This is the penultimate Enzo Files book. Enzo Macleod, a forensic scientist from Scotland who moved to France to be with his second wife, teaches in a small college in Toulouse. His wife died in childbirth so he raised his daughter Sophie on his own. He has another daughter from his first marriage, Kirsty, who now has a son with Enzo's frenemy, journalist Roger Raffin. Finally, his one-time lover, Charlotte, has given birth to a son, Laurent but Charlotte keeps Enzo mostly separated from Laurent. The Enzo Files are seven cold case murders that Raffin wrote a book about. Two of Enzo's friends made a bet that he couldn't solve them but the five he has investigated so far were solved. In the process he seems to have incurred the wrath of someone because attempts have been made on his life. Of course, this isn't going to stop Enzo.

The case this time is the murder of a young woman, Lucie Martin, in western France. She disappeared while on a walk. Years later her body was found in a lake on her parent's land. At the time she disappeared a pimp, Regis Blanc, killed three prostitutes by strangling them. Lucie knew this man through her work with a charity that helped ex-cons. When her body (really just her skeleton) was retrieved it was found that her neck had been broken just as Regis Blanc had killed the prostitutes. But Blanc has always denied he had anything to do with Lucie's murder even though he admitted to killing the prostitutes. So, that's the case that Enzo has to solve and there doesn't seem to be much to go on. With his fifty-sixth birthday approaching (for which Sophie is planning a big party in Cahors) Enzo is starting to feel his age and wonders if he can continue solving these cases. As he is looking into Lucie's life in the Bordeaux region of western France, Sophie has taken a spur of the moment vacation with her boyfriend Bertrand on the Mediterranean coast leaving Enzo's long-suffering assistant Nicole to finalize the prep for the party. Except Sophie and Bertrand are kidnapped presumably to convince Enzo to stop investigating this case. Of course, that just makes Enzo more determined.

I did actually figure out right at the beginning of the book who killed Lucie but I was quite shocked by the identity of the person behind the attempts on Enzo's life and the kidnapping. I've already read the seventh book but I don't really remember much about it so I might pick it up again. ( )

The final book in Peter May's Enzo Files series is a satisfying conclusion, capably tying together plot threads that built gradually through the previous five volumes. The series is enjoyable reading, though not on a par with [b:The Lewis Trilogy: The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, The Chessmen|19892939|The Lewis Trilogy The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, The Chessmen|Peter May|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387753268l/19892939._SX50_.jpg|27879761].

The premise of the series is that Enzo Macleod, a Scottish forensic expert living in France, has been challenged to solve six cold cases recounted by a journalist in a popular book. As he successfully works his way through this backlist, Enzo's life, and the lives of his daughters, lovers, friends, students - pretty much anyone who has more than a passing acquaintance with him - are threatened. Are these threats specific to each individual case, or are they all tied together somehow?

As fans of [b:The Blackhouse|10305247|The Blackhouse (Lewis Trilogy, #1)|Peter May|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328052791l/10305247._SX50_.jpg|7307773] are aware, May excels at describing locations, particularly if they are lonely, eerily beautiful, historic, and dangerous, but unfortunately Cast Iron offers up only a few of these moments, and more gritty urban/industrial settings. As in other books in the series, much of the plot movement is taken up with physical movement, as Macleod repeatedly criss-crosses France, pushing himself and his 2CV to their respective limits as he tracks down leads.

Early parts of the book establishing a plot line involving one of his daughters and her fiance were written far less crisply than I normally expect from May, enough so that had I not felt the need for closure I might have stopped reading. But eventually the pace picked up, even for that plot line, and the latter part of the book turned into a good read. Perhaps a bit of overreaching at the end to tie up every last detail, but pretty well done nevertheless.

I've been asking myself how I would rate the whole series. I read the first 5 volumes in pretty quick succession, then had to wait for the last to be published, then to find time to read it. When I think back, it's May's descriptions of the locations that stick with me most. The series structure with the individual cold case resolutions nestled into the big picture is solid, but the relationships among the characters (Enzo and his wives, lovers, daughters and students, primarily) was overly contrived, and although the convolutions were sometimes necessary to drive the plot, I found them tiresome.

Overall, I'd probably rate the series a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 just because it's capably written and for the most part held my interest.
( )

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! ( )

This is the third book from this author: 2 I liked. There are no similarities in any of the three except for a character (different in each) who detects. Each has his talents and specialties. In this case, the detector pursues old cases that have unique twists to them. This time, the detector is financially comfortable and he is independent. In an unusual twist, his fame is appreciated in law enforcement so he does not have to validate his credentials to every official. His skill in pursuing these old cases arises from his ability to discover data not previously known, or known but not understand, or hidden from the earlier investigators, or not something law enforcement could find under its limitations. In this book, there is an added complication of someone working at cross-purposes in threatening ways which he has not apparently faced before. Besides that, he has a good supporting cast. ( )

Have to say I really enjoyed this fine book. I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone.
This is the first book by Peter May that I have read and I look forward to reading more of The Enzo Files soon. ( )