Cast Iron

Starred review from August 21, 2017
Set in France in 2011, May’s excellent sixth and final mystery featuring forensic expert Enzo Macleod (after 2011’s Blowback) finds Enzo looking into another cold case, the strangulation of 20-year-old Lucie Martin, who went for a walk on the estate of her well-to-do parents one day in 1989 and never returned. That night, her parents found a letter in her room from Régis Blanc, a recently released convict whom she was helping readjust to society at a charity in Bordeaux. Blanc was revealed soon after to be a serial killer, but no evidence ever linked him to Lucie’s murder. Enzo sets out from Paris for Bordeaux, where he picks up the thin trail of clues at the Martin family home. As time passes, the investigation spins out into a web that enmeshes members of Enzo’s family, all distinctive characters. May expertly plants nicely misleading red herrings; every time the reader thinks the plot will fall into predictability, the ground shifts and the direction changes. The end comes as a satisfying surprise, built as it is on clues that were subtly in place all along.

August 1, 2017
Forensic detective Enzo Macleod solves a challenging cold-case murder that dates back more than 20 years.The impressively rendered sense of place and the keen character insights author May has shown in his books set in the Hebrides and in China are richly in evidence in this novel set in France. In what is billed as the last case in the Enzo Files series, the reader follows Enzo Macleod, aging (56) and sometimes weary, as he determines to find the killer of Lucie Martin, who was strangled and dumped into a lake in the west of France at age 20. Although the killer was never found, evidence pointed to Regis Blanc as the culprit even though this pimp had a "cast-iron" alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the murder. Lucie had met him while working at a rehab center for ex-convicts after he served nine months for assault, and her spurned boyfriend suggested that Lucie and Regis become lovers. Regis' subsequent murder of three prostitutes, for which he was sentenced to life in prison, cast further suspicion on him as Lucie's killer. But Macleod has doubts that Regis killed Lucie. His misgivings come into sharp focus during a powerful scene in which Macleod interviews Regis in prison. Macleod is on the case, but he realizes someone wants him off it: a man attempts to kill him as he searches a dark chateau. Meanwhile, in a suspenseful subplot, thugs kidnap Macleod's daughter and her lover, Bertrand, threatening their lives unless Macleod gets off the case. Struggling to maintain equilibrium, Macleod reminds himself that he deals with "real people, with real lives and real sorrow," an observation that also befits May's full, insightful rendering of Macleod's ex-wife, his current paramour, and his family. Though some early scenes with Macleod's family seem extraneous, they tie perfectly to the surprising reveals that come in the book's swift second half. All this plays out against sharply sketched scenes of Paris and Bordeaux in late fall. The last shall be best.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2017

Years ago, forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod made a bet to solve a series of French cold cases highlighted in a colleague's book. Now only two chapters remain, and an aging Enzo cakes on the 1989 case of Lucie Martin, whose body was dumped in a lake in western France. No one was charged with her murder since the prime suspect, a former convict Lucie knew through her work at a rehab center, had a cast-iron alibi. Enzo soon spots a clue that will shed new light on the case but will also impact his family and friends. Enzo is an irascible, complex protagonist, with more than his share of personal loss, often masked by bravado. VERDICT This is the sixth and final book in May's gripping series-and one of the best. It is helpful but not necessary to have read the previous books. Fans of forensic mysteries will prefer following Enzo through all his cases.--ACT

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2017
This is the sixth and final installment of the Enzo Files series by award-winner May. In each book, expat forensic expert Enzo Macleod attempts to solve one of the seven notorious murders documented in a Parisian journalist's book on cold cases. (The project began after Enzo wagered with the author that he could solve them all.) This time he must unravel the murder of a 20-year-old woman whose bones were exposed during a drought. Readers of the earlier books will have the advantage here, as much of this case turns out to involve others previously investigated. Many elements of Enzo's complicated relationships are also deeply rooted in the past. The loose strings of Enzo's personal and professional life are neatly tied together at story's end, and his compelling character, with all of his strengths and weaknesses, will be missed. Bonne chance, Enzo. Recommended for tartan noir fans, including the works of Christopher Brookmyre and Stuart MacBride, not to mention Enzo's personal favorite, Val McDermid.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)