A rock solid start

It's always nice to get in at the start with a new author. So many times you hear about or discover an author by reading the latest book in a long running series. Well not this time.

The Stone Gallows is the first novel from C. David Ingram. After legal training, he worked for several years as a debt collector and is now a hospital nurse. And thankfully he's found the time to take up writing. 

It tells the story of Cameron Stone, a Detective Constable in Glasgow who is involved in a car accident whilst chasing a suspect after a stakeout one night. 

During the incident, he runs over a young mother and her baby and then blacks out. Three months of intensive care follow, and some of the memories of that night are returning to Cameron. However, the events of the night are already burned onto the collective conciousness of the city.

Whilst it may appear a bit of a cliche that his wife then leaves him and he quits the force and becomes a slightly bitter private eye, it's all handled with style, wit and the right level of pace to stop you becoming bored by a stereotype, and actually rooting for this slightly hard done by character, hoping that he'll catch a break.

It's all very cleverly written, and the way certain plot elements collide actually makes you smile, rather than being annoyed that you didn't spot a certain twist coming. It's a great debut novel, and I'm already looking forward to the next one (and Ingram has already promised that there will be one).

Recommended for fans of Val McDermid, Mark Billingham and (perhaps to a lesser extent, since the pace is a little slower) Simon Kernick.