Skinner's Festival (Bob Skinner Mysteries) - Softcover

Quintin Jardine was born once upon a time in the West - of Scotland rather than America, but still he grew to manhood as a massive Sergio Leone fan. On the way there he was educated, against his will, in Glasgow, where he ditched a token attempt to study law for more interesting careers in journalism, government propaganda, and political spin-doctoring. After a close call with the Brighton Bomb in 1984, he moved into the even riskier world of media relations consultancy, before realising that all along he had been training to become a crime writer. Now, forty novels later, he never looks back. Along the way he has created/acquired an extended family in Scotland and Spain. Everything he does is for them. He can be tracked down through his blog: http://quintinjardine.me

Don't let Assistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner's affable exterior fool you. Underneath the surface, Skinner, who's head of Edinburgh's Criminal Investigation Department, is tough, uncompromising, and superb at his job, all of which was evident in his first case, Skinner's Rules. In this sequel, a bomb explodes at Edinburgh's nationally acclaimed International Arts Festival, and Skinner is first on the scene. A note delivered to Scotland's Secretary of State soon after the disaster indicates that the bomb is the work of an international terrorist group with a political agenda. Skinner uses every man under his command to initiate a search for the bombers, but he soon finds that the case is about much more than political terrorism. In fact, the treasures most precious to Scotland and to Skinner himself are the real targets. Tension mounts as more bombs explode, the body count increases, and Skinner's own wife and daughter are taken hostage by the terrorists. Scotsman Jardine writes a nearly flawless police procedural--intense, riveting, and relentlessly suspenseful--but his real forte is the way he gets into the minds and hearts of his characters. A writer and a series to watch! Emily Melton