The first physical ARC I’ve been sent and I was intrigued from the moment I read the synopsis. A massive-massive thank you to Sandstone Press for sending Fixed Odds by William McIntyre my way. Truly appreciate it!
Fixed Odds by William McIntyre
4 out of 5
Pub Date 04 July 2019, by Sandstone Press
You can order a copy from Amazon, Waterstones
Free ARC in exchange for honest review
Blurb: George “Genghis” McCann has stolen – and lost – a priceless masterpiece. Snooker champion Oscar “The Showman” Bowman is charged with betting fraud.
With a second baby on the way, and promises of great rewards if he wins Bowman’s case and recovers the painting, defence lawyer Robbie Munro has never been so tempted to fix the odds in his favour.
My thoughts: Fixed Odds is actually #5 of the Robbie Munro series but can definitely be read as a stand alone. I didn’t feel like there were many gaps, although I suspect I’d known the characters better had I read the other books first..
It starts with Mr Munro about to visit his new client in prison who is being accused of breaking into an old lady’s house (who by the way is Auschwitz survivor! You guys know how much I love reading about this!) and stealing a whole bunch of stuff. From then whole hell breaks loose and expensive artwork, fraud and murder will feature in the story. From the very first page the author made me chuckle. I absolutely love McIntyre’s sense of humour, totally up my street- sarcastic, dark and of course funny! Come on, who doesn’t like a funny crime thriller. It has it all, right!?
The book has definitely made me interested in the Robbie Munro series and I will look into getting my hands on the other four books for sure. McIntyre’s writing is easy to read, and I really enjoyed how “flowy” it felt throughout. It was as if the author was physically telling the story and not writing it. You know what I mean?
BUT, there’s always a but isnt’ there..
Whilst I did enjoy the book overall, it was slightly underwhelming for me. The pacing was a bit slow, hence the slightly lower rating, and I really wished there was more of the legal jargon/action to make it live up to it’s claim of being a legal thriller. I, personally, wouldn’t class Fixed Odds as a legal thriller at all. Yes, the trial was featured a few times but no where near as much as I would’ve wanted. I do think Crime category suits it perfectly. There was less of the court room drama than I expected and more of the background story of what went on behind the scenes during the trial. Don’t get me wrong, Mr Munro is a bit of a beast judging from the little I did see. I mean, he’s no Eddie Flynn but they could definitely be cousins! (If you don’t know about Eddie Flynn – get in touch!) Also the ending was a bit too “Hollywood” for me, once you read it you’ll know what I mean. I would’ve wanted it to be quite different.
Would I read Fixed Odds again?
The answer is probably not because life is too short and I have over 100 other books waiting to be picked up. Would I recommend Fixed Odds to you? Yes, yes I would. It’s a quick, funny and interesting read. Not one to keep you up all night, but if you start in the morning you’ll be done by the evening.
Kat x
About the author
William McIntyre is a partner in Scotland’s oldest law firm Russell + Aitken, specialising in criminal defence. He has been instructed in many interesting and high-profile cases over the years and now turns fact into fiction with his Robbie Munro legal thrillers. He is married with four sons.
