The Murder Bag

By: Tony Parsons

Narrated by: Colin Mace

Twenty years ago seven students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter's Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable. Detective Max Wolfe follows the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the corridors of power. As the bodies pile up, Max finds he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life....

The gripping first novel in an explosive new crime series by Tony Parsons, bestselling author of Man and Boy. If you like crime-novels by Ian Rankin and Peter James, you will love this.

©2014 Tony Parsons (P)2014 W.F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Propulsive ... If The Murder Bag marks the launch of a new crime series, count me in." ( The Times)
"A tense debut crime novel with a dose of dry wit" ( Daily Express)
"Impressive, page-turning ... Told with conviction and at an ever increasing pace" ( Daily Mail)
"Truly emotive crime-writing is a rarity, and The Murder Bag looks set to win Tony Parsons many new fans in the genre" ( GQ)
"Spectacular! Tense and human, fast and authentic." (Lee Child)

EXCELLENT!

A terrific mystery with well developed characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Witty and Richly Narrarated

Only 3/4 through but I am already pleasantly surprised. The story is interesting but most of all, the writer is sharp, witty and at parts, I laughed deviously and out loud. Great writer and the narrator was spellbinding. The story came alive.

Can a narrator make a good book great?

Colin Mace delivers a performance that puts him in a class with Ray Porter, Frank Mueller, Will Patton and Eduardo Ballerini. He hasn't read a lot on audible, but surely this is a breakout performance.

In the first chapter we are witness to a brutal rape and murder that occurred some 20 years ago. In present day, suddenly men responsible for the crime begin to be murdered one by one. Obviously revenge is the motive, but what makes this novel so easy to enjoy is how the detectives unravel the mystery.

The characters are well developed and thanks to Colin Mace, we are emotionally drawn into the life of a truly gifted detective.

This was a great experience.

Really Well Written and Beautifully Narrated

The story-line in this one is a little bit of an Oldy - group of friends do something really awful when they are young; then, years later, someone comes for them. An Oldy, but Goody. There's a reason some plot tropes stick around. This one has endless variations, and this a pretty good version of it. It's a sound, tried and true framework that more than does the job to support this really excellent police procedural. For a start, the writing is very, very good. And the production is a pleasure to listen to, just plain beautifully narrated. The central character is utterly believable, and compelling. Even the 'I love my kid' thing works. Which they don't always - it can be way overdone and just plain icky. All 'round, this is a really satisfying listen. So much so that I went straight on to the next in series. If you like Aidan McKinty and Mick Herron ( no, this isn't about spies but it has a lot of the same feel) give this a try. I was glad I did.

A pleasure!

Great story, fantastic narrator. So good to meet a new character and look forward to following the series. Buy this book!

Good book+Excellent narrator = Very good audiobook

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book but I do think Colin Mace's performance made a good book very good. Main character Max reminds me of Luther (television show) and my husband, who is English tells me it's because Colin Mace has the same accent. But I think it's more than that. Like Luther, Max never backs down, runs head long into trouble, and keeps going until he figures out what's going on. Well, anyway, if you liked Luther, I think you'll like this book. After reading the reviews and subject of Book 2, I've decided to skip that one and I am already listening to Book 3.

Great mystery

Recommended as a great mystery and really good story line. Good pace. Kept to the story line. Believable detective. All fits together.

A suspenseful must read mystery

I was in from the beginning of the book and could not put it down. **Spoiler** The book starts with a rape/murder. I love it when I cannot figure/or thought I did the “who done it” in a crime. Well there were so many twists that I was never right. Oh, what joy!

Detective Max Wolfe is an officer who has excellent instincts which makes him an unconventional officer. Those instincts can make him a hero or bring him on charges of murder. His method of policing never works well with supervisors. He is new to a division and his team and others are leery of his not by the book style. Yet, it is that style that earns him the respect of his team. His style motivated his team to think outside of the box.

The elements of the British wealth and middle class are an impediment within the characters of the crime and an issue in the impediment to the investigation. So what is in common with these crimes? That I will not tell you.

The reader is not distracted with at a protagonist, Wolf’s past does not have an emotional hindrance to his investigation. That is a boiler plate conflict many authors throw in the story, when circumstances in the protagonist past is mirrored in the crime.

He is a single parent with a child and a hard to train puppy. His life is effect by the crime. His does not drive his actions in solving the crime. The author’s plot is strong enough to presents a strong unique mystery.

Like many other reviews, I have to give kudos to the narrator. His contribution to the story made it come alive.

1st in a GREAT Series!!

I love this series. Tony Parsons has created very strong characters with humanity and emotion. Colin Mace, the actor, is a fanatic voice actor as well. He has the ability to bring the characters off the page.

I will not speak to the plot as these details are provided in the book description. The story is good. It's a tad slow in places as the background is set for the characters and their families for the rest of the series. Stick with it if you like this genre it's a very good series. It could be written better but for the first in the series it pulled me in and I quickly moved to the second book.

I strongly recommend reading the books in order. The lead character is strong yet sensitive when needed. He also takes action when called upon. His character is not weak as I read in a couple of other reviews, he is human. If you're a dog lover you'll appreciate the authors obvious love of our four legged friends too.

The quality of the recording is great. At times I had a harder time differentiating between characters but this is most likely because I'm not using to hearing an England accent. (FYI: You can not hear him swallowing all the time like one reviewer said).

Fabulous!

This book is twice as good thanks to the narrator. Good plot. Interesting characters. A real treat.