You don’t read a book by Michael Robotham so much as you step into his world. In The White Crow, that means London’s criminal underbelly where gangsters rule and greed fuels high-stakes turf wars. Our heroine is Philomena McCarthy, a devoted and ambitious police officer whose father happens to be one such gangster. We first met Philomena in Michael’s 2021 smash-hit, When You Are Mine. It was intended as a stand-alone novel, but Michael found the McCarthy family so compelling he brought them back for another outing and is expecting to continue the saga in the future. It’s not hard to see why. The premise is irresistible: a cop whose adoring father, and his cavalcade of brothers, represent the very thing she has vowed to fight against.
The White Crow opens with Philomena on duty at night. She and her partner are called to a robbery in a jewellery store when out of the corner of her eye she thinks she spots a child. Her partner heads to the robbery and Philomena pursues the child on foot. She finds the frightened little girl, Daisy, hiding in a bush. She wins her trust and draws her out. There’s blood on Daisy’s pyjamas, but she is unharmed. She says she couldn’t wake up her mother. Philomena returns her to her home, where they find a grisly scene. It transpires the break-in at Daisy’s home and the jewellery-store robbery are connected. Daisy’s father is tied-up at the shop with a bomb detonator rigged to his leg. Daisy’s mother is dead.
Philomena takes Daisy into her care for the night and asks to join the murder investigation. Things grow more complicated when the cops uncover links between the jewellery store and Philomena’s family.
The McCarthy brothers themselves are likably old school geezers. They’re not into anything too grubby. They’ve recently branched into property development. Michael shows us their devotion to their family, their moral code, their befuddlement with political correctness. They are funny. Endearing. When a bigger, badder gangster muscles in on their turf they go to war, but they quickly discover they are outgunned.
The McCarthy’s brothers’ fight for survival and Philomena’s search for justice become messily entangled. Told from multiple points of view, details shared in one storyline propel the other forward, heightening the suspense. Each chapter adds another layer, another twist. The story is addictive. Riveting. There is a reason Michael Robotham is one of the biggest names in crime writing.
Time spent in Michael’s London is thrilling and satisfying. His storytelling is detailed, without being bogged down. He evokes a place, an emotion, and plenty of tension with a few precise words. The story has so many moving parts, it’s hard to see how the author will resolve his complicated saga. In his conversation with The Weekly, Michael said, “It felt like I was putting a Swiss Watch together.” As the story races towards its end – lives in the balance – all the pieces slot together. It’s a guns-blazing climax that comes with an emotional sucker-punch. Michael Robotham truly is a master craftsman at the height of his powers.
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