The Departed

LoveReading Says

Gritty and atmospheric, The Departed follows a determined detective navigating a city shaped by industrial decline, social unrest, and rising crime.  Set in 1970s Liverpool, DCI Leigh Borrowdale takes us back to the winter of discontent, a city in turmoil where the police are "bizzy scum". A punishing winter, power cuts, pickets and strikes are the distressing features of real life on Merseyside. After 5 years on the force and the 5 months in CID, she's experienced more dead boys than most. A fact made even more chilling as every time she's reminded of the disappearance of her little brother James. And she's terrified this one is him. With his promising young life ahead of him, about to head to Keele University to study Physics, aged 18 he never returned from a camping trip on the Isle of Man.

Amid smoky pubs and back-alley dealings,  the force battles corruption, old-school policing methods, and a criminal underworld that thrives in the shadows of dockside warehouses. When Borrowdale is called out to a mysterious death in a decaying building, where the remains of a young man have been found, she's plunged into a missing person's case to match them all. Faced with a challenging home life, a mother battling depression unable to come to terms with the loss of her son, Borrowdale doesn't have family she can rely on, friends she can count on, colleagues she can trust. Until her new partner DS Des Chung that is, united as outsiders in a male-dominated, misogynistic and racist force.

She breaks the rules. She makes her own rules. And she gets stuff done. Seriously flawed. Vulnerable but strong. She daren't let anyone in. I loved her. Every Tizer-swilling swig. Every flaw. Every questionable decision. I can't bloody wait to see more of the bizzy that is Borrowdale. A first-rate crime thriller that keeps you hooked right to the gripping conclusion.

Deborah Maclaren

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