Better late than never!
March was a busy month for me…unfortunately, mainly in the work sense with an enforced Covid break in the middle. I read 9 books this month, putting me at 30/120 on my Goodreads target for the year.
Continue reading March 2022 Wrap-Up and April TBRThanks to Zooloo’s Book Tours for inviting me to take part in this very exciting blog tour – ‘A Life for a Life’ by Carol Wyer is the third book in the excellent series featuring DI Kate Young.
Blurb:
Nobody can get into the mind of an erratic killer—except an unpredictable detective.
When a young man is found lying on a station platform with a hole in his head, DI Kate Young is called in to investigate the grisly murder. But the killing is no one-off. As bodies start to pile up, she is faced with what might be an impossible task—to hunt down a ruthless killer on a seemingly random rampage.
Meanwhile, Kate has her own demons to battle as she struggles to come to terms with her husband’s death. And she is hell-bent on exposing corruption within the force and bringing Superintendent John Dickson to justice. But with the trail of deception running deeper—and closer to home—than she could ever have imagined, she no longer knows who she can trust.
With her grip on reality slipping, Kate realises that maybe she and the killer are not so different after all. But time is running out and Kate is low on options. Can she catch the killer before she loses everything?
My Review:
I’ve followed this series from the start and so was very keen to read the latest instalment – thanks to Zooloo’s Book Tours and Carol Wyer for my opportunity to read and review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
This story falls into two main strands and both are pretty tense!
The first is DI Kate Young’s investigation into seemingly random murders happening on her territory. After the first murder – a young man with a hole in his head abandoned at a station – the killings don’t stop and there doesn’t seem to be any pattern in terms of location or victim. How can she catch a killer when they are so unpredictable?
Alongside this, Young is also still continuing her ongoing crusade to get vengeance for her husband’s murder. She has uncovered police corruption at the highest levels and now is unsure of who she can trust – and how she can bring down the man at the heart of the problem.
The police corruption element has been a feature of the past two books so – while it was good to see the climax of that story – it was refreshing to get such an involved and complex serial killer plot alongside. The murder mystery was well-plotted, pacey and hard to look away from – especially when the police team start staking out possible crime scenes and waiting for the killer’s next strike.
DI Kate Young remains an engaging character at the heart of the books. Her grief is portrayed with suitable complexity and her lack of certainty on where to turn for support make her an isolated figure at times – albeit one with steely determination and a willingness to bend rules when needed. Her police team are a mostly likeable bunch – but she is very much the main player in these books.
As always, I really appreciate the setting of these books around Staffordshire, not far from my home. It’s quite engaging (and a bit disturbing) to read about places you know and so I was pleased to see Trentham Shopping Village and Blythe Bridge make an appearance – I’ll never look at these places quite the same again! And I’ll definitely watch out for people lurking with bolt guns!
I’d recommend this to those who are familiar with the series so far – although this would work as a standalone, I think it is much more impactful when viewed within DI Young’s back-story. If you like well-written, tense police procedurals then this is a series that you should not miss.
About the Author:
USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer’s crime novels have sold over one million copies and been translated into nine languages.
A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in Little Girl Lost and proved that Carol had found her true niche.
February 2021 saw the release of the first in the much-anticipated new series, featuring DI Kate Young. An Eye For An Eye was chosen as a Kindle First Reads and became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon UK and Amazon Australia.
Carol 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’s also been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television.
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.
To learn more, go to www.carolwyer.co.uk, subscribe to her YouTube channel, or follow her on Twitter: @carolewyer
Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-E-Wyer/221149241263847
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolwyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolewyer
Website : https://www.carolwyer.co.uk
Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Detective-Kate-Young-Book-ebook/dp/B09BCPR894
Amazon US : https://www.amazon.com/Life-Detective-Kate-Young-Book-ebook/dp/B09BCPR894
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Love that Dares’, a collection of letters by LGBTQ+ writers throughout the ages.
Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me on to the tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was published on 27th January 2022 by Ilex Press.
January was both approximately four years long and very busy at work.
Despite the endlessness of the month, I only managed to read 13 books – a totally respectable number, but I wonder what on earth I did with the rest of the eternal days and weeks!
This puts me on 13/120 for my Goodreads Challenge for 2022.
All links are affiliate ones - as always, thanks so much for any purchases as they are really sppreciated and help pay for my blog!Continue reading January Wrap-Up and February TBR
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Blood Games’, the fourth book in the excellent DI Nikki Parekh crime series.
Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the tour and for providing a copy of the book for review. As always, opinions are all mine!
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Blood Games’ by Liz MistryI’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for ‘After Agatha: Women Write Crime’ by Sally Cline.
Thanks to Oldcastle Books for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
Spanning the 1930s to present day, ‘After Agatha’ charts the explosion in women’s crime writing and examines key developments on both sides of the Atlantic: from the women writers at the helm of the UK Golden Age and their American and Canadian
counterparts fighting to be heard, to the 1980s experimental trio, Marcia Muller, Sara
Paretsky and Sue Grafton, who created the first female PIs, and the more recent
emergence of forensic crime writing and domestic noir thrillers such as ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Apple Tree Yard’.
After Agatha examines the diversification of crime writing and highlights landmark
women’s novels which featured the marginalised in society as centralised characters.
Cline also explores why women readers are drawn to the genre and seek out justice in crime fiction, in a world where violent crimes against women rarely have such resolution.
The book includes interviews with dozens of contemporary authors such as Ann Cleeves, Sophie Hannah, Tess Gerritsen and Kathy Reichs and features the work of hundreds of women crime and mystery writers.
My Review:
I’m a keen reader of crime fiction – and have been since I first discovered the genius of Agatha Christie as a teenager (many moons ago…)
It was with this enthusiasm that I approached ‘After Agatha’, keen to understand the legacy of the great writer herself and the work of those that have followed her.
The book begins with a discussion about why women read crime and the work of Agatha Christie (and other Golden Age writers). It then moves, partially chronologically, partially thematically, through different aspects of women’s crime writing. Each aspect is given a chapter – for example, there are chapters on Private Eyes, Women in Forensic Science and Domestic Noir (among many others).
I think it would be fair to say that Cline has researched her material thoroughly. Each chapter explores a range of writers and books and makes interesting connections between crime authors and the content of their work. There are a few spoilers along the way, so just be aware – especially in regard to early books in older series which Cline assumes everyone has read.
For those who have already explored the genre in some detail, there is lots to like here. It serves as a reminder on old favourites, plus a catalogue of what is out there in each genre sub-section. I really appreciated some pointers in areas that I like – for me, that’s forensic sciences and police procedurals – and skimmed some of the ones where I have less interest.
As a catalogue of what is available, it is useful. It also features interviews with a range of writers which I found really interesting – in hindsight, I think I’d have liked more insight and analysis, less of the listing of different writers in places.
My only real query was why crime fiction by Black and disabled writers (or featuring Black/disabled protagonists) were grouped in one chapter. Although both groups are marginalised, it felt like the issues were different and that there was plenty more to say in some cases – for example, I’ve read some contemporary crime fiction by Black authors which didn’t make the book. I realise this isn’t intended to be exhaustive, but I thought there was more to say.
That said, this is an interesting read. I liked the fact that I ‘met’ new writers and heard from old favourites. I also appreciated the pointers towards writers I haven’t read before – even if my bank balance might not be so keen! I’d especially recommend this to those who enjoy crime fiction and who want to read more widely in the genre.
About the Author:
Sally Cline, author of 14 books, is an award-winning biographer and fiction writer. She is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, and former Advisory Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. Her biography on Radclyffe Hall, now a classic, was shortlisted for the LAMBDA prize; ‘Lifting the Taboo: Women, Death and Dying’ won the Arts Council Prize for non-fiction; and her landmark biographies on Zelda Fitzgerald and Dashiell Hammett were bestsellers in the UK and US. She is co- Series Editor for Bloomsbury’s 9
volume Writers and Artists Companions. Formerly lecturing at Cambridge University, she has degrees and masters from Durham and Lancaster Universities and was awarded a D.Litt in International Writing.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Hotel Portofino’ by J P O’Connell.
Thanks to Random Things Tours and Simon and Schuster for inviting me on the tour and for the copy of the the book in exchange for an honest review.
Having read ‘The Cousins’, I was very pleased to get my hands on the latest YA thriller by Karen McManus, ‘You’ll Be The Death of Me’. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, and ‘The Write Reads’ for inviting me on the blog tour.
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘You’ll Be The Death Of Me’ by Karen McManusIt’s been a surprisingly busy reading month – helped by school half term holidays and the desire to clear some of my proofs before I embark on NetGalley November (more of that in a bit!)
This month, I’ve read 14 books which puts me on 115/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.
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