A good friend recommended Peter May to me when I was looking for mystery writers to add to my 'to read' list.  I picked up a couple and this is the one I decided to read first. Out of all of his books, I picked this one because I liked the idea of a Scots-Italian hero in his early 50s with a pony tail.  *LOL*  Seriously!  Enzo Macleod.

I enjoyed the book for the most part.  I'm not totally enamoured of the afore-mentioned Enzo, but I suspect he will grow on me.  I honestly didn't like him at first, but by the end of the book he had improved muchly in my eyes.  :)  He has issues and he's a bit of a misogynist.  He - or maybe it's just the author - has a fixation on boobs.  If I had to hear about his student/assistant's bouncy bosom one more time, I think I'd have screamed.  *LOL*   There is also a subplot concerning his two daughters - half sisters - that I found interesting and I hope it continues on in the series.  Pretty sure that it will.

The mystery itself, the years past disappearance turned into years past murder of a brilliant French teacher at one of France's elite centres of higher education, wasn't that twisty turny, but it did keep me guessing until nearly the end.  I liked that it was much of a puzzle and involved a lot of give and take between Enzo and the secondary cast in brainstorming sessions. 

There was a lot of description going on - scene setting and location picturing - and I've come to think that this might be a hallmark of Brit-authored police procedurals/suspense novels.  It might turn some folk off, but it sure gave me a detailed mind-image of many of the mystery's locations throughout France. 

There were a couple of threads I thought were left dangling, but maybe they'll get picked up in the next Enzo File - or maybe they really are just coincidences, indicated a rising level of Enzo's paranoia as the story went on.  To be determined, as they say!

So, while not perfect, Extraordinary People was quite enjoyable and I'll indeed read more.  :)

West of France, 1989.

A weeping killer deposits the unconscious body of nineteen year old Lucie Martin, her head wrapped in a blue plastic bag, into the water of a picturesque lake.

Lot-et-Garonne, 2003.

Fourteen years later a summer heatwave parches the earth, killing trees and bushes and drying out streams. In the scorched mud and desiccated slime of the lake a fisherman finds a skeleton wearing a bag over its skull.

Paris, October 2011.

In an elegant apartment in Paris, forensic expert Enzo Macleod pores over the scant evidence of this, the sixth cold case he has been challenged to solve. In taking on this old and seemingly impossible task he will put everything and everyone he holds dear in a peril he could never have imagined.

Once again I read the latest book in a series, and part of my wonder why on earth that I have not read any of the previous books? Especially since I love Peter May's Lewis trilogy.

Cast Iron is book six in the Enzo file series. Forensic expert Enzo Macleod made a bet to solve cold cases that journalist Roger Raffin has written about in a book, which includes the murder of Roger's wife Marie. In this, the sixth book is the murder of nineteen-year-old Lucie Martin that Enzo is trying to solve. However, it's a difficult case, and it gets personal when someone goes after someone Enzo loves.

I think that Peter May really have a talent for creating interesting characters and the Scottish-Italian Enzo Macload is a really fascinating character. He is a very good forensic expert with a very messy family situation. A baby with a woman that seems to loathe him (for some unknown reason), two daughters, Kristy who has a child with Raffin and Sophie who is not really his daughter after they found out that Enzo's ex-wife had an affair with his best friend. So, Enzo must also deal with a lot of personal stuff during the books progress.

I like the progress of the story, how Enzo starts off with Lucie Martin's murder, but soon realize that the case is bigger than just the one killing and the man suspected of killing Lucie, a serial killer who killed three prostitutes may or may not be Lucie's killer. The ending was really thrilling and intense. And I loved that there was a twist in the end that I did not foresee. I did think that the ending felt a bit too easy that there must be a game change and I was right, I just didn't see the one coming.

I really like the book and I hope to get the chance to read the previous five books some day!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

I enjoyed the angst between the two main characters Enzo and Aibhlinn and the sections about both their pasts and how it molded them to be what they are today, Enzo was a manwhore and was secretly in love with Aibhlinn but he though he would ruin their friendship if they ever did anything due to his bad past and Aibhlinn loved him but was too scared to tell him, I liked how Enzo broke down and told Aibhlinn all about his mother and her drug use and how Aibhlinn reacted but my heart broke when Enzo left her to seek help and Aibhlinn moved on and it was interesting to see how Aibhlinn's childhood turned out and about what happened to her.
I liked the abandoned baby plot and like most baby themed stories that I've read I basically thought that it was a secret pregnancy storyline to do with one of Enzo's one night stands but I was pleasantly surprised despite how the baby came to be found, I liked how Enzo and Aibhlinn basically stood up to become parents of the baby and I loved the ending.

I enjoyed the angst between the two main characters Enzo and Aibhlinn and the sections about both their pasts and how it molded them to be what they are today, Enzo was a manwhore and was secretly in love with Aibhlinn but he though he would ruin their friendship if they ever did anything due to his bad past and Aibhlinn loved him but was too scared to tell him, I liked how Enzo broke down and told Aibhlinn all about his mother and her drug use and how Aibhlinn reacted but my heart broke when Enzo left her to seek help and Aibhlinn moved on and it was interesting to see how Aibhlinn's childhood turned out and about what happened to her.
I liked the abandoned baby plot and like most baby themed stories that I've read I basically thought that it was a secret pregnancy storyline to do with one of Enzo's one night stands but I was pleasantly surprised despite how the baby came to be found, I liked how Enzo and Aibhlinn basically stood up to become parents of the baby and I loved the ending.