Fans of gritty British crime fiction will welcome Hutton’s twisty first novel, set in Wales. One night, Det. Sgt. Glyn Capaldi, whose career is on the rebound, responds to a hijacking call. According to the stranded driver of a minibus, his six drunken male passengers tricked him into getting out of the vehicle, then drove off without him. Shortly beforehand, the men picked up a female hitchhiker. The morning after the crime, the minibus is found abandoned. Capaldi’s colleagues are initially unconcerned, but when the police learn that none of the men turned up at their homes, they start to show some interest. Things become more complicated after five of the men surface, leaving one of their comrades and the unidentified woman unaccounted for and Capaldi suspicious. Hutton throws in a number of curves along the way to a satisfying explanation of the mystery. (Apr.)
The phrase, or variations of it, pops up: She comes from good people; they're good people. But what if they're not? That's the issue in Ewart Hutton's first novel...a gritty and graphic thriller featuring Detective Sgt. Glyn Capaldi, who, after a tragic outcome to a case, has been reassigned from Cardiff to a rural area of Wales where nothing much happens....Hutton, a native of Scotland who now lives in France, paints a rich portrait of a maverick cop, a small community and the depravity that lies beneath its pretty façade. Not for the squeamish, 'Good People' marks a striking and cunning debut.” —Jay Strafford, Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Everyone who thinks Ian Rankin doesn't write fast enough should give newcomer Hutton a try....the plot twists are cunning, and Glyn Capaldi is the most appealing antihero this side of John Rebus.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Fans of gritty British crime fiction will welcome Hutton's twisty first novel, set in Wales.” —Publishers Weekly
“Shortlisted for the 2012 Crime Writers' Association New Blood Dagger for best first novel, this is a stunningly dark debut. The first-person narrative keeps it personal, making the detective's vulnerabilities that much more intense.” —Library Journal
“Capaldi's investigation...is a joy to follow. And the wit of the first-person narration is priceless. Definitely a series to watch.” —Booklist
“An entertaining debut with more stings in the tail than a bag of scorpions.” —Val McDermid, international bestselling author
“Glyn Capaldi makes a hugely impressive first appearance in Good People…teasingly elusive, and convincing, set in dark woodlands and small towns that conceal more than the reader can possibly suspect.” —Campbell Armstrong, author of Jigsaw
“Smart, fast-moving and hard-hitting, this is a crime thriller with a witty edge to it.” —The Northern Echo
“Hutton's striking debut gives us a convincing version of the detective as outsider, and a cunning mystery that lasts through to the final pages.” —Morning Star
“A kick in the pants to the traditional maverick cop novel by a master of English prose. Good People breaks a stereotype in this pacey debut.” —The judges of the 2012 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
Everyone who thinks Ian Rankin doesn't write fast enough should give newcomer Hutton a try. Relegated to the Welsh boondocks after his misstep causes a death in Cardiff, DS Glyn Capaldi, never one to follow orders anyway, persists in asking where Boon, a young black man, and a female hitchhiker have gone after five local lads say they left following a night of high-spirited debauchery. According to them, Boon planned to take the girl to the ferry to Dublin to meet up with her boyfriend and then return to his military posting. But their story is a little too pat, and when it crumbles, their revision sounds rehearsed and preplanned. Glyn, whose interrogation technique is part punch-up, part blackmail and total intimidation, singles out Trevor as the group's weakest link. After two prostitutes alibi the lads and Glyn gets treated to a tormented sexual confession, Trevor's dead body is found hanging from a barn rafter. No longer welcomed in the pub by xenophobic countrymen, and told by his superiors to leave off harassing the boys, Glyn can find solace only in his encounter with Sally, Boon's adopted mother, whose travails include an ex who absconded with a student and subtle bits of racism aimed at her son. But shortly after Sally and Glyn tentatively reach out for one another, the current husband of Glyn's ex-wife descends asking for a bit of advice, and investigation shows that more girls than the misplaced hitchhiker have vanished from the village in the past. Convinced that Boon and probably several of the females are dead and possibly buried in the countryside, Glyn makes several incorrect assumptions that lead to a final revenge scenario upending his notions of what good people can be driven to while their friends turn a blind eye. The sexual peccadilloes are not for the squeamish, but the plot twists are cunning, and Glyn Capaldi is the most appealing antihero this side of John Rebus.
