrets and loss.
Review
Going into this book, Helen Forbes does an excellent job painting a grimy yet vivid setting. Erin's dayjob provides its fair share of groteque imagery, but that's not the main focus.
There's a wide array of characters, and no short amount of sleaze as we're kept on guessing about Erin's mystery tormentor. Suspects include: Johnny, the deadbeat son of Erin's best friend Gladys; Adam, an unassuming man whom Erin befriends at the pub; and Matthew, whom she takes on as an assistant cleaner. And while all that's going on, we see that Erin's Jess has befriended a man named Sean. It's creepy, and keeps things tense as you read on to learn about the secret from Erin's past.
In another subplot, we follow Erin's cousin Kirsten as she works as a lawyer but is also dealing with a traumatic incident from her own past. At first, you wonder if it's connected to Erin's past, but then more comes to light. I don't want to elaborate due to spoilers, but it's paints a bleak picture.
Queen of Grime is available on Amazon as an e-book and paperback. If you want a bleak little tartan noir, I recommend it.
About the Author
Helen Forbes is an author of Scottish crime fiction. She lives in her home-town of Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands. Helen began by writing contemporary and historical fiction, with no intention of turning to crime. It was a chance remark at a writing group about one of her short stories that led to her debut police procedural novel, In the Shadow of the Hill, set in Inverness and South Harris, featuring Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith. Madness Lies is book 2 in the DS Joe Galbraith series, set in Inverness and North Uist.
Helen has had two standalone crime thrillers published by Scolpaig Press. Unravelling, set in Inverness, was published in July 2021. Deception, set in Edinburgh, was published in January 2022.
Spoils of the Dead, a novella, was published in November 2022, and Queen of Grime, the first in a new series, was released in December 2022.
Helen would be delighted to hear from readers. Please contact her and join her mailing list on her website www.helenforbes.co.uk to get her author news and a free copy of the novella, Spoils of the Dead.
