The setting of this book was the thing that really drew me in to this novel – a thriller set high in the Swiss Alps, in an old sanatorium turned into a luxury hotel. Throw in a storm and avalanches that cut off the resort from the outside world and you have the perfect recipe for a tense and terrifying murder mystery.
The book centres on Elin Warner, a police officer on extended leave, who arrives at the hotel for her brother’s engagement celebrations. She has many personal struggles in her past and is estranged from her brother, Isaac, so is already uncomfortable with the idea of a family reunion when his fiancée, Laure, goes missing. As Elin starts to investigate the disappearance, the hotel gets cut off from police support and Elin finds herself thrown into a much bigger mystery than she first anticipated…
This book is certainly very tense – there were several points where I think I stopped breathing as I waited to find out what happened! The pace of the novel is well managed and kept me reading as I was keen to discover the truth, and there were plenty of twists along the way.
Pearse handles the setting of the old sanatorium very well – there is something very unnerving about a place of past suffering being turned into a luxury hotel and this is conveyed well. Elin never feels comfortable in the building and this puts the reader constantly on edge as she is faced with stark minimalism in the hotel’s furnishings, uncompromising weather conditions and eerie reminders of the past.
The relationships between the characters are also presented well. There is a real tension between Elin and Isaac which is believable, although I personally didn’t really like the repeated references to their shared past – while explaining their poor relationship, I thought this detracted a bit from the main narrative.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes tense and chilling mysteries. It is engaging and lively and will definitely keep you reading until you know what happened and – more importantly – why!
If you’d like a copy of this book, please use my affiliate link below – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
OK, this one isn’t quite within my usual genres, but I’ll admit I was intrigued! A sexy, shocking, glamorous, ‘unputdownable’, revenge-filled thriller? I totally fell for the blurb! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was published yesterday (18th February).
The novel is set in a beautiful location just off the coast of Jersey where a soap opera, ‘Falcon’s Bay’, is filmed. A long-term fixture of the TV schedules, ‘Falcon’s Bay’ has taken a tumble in the ratings and the new network head, Madeline Kane, arrives to solve the problem.
She arrives onto a set already run by Queen Bees – director Farrah, Head of Casting Helen and producer Amanda. All are fighting their own battles as women with major ambitions and a lot of responsibility, as is lead actress Catherine who has carried the show for a lot of its 40 years on air. That’s a lot of ruthless women…
I have no clue how to describe this novel at all – but I did enjoy it! Imagine Jackie Collins wrote about a soap opera set on the Channel Islands and you might have some clue. There is plastic surgery aplenty, libidos that are out of control, and an awful lot of breasts (blush!) Throw in some thrillery elements – especially towards the end – and you have a page-turner on your hands. There are horrible men, some #MeToo elements, a dash of feminism…and a twisty plot where everyone is out for themselves.
One thing really worth noting, I think, is that all of the female characters are older. This is not a story of starlets climbing the fame ladder – this is packed with sassy and strong older women (who have a huge amount of sex).
This is quite a long book by my usual standards but I flew through it. I can’t say I really liked many of the characters or really understood the motivations, but it is a story that really goes for the jugular and doesn’t let go! I’m not sure it is a thriller in the sense I would usually expect, but it is compulsive.
I’d recommend this to anyone who wants an immersive and twisty read. You might not love any of the ruthless women but you will absolutely be caught up in the glamour, the backstabbing and the gossip!
If you want to dive into this glamourous but dangerous world for yourself, please use my affiliate link below. Thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases!
Finally! Happy publication day to this brilliant, 5-star slice of historical fiction!
I’ll admit I read this nearly a year ago before the publication was delayed by the pandemic. For those of you not lucky enough to have an advance copy, the wait is over…please do buy this now.
Here’s my review that I originally filed with NetGalley – thanks to them for a copy of this brilliant book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book so much! Although it's outside of my usual historical period of interest (I am obsessed with Victorians), I'm glad I took my chances as this is an amazing novel.
Beautifully written and extensively researched, this is an absolute gem of a historical novel. Although it is ostensibly a murder mystery, that feels too restrictive a genre for this book which roams freely through social history, politics, art and ethics and manages to do so with engaging characters and a pin-sharp focus on historical detail.
Caro Corsham is our heroine here, a character who apparently features in Shepherd-Robinson's first novel, 'Blood and Sugar'. I haven't read the first book but am about to remedy that situation! Caro is a likeable and lively heroine, grappling with her own secrets while also seeking justice for a murder she almost witnesses;. the novel opens with a killing at the pleasure gardens in Vauxhall and it is Caro who finds the dead woman.
This discovery leads Caro (and us as readers) deep into the seedier side of Georgian London, a world of brothels and prostitution and gin houses and moneylenders and crime. Her investigation is helped by thief-taker Mr Child, himself struggling with his past and secrets. Together, they roam through polite (and much less polite) society, uncovering the secrets of a club of influential men and the prostitutes they hire. In the process, they reveal lies and unleash great danger.
It's almost impossible to sum up the plot of the novel and I don't feel that I have done it justice. Suffice it to say that it is intricately plotted with a host of characters who are all flawed in their own ways. I was totally convinced I had solved it several times, only for the next twist to ruin my thinking!
This is a treat of a novel for anyone who loves a clever, twisty murder mystery. It will keep you turning pages and guessing late into the night and the end, when it comes, is satisfying and credible.
If you’d like your own copy of this (and you really would!), please use my affiliate link below. Thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.
Links are provided for books mentioned – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases (at no extra cost to you!)
What have you recently finished reading?
It’s been two weeks since my last WWW Wednesday so it looks like I’ve been extra-productive on the reading front!
I finished reading ‘Ruthless Women’ by Melanie Blake (from NetGalley) – this is due to be published in April but is well worth looking out for! It’s a Jackie-Collins-style novel packed with glamorous and strong women, high-powered jobs and tonnes of secrets and lies! It’s based around a soap opera set off the coast of Jersey and is a whole lot of fun. My review will follow nearer the publication date.
I finally finished ‘Maiden Voyages: Women and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel’ by Sian Evans. It has taken me ages because it kept getting bumped by blog tour books, but it is absolutely fabulous! The golden age of transatlantic travel sure was glamorous for some, hard work for others and extraordinarily dangerous for those sailing during war time (or with Violet Jessop – the ‘unsinkable stewardess – who had an appalling track record of being on doomed ships!) My glowing review is here.
I also read (for a blog tour with Random Things Tours) ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants’ by Fez Inkwright. This book is a beautifully-illustrated and fascinating guide to plants of the more lethal variety! Thanks to the publisher, Liminal 11, for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions. My review is here.
I also managed to squeeze in two gripping and – quite frankly – terrifying crime novels. I raced through both of these with my heart pounding – watch out for them!
First up was ‘The Broken Ones’ by Carla Kovach, the latest in the series featuring DI Gina Harte. In this excellent instalment, young women are being taken off the streets and it is clear that a very disturbed character is responsible – someone who must be stopped before he kills again. My review will be on the blog nearer the publication date in March 2021.
I also read ‘Dog Rose Dirt’ by Jen Williams which also proved very scary! This is about a young woman who finds out that her mother was writing to a serial killer in jail throughout her life. After her mother’s suicide, a series of copycat killings begin and she is forced to confront her mother’s past in order to help the current investigation. This one isn’t published until July 2021 and my review will follow.
Both of these were NetGalley reads – thanks to NetGalley for my free copies in exchange for honest reviews.
What are you reading now?
I’ve got two buddy reads on the go at the moment – luckily they are so different that there’s no way I’ll get them confused!
I’m reading ‘Paris by Starlight’ by Robert Dinsdale with my Tsundoku Squad lovelies. This is a slightly whimsical tale of a group of displaced people who end up in Paris but bring the magical ways of their old country with them. The people live by night by the light of their beautiful illuminated flowers and according to their book, ‘The Nocturne’. I’m halfway through and the descriptions are glorious – but I cannot see at all where it is going!
I’m also reading (with the fabulous Write Reads gang) ‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas, a Latinx tale centred around a trans boy in Los Angeles who wants to join his family in being able to release the dead into the afterlife. I’m halfway through this as well and am still not quite sure what I think – the setting is fabulous, the Day of the Dead a very promising element still to come, the representation is great, characters good…but I am finding the plot a bit uneven at the moment.
My next blog tour is ‘Seven Days’ by Michelle Kidd so I’ve also started reading this fast-paced and tense sequel to ‘The Phoenix Project’ (which I read last year). It is early days, but I’m enjoying my reunion with DI Jack MacIntosh so far! Review to follow on the blog next week.
What do you think you will read next?
I’m supposed to be doing a Poirot readalong but have failed to fit in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ by Agatha Christie – I need to catch up before we move on to ‘Murder on the Links’.
I have rather over-enthusiastically embraced blog tours in March and so have a good few books to read. I’ll shortly be reading ‘The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters and Elizabeth Bowen’ by Julia Parry, ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith and ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Catherine Alliott. All look absolutely brilliant and I cannot wait to dive in.
Thank to NetGalley for the books in exchange for an honest review.
I was delighted to win a proof copy of this serial killer crime novel from Nadine Matheson and the lovely people at HQ Stories.
The book is published on 18th February 2021 – just enough time to sneak in a pre-order!
This book opens with the gruesome discovery of body parts in various parts of South London and the return to front-line policing duties for DI Anjelica Henley who has been on office duties after a traumatic experience. Faced with the dismembered corpses, Anjelica and her newbie detective sidekick embark on an investigation that will have sinister echoes of a previous spate of serial killer murders. However, that killer, Peter Olivier, is in prison – so how can he be responsible?
DI Anjelica Henley herself is an interesting character. She has a complex home life and the case threatens to break the uneasy peace she has found for herself after her past experiences. It is normally a bit of a bugbear of mine when police officer’s private lives are tied up in a case (you’d think all crime was a personal vendetta against individual officers if you read too much crime fiction!); however, it was well managed here and Anjelica’s family context and relationships added to the sense of her as a realistic character.
As I’ve mentioned, this book is gruesome. You do need quite a strong stomach to deal with the dismemberment and descriptions of injuries. It is dark, although I didn’t find the violence gratuitous.
I did find the casual racism expressed towards DI Henley by other characters in the novel quite shocking – the idea that this highly competent and intelligent woman was being judged primarily on her skin colour was an eye-opener for me.
This is a debut novel, not that I think you would know that from the confident way that Matheson has plotted out her narrative and presented her characters. The book, although fairly long at over 400 pages, is well-paced and packed full of tense moments that keep the reader going. Personally, I finished this novel at 3am during a particularly sleepless night – and I had to get up to check all the doors were locked before I nodded off!
I did have a few niggles with the book – mainly the large cast which meant that some of the revelations didn’t always pack the necessary punch because I had to remember who was being referred to! I’m also not sure whether the ending was setting up a sequel (although please do be reassured that this mystery is tied up comfortably at the end). However, these are small quibbles and didn’t detract from my enjoyment.
Overall, this is an excellent debut novel and I do hope that Matheson is planning more cases involving DI Anjelica Henley.
An affiliate link for this book is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
I loved this book so much. I wasn’t planning on writing a review for it right away, but I couldn’t wait to shout about it!
This book is about ‘Women and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel’ (as the subtitle says) – this covers a fairly short span of actual time in which a huge amount happened. It opens with Violet Jessop (more about her later) joining her first ship as a stewardess in 1908 and ends with transatlantic ocean crossings being overtaken by air travel in the late 1950s.
Only fifty years, but a period encompassing the end of the Edwardian era, World War I, the interwar years, World War II and its aftermath. And – wow – how the world changed in that time!
I’ll admit, I was drawn to this book as I was hoping for stories of glitz and glamour – having seen the excellent ‘Ocean Liners’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum a few years ago, I wanted to read more about the people who travelled in such style and opulence. It absolutely covers that. However, this book is also so much more.
What I loved is that it is the story of women of all ages, classes and backgrounds who chose – for various reasons – to travel by sea. Some, like Violet Jessop, worked aboard the ocean liners in order to support families back home. Others travelled on the ships to new lives in America, escaping the Old World and (in some cases) persecution before World War II or joining their GI husbands after the war. Luckier women, the wealthy and famous, relied on the ‘Atlantic Ferry’ for leisure or work purposes. A common theme though was the importance of the transatlantic crossing in the women’s lives.
It would be hard to pick favourite bits from the huge range of material that Evans has squeezed into this book – I found myself being carried along with the narrative as Evans moved seamlessly between people’s lives, great ships, historical context and some great stories.
I did love the story of the ‘Unsinkable’ Violet Jessop who managed to survive the sinking of Titanic and her sister ship, Britannic. She was also on board a third ship that was in a massive collision. Her fortitude and courage in the way she kept returning to sea was amazing, especially when she was made redundant by she shipping company at the start of World War I but retrained as a nurse to join a hospital ship in the Aegean Sea. An amazing woman – but one that I would have worried about sharing a ship with given the fates of her previous ones!
Including Violet, this book is packed with amazing women who survived all kinds of hardships and who led fascinating lives. Although the conditions were often tough on the transatlantic route – for reasons of inhospitable weather or the treacherous conditions of war – these women continued to travel, work and live on board the ships.
In short, I came to this book for the glamour of the ocean liner, but stayed for the immersive accounts of real women whose lives were connected by the need to cross the Atlantic. Indeed, the stories of bravery, determination and grit are staying with me now the book is finished.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend the hardback version of this book (before the paperback is due for publication in June) – it has two sections of photographs that allow you to put faces to some of the women in the book, plus see some shipboard scenes. This is a glorious book and worth every penny I paid!
If you’d like a copy of this book, please use my affiliate link below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this fascinating book about the dark side of plants! This tour is organised by Random Things Tours.
The book is published by Liminal 11, a mind, body, spirit publisher (email: Hello@liminal11.com).
With thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
Discover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and malignant properties of toxic plants.
‘If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison’, it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.’ – Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Poisonings are among the most memorable deaths in history, from the Roman Empire to the Medieval era and beyond. Concealed and deliberate, it’s a crime that must be planned in advance. And yet there is a fine line between healing and poisoning – Paracelsus argued that only the dosage matters!
In ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons’, illustrator, author, and folklorist Fez Inkwright returns to archives to uncover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and untold stories behind deadly plants, witching herbs and fungi.
Filled with beautiful illustrations, this treasury of folklore is packed with insight, lore, and the revealed mysteries of everyday flora.
‘Botanical Curses and Poisons’ is printed in hardcover with metallic foiling, a ribbon bookmark, black-and-white illustrations on nearly every page, and a wealth of folklore history and poetry about the deadly plants within!
From the creator of ‘Folk Magic and Healing’ (2019).
My Review:
I should begin by stating my credentials in the worlds of botany, healing and…er…poisoning. Zero. I have no experience at all, can kill any houseplant and would struggle to identify any greenery at any time. This is not my specialist area, but regular readers of the blog will know I’m a huge crime fiction fan and kind of fascinated with Queen Agatha’s poisoning expertise!
So I’m coming to this book as a complete beginner, albeit one with a bit of a morbid curiosity.
Firstly, I should say that this is a gorgeous book. It’s a beautiful hardback with foil detailing on the cover, beautiful endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. It is also packed with fabulous black and white illustrations so that even the most beginnery beginner in the world of plants (i.e. me) can see what is being talked about. So far, so gorgeous…
The text itself is arranged (around the lovely illustrations) so that it introduces the history of poisoning, witches and the fine line between curing and killing, before turning into an A to Z of Plants. Lots of the sections are introduced with snippets of poems, literature and ancient wisdom on the plants, something I loved as it rooted the material more in ‘my world’ of books and writers.
I found this book absolutely fascinating from the first word. In particular, it was really intriguing to think about the world of botanical poisons as within the female domain – I really liked the way that Inkwright drew out the connections between herbalism and witchcraft, although the tragedy of this is also indicated in the descriptions of the historical persecution of witches. The explanation of witches’ ability to fly in the ‘Witching Herbs’ section is also intriguing and called up images of Terry Pratchett’s famous witch, Granny Weatherwax, lying with her sign ‘I ate’nt dead’ while her mind is elsewhere.
The book is absolutely packed with information about each of the plants; it covers not only the usages and known facts, but also lots of information about the history and symbolism of each.
For example, the section on ‘Apple’ explores all the cultural associations, from Eve and the the Garden of Eden to Ancient Greek mythology, folklore around blood-marked apples, the Gaelic festival of the dead and enchanted apples being possessed by demons. And that is just one entry!
I was absolutely captivated and found myself taking notes during sections that would help with my day job (English teacher – some of those literary allusions and symbols suddenly clicked into place for me!)
It’s all so interesting that it’s hard to pick highlights. I found myself sharing information with my son on Mandrakes (he’s a huge Harry Potter fan!) and I was particularly fascinated by the Poppy entry – as someone who loves historical fiction set in the Victorian era, the information about opium and morphine was definitely of interest. Poor Alice Blunden though, buried alive twice after imbibing too much poppy tea!
Another entry that I found particularly engrossing was about Violets – I knew of their associations with death (something I always kind of ignored as I personally love this flower!) but I didn’t really know why. Well, I do now – and I had my mind blown by the connections with the purple used as half-mourning colours in the Victorian period (again, my personal obsession surfaces!) So many connections that I didn’t fully understand or just hadn’t made…
I honestly could go on and on picking out interesting sections and stories, but I instead suggest that you buy this fabulous book for yourself. It would also make a brilliant gift for any gardener, or anyone interested in folklore, herbalism or just how plants have taken on symbolic status in literature and culture.
This is one book that you will not regret buying and I can guarantee that you – like me – will return to its pages again and again.
About the Author
Fez Inkwright is an illustrator, author and folklorist. Her greatest passions are botany, nature, primitive religions, and folklore, which flavour most of her work. For the past eight years she has produced work for children’s books, hand-drawn maps and tattoo design and now spends her time indulging in conservation work and writing. She lives in Bristol with two cats and several hundred bees.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this excellent police procedural, ‘An Eye for an Eye’ by Carol Wyer. This is the first book in the series to feature DI Kate Young.
This tour was organised by Damp Pebbles. The book was published on 1st February 2021.
Book Blurb:
A killer running rings around the police. A detective spiralling out of control.
DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest.
But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.
As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?
My Review:
I love detective fiction with a female lead so I was pleased to be invited on the Damp Pebbles blog tour for this book, the first book in a series to feature DI Kate Young. The fact that is it set in Staffordshire – pretty close to my own home ground – was an added bonus!
In this book, DI Kate Young is called back to work after a traumatic incident that has demonstrably clouded her judgement. She is put onto a murder case with a small team – just two colleagues, Emma and Morgan – although it is also clear that senior management within Staffordshire Police are scrutinising her every move.
She is investigating the rather gruesome killing of a local businessman, Alex Corby, who was tortured and killed in his large, remote house. However, as she begins to uncover the events of Alex’s last day, it becomes clear that there are a lot of suspects , secrets and lies to work through – and Kate’s personal life and issues keep threatening to surface too.
I’ll admit I was worried about the PTSD element of the story as this is becoming quite a staple of this type of detective fiction – and, if I’m honest, I prefer my detectives to be a bit more straightforward! However, I needn’t have been concerned – in Wyer’s hands, the cliché of the broken and troubled police officer becomes something more realistic and compelling as we watch Kate struggle with her mental health issues and her loyal team questioning her capability.
What I really enjoyed about the story was the clever plotting. I’ll admit I just about beat Kate to the final solution, but only just! Throughout, I was caught up in the twisty narrative and the ingenious way that the story strands intertwined – there were so many twists that I didn’t see coming and the final denouement was so far from where I thought we would end up when the story began. For that reason, Wyer should be commended for producing a genuinely surprising narrative.
I liked too that the investigations were methodical and logical, something seen as the right way to do things by Kate. There was a real sense of the investigation stopping and starting which felt realistic – the police team hit dead ends as often as they found important clues, although this didn’t slow the pace of the novel at all. In fact, rather a lot happens to keep the story moving…
Overall, I’d recommend this as a clever and engaging piece of crime fiction. For those who love police procedurals (like me!), this is an excellent example of the genre. I really hope that the next DI Kate Young book will be available soon!
About the Author:
USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.
A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST and demonstrated that stand-up comedian Carol had found her true niche.
To date, her crime novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets.
Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.
She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.
When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.
I love crime fiction and was intrigued by the idea of a forensic psychologist being involved in a murder mystery – mainly, I think, because I’m not sure what a forensic psychologist is, but it sounds interesting!
This is the first in the series featuring Will Traynor helping the police with investigations and is an extremely promising start. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book opens with the brutal murder of a jogger on a popular trail. Her head is removed from the scene in a gruesome and horrifying twist, but forensic investigations of the nearby area uncover a whole host of other problems that need dealing with too. Detective Inspector Bernard Watts is put in charge of the investigation with an inexperienced rookie police officer, PC Chloe Judd, for support. Together, they begin to uncover the truth about the crime, aided by criminologist Will Traynor – who seems to have his own agenda.
This is a well-paced and engaging police procedural. I found that there were plenty of events and twists to keep me reading and enjoyed the interaction between the main characters – including a fabulous and likeable forensics expert, Dr Chong, who I hope features in future books. PC Chloe Judd is also an interesting character and I liked the fact that she is still learning – it was good to see a more insecure and relatable police officer starting to find her feet.
I was less sure about the character of Will Traynor. I thought that he would be more central to the investigation, but actually Watts and Judd are the key figures. He made some interesting observations on the investigation, but also seemed a bit of a liability! I’d be intrigued to see how his story is developed in future books.
Overall, this is a well-written and cleverly-plotted crime novel. I am certainly looking forward to the next book in the series by A J Cross and would recommend this to those who love a twisty police investigation.
If you’d like a copy of this book, published in paperback on 4th February 2021, please use my affiliate link below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Header photo with thanks to Ahmed Adly on Unsplash.
Happy publication day to this debut novel from David Fennell!
I was in the mood for a fast-paced, tense book to break a bit of a reading slump – and this book hit the spot perfectly!
The story opens with a gruesome and shocking scene: an art installation in Trafalgar Square contains the bodies of three homeless men. DI Grace Archer, newly promoted and in an awkward situation in regards to her new team, is called to the scene and embarks on a dangerous and difficult search for a serial killer who plans more ‘art’ pieces.
There was lots I liked about this book – it was well-plotted and very tense. It certainly kept me reading as I really wanted to know how it would all pan out! I also really liked DI Grace Archer – she was tough but also realistic and it was good to see her gain control of her tricky work situation. I thought that the idea of the killer as an artist was interesting too – although the reality of the art works was rather stomach-churning!
Overall, this is a lively and pacey crime story as Grace Archer and her team race to unmask a serial killer operating openly on the streets of London. This is a confident debut and I hope that there will be more books featuring DI Archer in the future – I’d certainly like to read more.
