Payback

MacLeary paints a very vivid picture of her characters and setting which allowed me to fully immerse myself into this novel. I love the Scottish dialect that weaved throughout the pages and the colourful character of Wilma. Her feistiness and straight-forward talking made her a larger than life character who you would definitely want fighting your corner. I loved how Maggie's personal life was explored in this novel from her financial affairs to her emotional state; it felt raw, realistic and made me warm to her immediately.

At the beginning it felt like there were two story lines running parallel: the ones the police were investigating and Maggie's private investigation into the missing cat. As the two stories and characters came together the pace increased with lots of hidden twists that I didn't see coming.

Although I haven't read the other books in the Harcus & Laird series it didn't dampen my enjoyment and it was easy to get to grips with the characters. There were also brief outlines from the previous series, important events that were relevant to this novel so I didn't feel I was missing out on any key information.

Overall an enjoyable read with likeable characters and a great story line.