Cutting Edge is the third outing for DCI Charlie Anderson, veteran Glasgow copper and stickler for 'proper policing'. At a time when statistics seem to direct their every move, Charlie prefers his tried and tested methods for solving crimes which are more about exploring all the angles and finding the one piece of evidence that provides the key to conviction. He is certainly less than enamoured about being forced to engage the services of a profiler. He much prefers to employ his own gut feelings.

Set in near-contemporary Glasgow, those who know the city will see familiarity in the surroundings which Bill Daly deftly crafts for his characters. The story begins with the murder of an elderly woman, a member of the travelling community whose death seems motiveless. This is quickly followed by the murder of a young female accountant who has been lured to a public park, and, shortly afterwards, the discovery of the body of a heroin-addicted mercenary on a train. In each case the left hand is hacked off and sent to Charlie, along with a playing card. Three seemingly unrelated individuals, clearly being used to send a message, but what is the message? The case is gruelling enough, but when Charlie's wife is targetted in a local supermarket and his daughter starts to receive threatening messages suggesting she and her son are at risk, it becomes a personal mission to crack the case and save his family.

Charlie is looking for a serial killer, but one whose motives are unclear. None of the dead are in any way related to one another. Their lives are completely separate. Charlie finds himself battling with the top brass, with members of his own team and trying to keep the media at bay, while he tries to uncover a motive and find the killer. When he is summoned to speak to a Superintendent of The Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Command, what seemed bizarre before, seems suddenly even more so. New information, which Charlie must only divulge on a 'need to know' basis, heightens his concerns for his family and creates a greater urgency to track down the perpetrator.

Cutting Edge is a highly engaging read which progresses towards a satisfying conclusion at a good pace. Bill Daly has created a complex character in DCI Charlie Anderson, and for those of us who have followed his previous exploits in books one and two, it is possible to see how he has changed, perhaps mellowed somewhat, whilst at the same time upholding the same principles in the job that he always has. Here is a man approaching the end of his career, but still keen to do the job to the best of his ability, even if that does involve him being receptive to making some small concessions to progress. That said, if this is your first meeting with Charlie, then this is still a great standalone read.

Simon Ramsay, a successful and seemingly respectable businessman, receives an email with a photograph attached. If he doesn't come up with 50k, the sender will release it to the press, and his career will be over. In a state of panic he contacts his mistress, Laura Harrison. He tells her a blackmailer has managed to get his hands on a compromising photograph of them in bed together. Terrified of what her violent husband will do if he finds out about her affair, she enlists the services of a psychopath, Billy McAteer to deal with the blackmailer. It is a moment of madness, and the repercussions are disastrous. It falls to DCI Anderson and his sidekick to unravel the trail of death and destruction."

Frank McClure, the eccentric son of an Ayrshire publican and his French au pair, applies to join MI6 to escape from his humdrum existence. When he is assigned to an undercover surveillance mission in Montpellier, he stumbles upon a racist cell who are planning to exact indiscriminate revenge on Islamic targets in Britain and France in retribution for the terrorist atrocities in New York, Madrid and London. As Frank races against time to warn his superiors of the impending attacks, various anomalies in the true purpose of his mission come to light and elements of drug trafficking and pornography compound to muddy the interaction between senior figures in MI6 and their French counterparts. The Pheasant Plucker is a compelling blend of humour, political intrigue and romance, with several intricate plot twists which will keep the reader guessing until the final denouement.