Not for the Squeamish

It has to be said that none of the Gilchrist books have exactly been for the squeamish, the plots have tended towards relatively gruesome crimes. However, in The Meating room T F Muir really goes for broke in attempting to wrest the crown of psycho capital of Scotland towards St Andrews and away from Glasgow and Edinburgh. It quickly becomes obvious that this is a story of the macabre, the description of the book’s second crime scene is genuinely disturbing making this poorly suited to reading with your supper!

If, like me, you can get over that then this is the most action-packed of the series to date and the ending is a breathless scene-switching caper that does take just a little suspension of belief. Muir really puts his characters through their paces and isn’t scared to let a little tragedy into their own personal worlds.

In all this one ups the ante in many ways but still retains the excellent characters that Muir has built for the series. Once you understand Jessie she becomes more real and Gilchrist, well he’s still the maverick, still gets into silly scrapes and is still entertaining because of it. The narration from David Monteath is as good as ever.

Still happy to recommend this series!

21 people found this helpful

Ok story. Clichéd characters.

Ok story. Clichéd characters.
Has anyone else been left with the impression that the author isn't too keen on women?

4 people found this helpful

Great series

Listened to them all, great narrator can't believe I'll have to wait I'll next year for the next one. Plus ages before Audible get it. Well recommended.

4 people found this helpful

Another Brilliant DI Gilchrist book - Gripping

I have read all of these series and think they are all great. Muir creates excellent characters and hugely tense situations. I listened to this pretty much every spare moment for three days. If you have followed the series it is really interesting to see Gilchrists new sidekick from the last book, Jessie, gain greater depth and profile. She is still hostile and spiky but with a much bigger input to the story - a brilliant sidekick for Gilchrist. Like all the previous books the book leads up to a real 'roller coaster' tense ending which left me holding my breath on a number of occasions. The narrator David Monteath does another brilliant job with fantastic voices which really enhance a great novel.

Brilliant, gripping and I cant wait until the next one comes out.

9 people found this helpful

Looking forward to more from this author!

D.I. Gilchrist is a very likeable character and doesn't have a drinking problem so the reader doesn't have to spend ages sludging through endless diversions about his personal life. This is a well-written and fast paced investigation that will keep your interest from start to finish. It all starts when a family man is found dead in his car - apparently a suicide which would seem to be confirmed when the slaughter of the man's family is discovered a little later. The brutal killing of his wife and other details of the man's death contradict this hypothesis and Gilchrist and his team set out to find the culprit. The narrator is excellent.

12 people found this helpful

Disappointing

The weakest book so far. Whilst the narrator is good, the plot is weak, overly complicated and DCI Gilcrists transformation into an arrogant git is now complete. Less a character than a caricature ....

7 people found this helpful

Best ever down load

If you could sum up The Meating Room in three words, what would they be?

Fast pace thrill

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jessie, loved the wild spontaneous gritty remarks and her bucking of the status quo. Fantastic character.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The reality of the fear of the dodermans and the recall

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

White knuckle ride, bring a pal to walk you home!

Any additional comments?

After a few duff down loads I am restored by an exciting listen. Am in very critical mode as laid low with back injury. Only thing keeping me sane is Audible!

10 people found this helpful

Preferred the earlier books

I have read all of the series, but find them less satisfying than previously. The character of Jessie wasn't quite so annoying as in the last book but she is quite unbelievable and no idea why she has a son who is deaf, a superfluous non-character. The earlier books had a better sense of the town, which is why is like books about 'real' places in other countries. I think the author needs a change of direction, either for the main character or his books in general.

5 people found this helpful

Good but not amazing

Would you try another book written by T. F. Muir or narrated by David Monteath?

I might but too many others to read first

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

not my place to re-write an authors book

Did David Monteath do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

Yes, very well done

Was The Meating Room worth the listening time?

no

Any additional comments?

Not the best I've listened to but still worth reading

2 people found this helpful

Another good Gilchrist story

I've read all the Gilchist stories and this one doesn't disappoint. As another reviewer mentioned, this one is pretty gory but I didn't think that detracts from the enjoyment. It's a well constructed storyline, moving the plot along nicely until the climax and without wanting to spoil the ending for listeners, I could feel myself in the darkness as the denouement unfolded. Very well read again by David Monteath, he reminds me of David Tennant sometimes with his easy to listen to tones.

7 people found this helpful