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.
"The basis for this story is set in the past. Twenty-odd years ago a crime was committed which impacts on the choice of one woman - Orla McLeod - to become a member of an elite undercover Glasgow Police force.
A current sting operation leaves 5 dead and a 9-year-old, almost autistic boy, Orla's to care for and protect. Attempting to avenge the tortuous death of her policeman lover, it slowly becomes clear that the man who spent 20 years in prison for the murder of Orla's father and brother may be involved in this more current crimewave. Violence has a tangable reality in the thoughtful, sparsly elegant writing of Ms Scott. Both the inner city setting of Glasgow and the wild highlands of Scotland are delineated with the generosity of love.
Most of all, however, it is the characters who make this work memorable. Both Orla and the primary villain are devastatingly strong and abysmally frail, while the boy's ambiguities are tender and heartbreaking."
Tamlin Moray, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of No Good Deed
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 30% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 20%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- solving long-past murder
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, British
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is....
- on the run from the law
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller
Yes
Mostly a criminal POV story
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
- a significant amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- accused criminal
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Mountains:
- climbing on trails
City?
Yes
City:
- dangerous
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths?
- 2
- 5-7
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
