The Blurb:
Six people went in. Only one came out...
Introducing Standedge Tunnel: the longest canal tunnel in England.
Last year six students went in, and two and a half hours later, the boat reappeared on the other side with only one of the students, unconscious, and the dog.
The case of the Standedge Six was largely kept from the national media. The police investigation concluded that the only remaining student, Matthew, killed his friends, hid the bodies on the boat and returned later to move them to an undisclosed location.
Matthew is in prison . . . but maintains he is innocent.
Robin Ferringham is grieving for his missing wife, Sam. So when Matthew contacts him for help with his case, promising information on Sam, Robin has no choice but to help. But can he trust Matthew?
And how will he solve the unsolvable case?
My Review:
Well, this was a first for me - a mystery set in a canal tunnel! Of course, the first thing I did was check Google and Standedge Tunnel does indeed exist. I wander what the tourist folk think about having a mystery set in their tunnel. Perhaps it'll encourage more visitors - I know I want to go!
Author Robin is desperate after the disappearance of his beloved wife Sam three years ago. She just seemed to disappear into thin air, without a trace. When Matthew, a young man in prison for murdering his five best friends, calls him out of the blue claiming to have spoken to Sam, he knows he must investigate further.
The local folk greet him with caution. For them it is clear - Matthew murdered his friends, who were all successful young people destined for great things. They don't , how he did it, but that doesn't seem to worry them. Only the person behind an underground online news site is willing to help him. And Robin must try to help Matthew to find out about Sam.
Robin is instantly likeable. We don't know why Sam is missing, but I couldn't imagine it was anything to do with Robin. He is clearly devastated, and more than a little lost. He can't help but cling to the hope that Matthew's words bring. But we see how strong and determined he is. The other character that stood out for me was James Sutherland, Edmund's father. Another heart breaking character. He believes different from the other parents of the 'Standedge Five' and most of the townsfolk in general, and has lost so much as a result.
The story is quite a complicated one, which was great for keeping my attention, although I have to confess to getting a bit lost with some of the engineering stuff! But it's all clearly well researched. And there are certainly some colourful characters here, some not very likeable at all.
It says on Chris' bio below that he likes 'weird and wonderful plots, with plenty of intrigue and twists.' Well, he has certainly achieved that with this! Starting with it's unusual setting and going on from there. I can't say much more for fear of giving something away, but I can say it's definitely weird, wonderful, twisty and intriguing! I didn't see anything coming, although I always knew everything wasn't quite as it seemed. It's also very dark in places, and very emotional in others. I'm very much looking forward to reading more by Chris McGeorge.
The Author:
Chris McGeorge has an MA in Creative Writing (Crime / Thriller) from City University London where he wrote his first crime novel Dead Room for this thesis. He constantly told stories from a young age, whether they took the form of comics, short stories or scripts.
He is a lover of Golden Age crime, like Christie and Conan Doyle, leading his crime stories to be a mix of the old and the contemporary. He likes weird and wonderful plots, with plenty of intrigue and twists.
His often coherent ramblings about everything pop culture can be found on his blog Festival of Blood and occasionally he produces the Sarcasmicast podcast with a group of friends. You can find him on Twitter @crmcgeorge.
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