One Last Dram Before Midnight

One last dram before midnight is a collection of seven short stories by Denzil Meyrick, author of the DCI Daley series of crime books. Four of the stories I had read previously as e-books or as a novella while the last three were prepared for this book.

Dalintober Moon was originally written as a fundraiser for the restoration of Dalintober Beach and published as an e-book. When a body is revealed on the beach by the tide DCI Daley is called in to investigate and discovers the story of a long-held family feud.

Empty Nets and Promises is set in the 1960s when fishing in seas near Kinloch was a major industry. However, this season there are few fish to be found. A young Hamish and his skipper, Sandy Hoynes specualte on the cause and devise a plan to resolve the situation with almost drastic results.

Two One Three and Single End are two stories set in Glasgow in the early days of Jim Daley's career in the police force. Two One Three is about Jim Daley's introduction to the CID and also to Brian Scott. In Single End Brian Scott finds himself in serious danger when revisiting associates from his past.

The three new stories are One Last Dram before Midnight, a story revolving around a jet necklace usually held in the local museum but about to go on short-term loan to London, The Silent Man, the hunt for an elderly man who has disappeared while Strangers examines reactions of the Kinloch community when a family of refugees arrives in their midst. 

All in all an interesting, readable and often humorous collection of stories throwing new light on the DCI Daley series and the characters in the community of Kinloch.