Whisky from Small Glasses

A D.C.I. Daley Thriller, Book 1

By: Denzil Meyrick

Narrated by: David Monteath

DCI Jim Daley is sent from the city to investigate a murder after the body of a woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the West Coast of Scotland. Far away from urban resources, he finds himself a stranger in a close-knit community.

Love, betrayal, fear and death stalk the small town as Daley investigates a case that becomes more deadly than he could possibly imagine in this compelling Scottish crime novel infused with intrigue and dark humour.

Denzil Meyrick was born in Glasgow and brought up in Campbeltown. After studying politics, he pursued a varied career including time spent as a police officer, freelance journalist and director of several companies.

Beginning with Whisky from Small Glasses, The Last Witness and Dark Suits and Sad Songs, the DCI Daley series have all become Scottish Crime best sellers, with all three entering the Kindle top 10.

©2015 Denzil Meyrick (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Gritty Writing,

What I liked: excellent plot, realistic characters, top notch writing, picturesque setting in the Western Isles of Scotland.
Performance: tour de force of Scots accents, all distinctive and all understandable.
Downside for me: graphic descriptions of killings and aftermath.
Bottom line: great to enjoy the first book in a new and gripping detective series set in Scotland, spoken well by an outstanding performer.

Absolutely great!

As an avid mystery and thriller buff, I am easily turned off by not so we'll written books. This author, Denzil Meyrick, and this first book in the series, was a very pleasant surprise. I very much enjoyed listening to this book, and am on to the next one. The narrator, David Monteath, couldn't be any better. A perfect match.
Audible addict,
Santa Fe, NM

A pretty good listen

i was happy that the typical trip to the morgue wasnt involved, nor the usual waking up in the hospital having been whacked on the head. Listening to Scottish accents is fun for me, so that was the best.

Just a little boring

I don’t find this book to be totally engaging, where it’s holding my interest. Like others have said, the narrator is doing a really good job, but I’m not intrigued.

Best narration I’ve heard in a long time!

If you love Rankin’s Rebus books, try this series. Detective Daley is fantastic and his sidekick Detective Scott is hilarious. Narration nails it-various regions of Scotland flow seamlessly. Bravo!

Would have benefited from better editing

- no female characters that aren’t prostitutes, degenerates, or cheaters
- flat characters
- repetitive imagery
- weird / uncomfortable handling of rape scene (can’t say more without spoilers)
Good bones, just needs more editing and development IMO

Well Rounded Work

This was my first Meyrick but it won’t be my last. This ticked all the boxes of good writing - well developed charecters with separate recognizable personalities; excellent narration that offers the right tone to deliver humor horror and humanity to each of the charecters exactly when needed throughout the story. I was especially impressed with the narrator’s ability to deliver different regional Scottish accents and ‘class’ distinctions. Last but not least, a story-line that isn’t rushed or stingy or false or unrealistic. The story rolls out in a smooth natural pace. I never caught myself thinking, ‘...Yes! We got it! Can we please move this along!...’. A lot of authors do too much handholding, believing the audience didn’t read between the lines. I also appreciated that this book had no cartoon super villains or saints in the story. Even the dark humor is appropriate. Some of it was the whistling past the graveyard type humor and other moments is the personality of a natural card that doesn’t realize he’s funny half the time. Very enjoyable book. Thank goodness there are lots of Meyrick books because I listen to this one in two days.

Awesome Narrator!

This was a good story with a great narrator. He gave each character a distinctive voice. It was cool getting to know the characters since I intend to continue the series.

The descriptions were sometimes very graphic so be ready for that.

Predictable and Full of Gore

I struggled to finish this and had to skip some of the pointlessly gory bits. The narrator was the saving grace. This author had some flashes of good writing, but the plot was so predictable and formulaic, I wouldn't be surprised to find that it was computer generated. The female characters are either victims or victims. I kept hoping it would improve. The added first chapter of the next in the series was more of the same.

Mediocre and predictable

Gratuitously violent with very little motive, predictable plot. Narrator gives a good performance. Not interested in another.