The Abbey
An Ash Rashid novel
Chris Culver
Grand Central Publishing 2011
The Abbey by Chris Culver is a very good mystery novel featuring Indianapolis Police detective Ash Rashid. This first novel is being released in paperback at the same time as The Outsider, the second book in the series. Having read The Abbey, you will definitely want to continue reading the Ash Rashid books. Kindle version at Amazon
Ash Rashid is a Muslim detective. This makes him an original in the mystery genre and more interesting a character than your garden variety cop. You keep reading The Abbey because Culver tells an interesting story and tells it well.
Rashid is tasked with telling his sister and his brother-in-law that their sixteen year old daughter Rachel died of a drug overdose. The detective on the case sees an open and shut case when Rachel’s boyfriend confesses to killing her in his suicide note. Rashid does not believe it because his niece was going to go to university on a track scholarship and had to pass frequent drug tests to stay qualified for the scholarship.
His attention is drawn to a vile containing blood and a club called The Abbey where people into vampires hang out.
In the tradition of your basic mystery novel, the more Rashid investigates, the more pressure is put on him and his family to back down, the more determined he gets.
This mystery novel features quite a few surprising twists and turns, all of which a reader can buy. There is one question left unanswered. Saying what it is would be a spoiler. It does not however take anything away from enjoying The Abbey.