THE LAST WITNESS is the second in a series of crime/police procedural novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jim Daley of Kinloch, Scotland. However, it’s the first to be published on this side of the Atlantic. Fortunately, you don’t need to read the opening installment to fully appreciate the second, though you’ll want to do just that once you dip into the dark literary waters that author Denzil Meyrick has drawn for us.

A good deal of the novel is written with a heavy Scottish accent, which makes sense, considering Meyrick’s heritage and initial potential audience. I think it’s best that THE LAST WITNESS was left with its originality intact. I tried writing out some of the lines in American English, but they just weren’t the same. If you’re used to reading quickly, just slow down a bit and your patience will be rewarded.

"Meyrick’s prose and plot are sure-footed... He's a welcome addition to the growing list of Scottish crime writers, and if THE LAST WITNESS is any indication, his works are guaranteed to be included on many 'must-read' lists in the future."

James Machie, a criminal mastermind who ruled his empire with equal parts guile and violence, has been tried for and convicted of his multiple crimes. He is being transported in an ambulance when the vehicle is waylaid, and everyone inside, including Machie, is brutally murdered by unknown killers. Some five years later, each person who had anything to do with Machie’s capture and conviction --- from his own underlings to the police who brought him in --- is being systematically hunted down and brutally murdered by someone who appears to be Machie himself, risen from the definitely dead.

Machie’s top associate, Frank MacDougall, is one of the very few remaining on the list. He perhaps had the most to do with Machie’s fall from grace. So Daley is none too pleased when he is informed that for the past five years, MacDougall has been living with his family on a farm in Daley’s jurisdiction under a pseudonym, hiding in plain sight. Of even more significance is that it was Daley and his subordinate, Brian Scott, who made the arrests that brought Machie to justice. The main question, of course, is how it is that Machie, who was undoubtedly killed, is up and wandering around the countryside spreading mayhem. The other question is how does one stop a dead man.

Daley has more than his share of other problems, given that he is often caught in between Scott and their Superintendent, John Donald, who has some secrets of his own that he’s keeping close to himself. One of these, which he ultimately reveals to Daley, concerns a betrayal that Daley isn’t sure how to deal with and doesn’t do anything about until near the end of the book. Meanwhile, Machie continues to cut a violent path through the area, killing MacDougall’s family as he makes his way toward the man himself, seemingly unstoppable and with irreversible purpose. Daley finds himself in a race against time as matters propel themselves to an excruciating climax that resolves most, but not all, of the issues that have been raised.

Meyrick’s prose and plot are sure-footed, especially given that it's only his second proper novel. He's a welcome addition to the growing list of Scottish crime writers, and if THE LAST WITNESS is any indication, his works are guaranteed to be included on many “must-read” lists in the future.