The last time David Lindsay was in his home town of Arbroath was 15 years ago, in the summer holidays after leaving school, for the funeral of one of his mates who fell off a cliff in mysterious circumstances. Now there's a school reunion planned and persuaded by Nicola Cruickshank - who he always fancied back in school - David reluctantly agrees to go along. What should have been a fun weekend, meeting up with old mates, turns sour when the body of one of them is found at the bottom of the same cliffs. The common denominator to the deaths seems to be David - or maybe his reclusive ex-schoolmate Neil. While the police seem prepared to accept these deaths as accidents, David, like many a thriller hero, decides it's up to him to investigate further - fortunately he has Nicola to assist!
Tombstoning was Doug Johnstone's debut thriller published in 2006 by Penguin. I read it as a Kindle for PC copy - not the easiest reading method in the world and I usually save it for short stories and novellas. It says something for the gripping quality of this novel that it had me hooked despite this. The story line may be a little more straightforward than his later novels but it has that trademark of good fun going pear-shaped and sinister against a well evoked Scottish backdrop, in this case the Angus fishing town of Arbroath. There's lots of drinking, dark humour, some sex and a psycho killer on the loose - a brilliant read!
Previous reviews; Hit and Run; Smokeheads
Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Penguin
Genre - adult, thriller
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