Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the latest in the series featuring DI Eve Hunter – ‘From the Ashes’ by Deborah Masson.
Thanks to Compulsive Readers/Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review – as always, opinions are entirely my own. The paperback will be published in August 2022 by Penguin Books, although I believe the Kindle edition is available before this.
A new book by M W Craven is always a treat – usually a gory, gruesome, twisty treat, but a treat nevertheless!
This book – the fifth featuring Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw – is another excellent addition to the series. Regular readers will not be at all disappointed, but if you haven’t made the acquaintance of Poe and Bradshaw before then I’d recommend that you start with Book 1, ‘The Puppet Show’. This novel makes total sense as a standalone, but you really don’t want to miss the rest of the books!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Botanist’ by M W CravenWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for this fantastic new slice of crime fiction!
Thanks to HQ for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review – opinions, as always, are entirely my own.
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘The Binding Room’ by Nadine MathesonWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for this brand new, debut police procedural.
Thanks to Helen Richardson for inviting me on the tour, and to Allison and Busby for my review copy of the novel. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
Regular followers of my blog know that I love a crime novel. A debut crime novel? Even better – a chance to find a new favourite! A debut crime novel written by someone who really knows his stuff? Better still – and crime novelists probably don’t come much better qualified than Graham Bartlett, former Chief Superintendent and Police Commander of Brighton and Hove.
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Bad for Good’ by Graham BartlettThis was my first introduction to DI Monica Kennedy – but I hope I’ll meet her again! Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is due to be published in July 2022.
The story opens with a notorious female serial killer asking to see DI Kennedy from her jail cell. The killer – Pauline Tosh – reveals the whereabouts of a body buried deep in the tidal marshes. Assuming this locates one of Tosh’s own victims, the police team rush to uncover the grave…and discover that things are far from as simple as they expect.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Under the Marsh’ by G R HallidayThanks to Rosie at Headline for my copy of this tense thriller! As always, opinions are entirely my own.
I loved the premise for this book! A murder at midnight on Hogmanay in Edinburgh – we know there’s a body right from the start. But whose is it? And why has this New Year’s Eve party led to murder?
Continue reading Book Review: ‘It Ends at Midnight’ by Harriet TyceI’ve long been a fan of Gytha Lodge’s crime series featuring DCI Jonah Sheens so awaited the latest instalment with enthusiasm.
Thanks to Michael Joseph/NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story opens with Jonah having a quiet drink in a pub garden when his peace is interrupted by the arrival of a teenage girl, Keely, covered in blood. She tells a story about her sister, Nina, who is missing. Jonah and his team scramble to find Nina, but Keely isn’t in any hurry to give up any clues. Instead, she relates the sisters’ story very much in her own time – and it is up to Jonah and the police team to work out whether Keely is a killer or a victim.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Little Sister’ by Gytha LodgeI’d not read any books by Stuart MacBride before, but had heard excellent things about this writer of ‘Tartan Noir’ and approached this book with enthusiasm.
The book centres on Operation Maypole, the Scottish Police’s attempt to catch the serial killer they’ve named the Bloodsmith. It’s been 17 months since his first kill and DS Lucy McVeigh is tasked with going over the evidence collected so far in the hope of establishing a new lead. With her partner, the Dunk (DC Duncan Fraser), she revisits crime scenes and uncovers new information – although she is in danger of being distracted by a cry for help from a paranoid prisoner who was previously convicted of killing a homeless man. As the murders continue, Lucy finds herself dealing with forces beyond her own comprehension….
I absolutely loved the majority of this book. The main draw for me was the relationship between Lucy and the Dunk – one that is mildly antagonistic but very funny. The Dunk is a humorous character, dressed all in black like an international man of mystery, yet scarily unfit when it comes to climbing stairs. I loved the scenes with the partners working together and laughed out loud a few times at MacBride’s descriptions of people, including the Dunk.
As well as the wonderfully vivid and descriptive language (perhaps too vivid in the case of some of the crime scenes!), MacBride also proves adept at plotting a tense and compelling crime novel. I genuinely raced through this (and it is quite a long book) because there was variety, humour and a very high body count – never a dull moment.
Even when the novel takes some dark turns – and Lucy’s past trauma is described in shocking detail – I was totally on board. Everything seemed to be heading for a perfect police procedural and I was totally sold.
So why three stars instead of five? I think this is partly my fault for expecting the novel to fit the genre neatly – I had expectations for the resolution and it just didn’t go the way I thought, In fact – without giving spoilers – it takes some unnerving, unexpected and brave paths. I think some readers will absolutely love the denouement – it’s clever and interesting – but it was just a little too confusing for me,
However I felt about the latter stages of this novel, I’m definitely keen to read more by MacBride. The humour, characterisation, vibrancy of language and sharp eye for detail absolutely won me over and I’ve already bought another book to try.
Thanks to NetGalley/Pigeonhole for giving me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’d like a copy of this book (out 28th April, 2022), please use my affiliate link below. Thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases!
Header photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash
Fennell’s first book, ‘The Art of Death’, was one of my top crime books of last year so I was eagerly awaiting this sequel and a chance to follow the story of DI Grace Archer of London’s Metropolitan Police. Thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre for my copy for review – as always, opinions are entirely my own.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘See No Evil’ by David FennellThis book is just so tense! Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story focuses on Chloe Davis, the daughter of a man convicted for the abduction and killing of teenage girls in their small town in Louisiana. Twenty years have passed since the murders and Chloe has built a life as a psychologist dealing in trauma in Baton Rouge. Armed with her first-hand experience of traumatic events (and a slight prescription-drug dependency), she is trying to move on with her life and plan her wedding. When teenage girls start to go missing, it seems that Chloe’s past may be catching up with her…
Continue reading Book Review: ‘A Flicker in the Dark’ by Stacy Willingham
