No Good Deed

I met Manda Scott in a Bed and Breakfast this July in Durham, England. After I pried out of her the fact that she dumped a steady job to be a writer, she gave me a copy of her recent thriller, No Good Deed. I hereby fulfill my promise to write a review of her book!On its most basic level, No Good Deed delivers as a gripping thriller, following the best methods of the genre without being formulaic. But what distinguishes it from the pack is the thorough development of the main characters. The descriptions of the scenes are excellent but not ponderous. The story line and foreshadowing are expertly woven together with references to the main character's past. I was particularly intrigued with Manda's thought-provoking method of introducing scenes with ambiguous pronouns that engage the reader in guessing which character is being referred to. The epilogue after the climax is paradoxically satisfying as it maintains elements of tension that will continue indefinitely rather than ending sickly sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed the thriller, No Good Deed, as I'm sure you will too. I look forward to reading Manda's other books soon!

No Good Deed is a suspenseful and tantalizing thriller that kept me on the verge of my seat until its very end. A newcomer in the world of literature, Scott captures the essence of a true detective thriller with the brilliance of a more seasoned author. A Scottish undercover officer for the Glasgow police, Orla McLeod fails to solve a case. As a result, her cover is blown and her partner gets killed. But a nine-year-old may be Orla's savior -- for the child is the only one who knows the identity of the criminal in question. However, solving the crime by having the child speak up proves difficult. There are some rather interesting twists throughout the novel.Manda Scott is a great new voice in the thriller/mystery genre. Her writing is sharp, insightful and gripping. No Good Deed is a reading investment. I highly recommend this brilliant and suspenseful thriller!

The harrowing opening - a traumatized boy in the midst of a scene of violence in a Glasgow tenement - his drug-addict mother dead, another woman urgently begging him to help untie her "before they come back" - grips the reader by the throat. And doesn't let go until the final, riveting scene in this dark, emotionally and politically charged thriller.The trussed up woman is Orla McLeod, undercover cop, and the attempt to infiltrate crime boss Tord Svenson's operation ends disastrously with the torture death of her partner, Luke. Now, 9-year-old Jamie Buchanan is a target and Orla's tightly knit, specially trained team, takes him to her childhood home in the highlands. It's a magical place to the boy, a vision of snow and open space, but to tightly wound Orla it's a reminder of all she lost in the assassination of her father.Sudden violence counterpoints the boy's shy awakening, moments of unspoken intimacy between the team members, the quiet wisdom of Orla's mother and the secrets buried in the past and concealed in the present. The tension works around the unpredictable and brutal attacks and the sense of mistrust - Svenson is getting inside information from someone, somewhere. The violence is highly sophisticated - Tord is no common criminal, but a wily phantom with access to the latest technology and trickery - and Orla's team are equally savvy, attuned, and equipped.Scott's (her first novel "Hen's Teeth" was shortlisted for the Orange Prize) spare, nuanced writing (reminiscent of Denise Mina) complements her taciturn protagonist and gritty story, keeping it from seeming over-the-top despite the graphic ingenuity of the violence.

I have been eagerly waiting another book by Manda Scott, and was pleased to find this last week while traveling through Scotland and even Glasgow.I had been hoping for another book in the series previously written, but I guess there is a trend with g/l authors to move towards mainstream fiction as Val McDermid has done in her many series. Maybe it's a scottish thing, although Ellen Hart has done the same... of course she may be part British like her heroine in the Cordelia/Jane series. Must be an English/Scottish thing.I digress...This is a good book, a little nerve-wracking, and not as disturbing as other recent thrillers.Nice book Manda! Hope to see another Kellen book though.No Good Deed rocks!

In Glasgow, Detective Inspector Orla McLeod and her partner Luke Tyler work undercover. They plan to bring to an end the brutal Tord Svensen's criminal empire. However, everything quickly unravels as either someone on their team informed Tord or they slipped up somehow because they are spotted as infiltrating intruders. When the dust settles, Luke is dead and the only person living who can identify Tord is the nine-year-old boy who saved Orla's life even as he watched his own mother killed.Orla realizes that she must keep the lad Jamie Buchanan safe, but Glasgow means death for the youngster. She takes him to the Scottish Highlands, but Tord is coming. No one lives if they can finger Tord.NO GOOD DEED is as good a police procedural thriller as it gets. The story line is powerful and descriptive even with the villain identified almost from the start. The action moves out as soon as the reader begins the opening paragraph. Yet Manda Scott insures that the characters are fully developed, especially the haunted Orla. As she did with HEN'S TEETH, Ms. Scott provides a Scottish police procedural worth reading by anyone who relishes a loaded fast-paced thriller.Harriet Klausner