Title: Dirty Weekend
Author: Gabrielle Lord
Pages: 376
Published Date: 2005
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Series Details: 3rd book in the Jack McCain series
Buy A Hardcopy
Buy eBook
Publisher's Synopsis
An early-morning phone call shatters Frank McCain's sleep. As Chief Forensic Scientist for the Australian Federal Police, he knows a call at that hour is never good news.
For Tianna Richardson it is very bad news. She's dead. But hers isn't the only case that Jack has to deal with. Is her death linked with a casual sex-swapping group? Using all his forensic knowledge, Jack needs to find out how the ex-wife of a cop is connected with a beautiful research scientist and a frail old man...besides the fact that they were all brutally murdered.
Jack McCain is determined to link the pieces. But the killer has expertly covered their tracks and Jack has only trace evidence from a rare native orchid and a whole lot of unanswered questions about the Terminator Rabbit research project to work with. And is the cost to Jack's personal life worth it, even if he does find the answers...
My Review
The field of forensic science has never been as fascinating or as hectic, with cases simply piling up on top of each other, as they have in the books featuring Jack McCain by Gabrielle Lord. Dirty Weekend is the 3rd in the series and like the first two books combines an outstanding, multi-pronged criminal investigation with the most complex of characters who has to deal with exhausting emotional issues.
Jack McCain, the protagonist in two earlier books (Death Delights and Lethal Factor) is once again living and working in Canberra after his brief secondment in Sydney. He has now taken on the role of Acting Chief Scientist of the Criminalistics section of the Australian Federal Police. With his promotion comes added - and very much unwanted - responsibilities, particularly in the bureaucracy involved in the day to day running of a government agency. To fight back he works even harder on his first love, forensic analysis.
Although he is supposed to be on leave, McCain can't ignore a middle-of-the-night phone call from a former police colleague whose ex-wife's body has just been discovered outside a Canberra nightclub. The man frantically begs McCain to attend the scene, reasoning that his presence will ensure that the police won't wrongfully suspect him of having something to do with her death. Unable to resist the call, and very much to Iona - his girlfriend's - displeasure, he gets up and goes to work.
When he gets into his lab to examine the forensic evidence gathered at the scene, he finds that apart from the expected trace evidence accompanying a death by blunt force trauma, there are also a couple of samples that don't belong. What he finds is an unusual dirt sample that definitely didn't come from the crime scene and the presence of pollen from an extremely rare native orchid not known to exist in the Canberra region.
While working this new case he receives a call from the Department of Agriculture Laboratories. Two of their scientists have gone missing and, because they were working on an experimental project involving an unstable mix of viruses, genes and rabbits, the place has been sealed and McCain's expertise is sought. After suiting up in his protective apparatus he enters the labs to find another distressing and extremely puzzling mystery that has the potential to become catastrophic.
And speaking of catastrophe, that's exactly the direction his relationship is headed thanks to his overwork ethic and inattention to the lovely Iona.
As with the 2 earlier books in this series, the forensic science demonstrated in the course of the investigation is the dominant feature of the book. Gabrielle Lord, through her protagonist, describes the more technical aspects in such a way that it remains interesting and helps the story flow smoothly.
Added to this is another powerful personal dilemma for Jack McCain as he is faced with the realisation that he continues to display obsessive qualities and the demons from his past are the most likely reason for them. A strong psychological battle is played out, aided by the inclusion of Charlie, Jack's psychotherapist brother as well as a harrowing minor storyline involving Jack's daughter, Jacinta.
Never one to take on just one case, McCain ends up with 3 on the boil here ensuring that the pace cruises along at top speed giving him barely a moment for sleep. What I found most unusual though is the number of interviews Jack McCain conducts with suspects and witnesses, often taking over the running of the show from the lead detective - and being allowed to do so. It struck me as odd that a criminalist would play that sort of role rather than simply examining the evidence and then leaving the detective work to the detective.
To give you an idea of who would enjoy this book (and, indeed the entire series), I think readers of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series, particularly the earlier books, which I consider to be the better books of the series, or fans of Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books would get a kick out of it. Jack McCain is not nearly as full on as Lincoln Rhyme but the actual forensic investigation is quite similar.
Gabrielle Lord does a wonderful job of juggling multiple storylines, highlighting the problems of dedication to the job versus maintaining a personal relationship. Dirty Weekend spotlights the consequences of familial problems on more than a single level and confirms that Lord has become a leader in Australian crime fiction writing.