R.D. Nixon – Crossfire

‘Crossfire’ by R.D. Nixon is a police procedural/ PI crime thriller that is the first book in the Clifford-MacKenzie crime series. A book written by an author whose work I have previously read but in a different genre. I just knew I would be loving this!

The story is set over three timelines – 1998, 1993 and then 2021. R.D Nixon has done an excellent job of weaving every timeline together and created a sublimely brilliant story full of suspense and intrigue. The private investigators Maddy Clifford and Paul MacKenzie are a fabulous team together.

Crossfire initially begins at Hogmanay 1987, a prank robbery has fatal consequences. The story then moves forward to five years later, when the Highlands town of Abergarry is shaken by the seemingly gratuitous murder of a local man. The case is unsolved. We are then propelled forward to the present day, where ten-year-old Jamie, while on holiday in Abergarry with his mum Charis, overhears a conversation. To him, it is all part of a game. But this is no game and the consequences are far more serious than Jamie ever imagined.
This is a story that keeps you on tenterhooks constantly. The author has the skill to keep the suspense going throughout. As I said this is the first crime fiction book I have read from this author and boy! Am I happy I was invited along on the tour.

R.D. Nixon has managed to write such a complex story with multiple timelines and several characters and still has me gripped and unwilling to put the kindle down at all. Her characters are an interesting mix. From the ones you feel you can just ‘get’ to the ones who give off the bad vibes, then last but not least…the ones you have no clue about. Every character played their role in this intriguing story with a few surprises as the story develops.

I thought R.D. Nixon’s timelines created a more tense and atmospheric book which does crank up even more as we go into the last quarter of the book too. I am happy that this is only the first outing for this duo, I am looking forward to learning more about them and their cases in the future.

Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and R.D. Nixon for my copy of Crossfire.