I have a huge apology to make. This book has sat on my NetGalley shelf for a long time and I should have read and reviewed it much earlier. Not least because I have missed out on reading this until now. This book was published in 2019 by Collins Crime Club, part of Harper Collins.
This is the third in Bonnie MacBird’s excellent series featuring Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. I’ve now read all four books (the latest, ‘The Three Locks’, has just been published – you can read my blog tour review here). I think they can be read in any order as, although there are some recurring characters in the books aside from the expected ones, I don’t think there are spoilers.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Last Place You Look’ by Louisa Scarr. This fab new police procedural will be published by Canelo Crime in paperback and digital formats on 8th April 2021.
This tour is organised by Damp Pebbles. As always, thanks to the publisher, author and tour organiser for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series by Gytha Lodge, following on from ‘She Lies in Wait’ and ‘Watching from the Dark’. Both the previous books were excellent, so I was pleased to be granted an advance copy of ‘Lie Beside Me’ for review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
This book opens with a nightmarish scene – a young woman wakes in her bed with a dead man next to her. She doesn’t recognise him and she cannot remember the events of the night before. DCI Sheens and his team at Southampton Police are called in, but by the time they arrive, things have changed…
What follows is a clever police procedural in which Sheens and his team are called upon to investigate some tangled relationships and shady people with things to hide. As they get nearer to the truth of what happened that snowy night in Southampton, the stakes are raised once again and it is clear that the death is part of something much bigger.
As expected, this is a compelling and engaging story that covers all aspects of the police investigation – we see the interviews with suspects, the pathology, the crime scene examination, the digital analysis and the lives of those investigators at the heart of the Southampton team. For crime fiction fans (me included), this is pretty fascinating stuff – although it might not hit the spot for adrenalin junkies who like their reading more on the thriller side of things. There are some genuinely tense and creepy moments, but the focus is the unpacking of the story of what happened on the night in question.
I really liked the way that the narrative shifted between the investigation and a first-person insight into the woman at the centre of the investigation, Louise Reakes. It was interesting to hear how she started to piece together the events of the evening in tandem with the police team.
Normally I prefer crime novels that focus on the investigation and do not dwell too much on the private lives of the police officers. However, there was a sub-plot in this book centred around a female police officer, Juliette Hanson, which I thought was intriguing – I’d love to see her developed as a character even more in the next novel as she felt particularly authentic and convincing.
Overall, this is another excellent addition to the DCI Jonah Sheens series and one that I would recommend. Although this could easily be read as a stand-alone, I would still suggest starting with the first book in the series as it would enhance your understanding of the team dynamics. This is a lively and well-paced story that will keep you turning the pages to the (satisfying) end.
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Happy publication day to this brilliant crime fiction book! This is the eighth book in the series featuring DI Gina Harte.
I have read a lot of this series now and they do just seem to keep getting better! The earlier ones in the series focused a lot on Detective Gina Harte’s own personal story but – now this storyline has played out to a greater extent – I love the new focus on the ingenious plotting, creepy scenarios and casts of suspicious characters!
This book opens with the death of a student, Amber, whose body is found in Cleevesford Park – she went out on a date and never returned to her worried housemate. Harte and her team begin their investigations and begin uncovering some weird characters and lots of secrets surrounding the dead woman. The leads begin to mount up and Harte and her team struggle to prioritise their work – but a second disappearance has them scrambling to find connections before there is another murder.
I’m already bought into this series and like the character of DI Gina Harte – she is a likeable character and I also like the fact that she is a strong older women (she has a grown-up daughter) who is in control. Her relationship with her team is positive and (mostly) problem-free, which is great as the focus is on the investigation rather than the police team. The team themselves are often not particularly distinctive, so it was brilliant that one of them got a more important role in the plot this time around.
The plotting itself is cleverly done – there’s always lots happening and plenty of red herrings to fall for. In fact, this series seems to be getting more tense – the sections narrated by Meredith were really quite creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat! I read this book really quickly as I couldn’t wait to find out the next twist.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend this for readers who love police procedurals, especially if a female lead is a draw for you (as it is for me). I’d suggest you start at the beginning of the series really, to fully appreciate the strength of DI Harte, but this would be fine as a stand alone.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Seven Days’ by Michelle Kidd, the second book in the series featuring Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh.
I was lucky enough to be included on the blog tour last year for the first book in this series so I jumped at the chance to read the sequel!
This tour is organised by Damp Pebbles Blog Tours – thanks to them and Michelle Kidd for my free copy of the novel for review. As always, opinions are my own.
Book Blurb:
One killer. One city. One week.
July 2012 and a serial killer is terrorising the streets of London. With the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games in just seven days time, Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh and his team at the Metropolitan Police have one week to find him. With the killer’s motives unknown, and a mysterious clue being left at each scene, the case takes on a menacing and personal twist. Distracted by his own demons, will DI Jack MacIntosh solve the case before it is too late?
The clock is ticking. Tick. Tock.
My Review:
The first book in this series was a twisty, jet-setting thriller with a huge cast of characters, secrets galore and lots of tension.
With the second book, Michelle Kidd has produced an absolutely brilliant police procedural. Lots of the same cast, but a totally different feel to the first book – and I loved it.
The book opens with the discovery of the body of a woman in a London park. DI Jack MacIntosh, still struggling with the PTSD from his distant past, is called in to investigate and finds a mysterious clue…which makes a lot more sense with the death of a second woman and the deliberate placement of another clue. It seems that someone is taunting the police – but with only seven days to go before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games turns the world’s eyes to London, there is a race against time to catch the killer.
Returning in this book is Isabel (a main focus on the first novel), Mac and some other familiar faces. I was particularly pleased to see Isabel again as the first novel really immerses the reader in her story and she is an interesting character. She has moved on from her past experiences and set up a cafe in London – but, as expected, she can’t seem to stay out of trouble for long!
One of the main strengths of this book is the clever plotting – I honestly thought I’d solved this mystery several times over, only to be confounded at every turn. At least I wasn’t alone – DI Jack MacIntosh and the Metropolitan Police seemed to be having the same problem!
I found the timeline easier to keep track of in this novel as it didn’t jump around as much as the first. I liked that each scene in the book had a clear time and place so it was easy to follow – it felt a lot more cohesive than the last book which was great but made my head spin with the time and location jumps!
Although this is the second in the series, I think it probably could be read as a standalone. There are some elements that carry across the books and it obviously would be better to have the back-story, but I think the plot absolutely carries this book in its own right. There are also a lot of flashbacks which help to explain the history behind Jack, Mac and Isabel.
A lot happens in this book and the pacing is generally good – I never felt like I was bored or waiting for something to happen. My only gripe would be that there did feel like there were some additional scenes that weren’t central to the plot, especially at the end – although I would guess that these may well feed into the sequel.
I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for an engaging and immersive police procedural. There are properly scary, thriller elements too – but the real strength is in the clever plot, likeable (and familiar) characters and the wow-factor twists.
About the Author:
Michelle Kidd is a self-published author known for the Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh series of novels.
Michelle qualified as a lawyer in the early 1990s and spent the best part of ten years practising civil and criminal litigation.
But the dream to write books was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the manuscript that would become the first DI Jack MacIntosh novel – The Phoenix Project. The book took eighteen months to write, but spent the next eight years gathering dust underneath the bed.
In 2018 Michelle self-published The Phoenix Project and had not looked back since. There are currently three DI Jack MacIntosh novels, with a fourth in progress.
Michelle works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats – not necessarily in that order J
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.
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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.
I’m a huge fan of crime novels and have always been interested in the truth behind the fiction! This seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out a bit more about forensic investigation from people who have spent their careers in the field – thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was published on 21st January, 2021.
I’d already read the book ‘Unnatural Causes’ by Dr Richard Shepherd (who worked with the Tremains and who wrote the foreword for this book). I was hoping for more of the same – an insight into the cases that shaped a fascinating career choice. This book is much more about the forensic techniques than the actual cases, but it was still interesting.
The book mainly covers Derek Tremain’s career from a 15 year-old student technician at Gordon Museum (a museum of medical specimens) to working in Guy’s Hospital’s forensics department to setting up his own company dealing in body mapping of wounds for legal trials. It’s an interesting story, gruesome at times, and gives a lot of information about tests for various conditions carried out post-mortem. There’s some humorous anecdotes amid the gory details – Pauline’s coffee-making story being a very odd but funny moment!
Most of the story is told by Derek, but there are sections narrated by Pauline too – she worked at the forensics department in a secretarial role that took her way beyond the regular job. Indeed, she tells of crime scenes and mortuary visits which are interesting. However, it is difficult to tell from the layout of the book who is ‘speaking’ as the electronic version doesn’t make it clear and the perspective changes from Derek to Pauline between paragraphs sometimes.
Overall, this is an engaging read for those interested in forensics. It is perhaps a little too detailed in terms of testing procedures at times – I’d like to hear more about the cases that the Tremains worked on – but I enjoyed this and read it in a day.
Header photo with thanks to Bill Oxford on Unsplash.
An affiliate link for this book is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
