police Archives - The Quick and the Read

Book Review: ‘The Killer in the Cold’ by Alex Pine

I’ve followed this series since the beginning and have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books – this is the fifth. I was delighted to be granted a review copy by NetGalley and couldn’t wait to read about DI James Walker’s latest terrible Christmas.

Because DI James Walker always has a horrific festive season! All the books take place over the Christmas/New Year period and it seems the only time of year that serial killers appear in (usually sleepy, small-town) Cumbria.

This latest book takes place in DI Walker’s home village, making him the first on the scene as the snow starts to pile up. The deceased – dressed as Santa Claus – is someone he knows and someone who oddly hasn’t been reported as missing, even though he’s been in the snow a while. When another body is found, Walker and his team have to face up to the fact that there is another killer loose in Cumbria – and the villagers aren’t at all happy with the fact. Walker needs to keep his neighbours happy while finding the killer among them…

This series is always entertaining and engaging – there’s always lots of twists but also really solid police procedural elements that keep the story moving forward. I did guess the killer slightly ahead of DI Walker, but I’m quite a seasoned armchair detective these days! I liked the village setting as it put the crime scene/possible suspects/police team all in close proximity – something that made the setting quite claustrophobic as the snow fell and the village was isolated from the outside world.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series, there’s lots to like here – I think this was one of my favourites. If you haven’t discovered DI Walker, these are perfect winter reads and you’ve got 5 to enjoy!

Header photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Book Review: ‘A Violent Heart’ by David Fennell

I love this crime series featuring the brilliant DI Grace Archer. This latest book is a great addition to the series and one I recommend fully!

This story opens with the death of a young woman near a stream in North London. The last number dialled on her phone, found nearby, is DI Grace Archer – our hero of the Metropolitan Police who has worked to free women from sex trafficking. Archer wants to take the case because of her personal connection but is refused and instead finds herself investigating the death of a woman left in an abandoned house many years previously. cases have similarities, but Archer’s attempts to make connections continue to be knocked back by her superiors who just want the cases closed as quickly as possible. This leaves Archer with no choice but to toe the line…or break the rules!

As with the previous books, I love that DI Grace Archer is a strong female lead who is unafraid to take on those who don’t have the correct priorities – she believes that the violent deaths of all women should be given equal attention by the police, regardless of the women’s status and activities during life. This gives her a single-mindedness in her investigations and a determination to do her best by the victims which is commendable. Grace’s colleague, DS Harry Quinn, is similarly empathetic and likeable, putting a strong detective duo at the heart of this police procedural.

The plotting is clever and kept me reading – this is one of those books that you won’t want to put down, even as you are also slightly scared to be reading it late at night!

Although this book sits within the DI Grace Archer series, it would work as a standalone too – in case anyone is holding back from reading it because they don’t have the back-story. Each book is gripping in its own right so dive right in!

This is one of my favourite detective series and I love this latest instalment. Fennell can’t write these fast enough for me, so I hope the next book is in the pipeline…

Photo by Richard Bell on Unsplash

Book Review: ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ by Richard Osman

I don’t know why it took me so long to read the second book in Richard Osman’s series about a group of amateur detectives living in a retirement community. It just got pushed down the TBR list and I’ve only just (finally) picked it up.

This book follows the four characters from the first novel – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibraham – as they embark on a mystery featuring a character from Elizabeth’s past, £20 million of diamonds and a whole host of murders.

As with the first book, the writing is engaging and humorous, although there is a poignant dimension to the story too – in this case, around a knock to Ibrahim’s confidence and also an Alzheimer’s plotline. This makes the novel more than a simple cosy crime novel. The mystery element of the novel is also cleverly done and kept me guessing to the end.

The range of characters is interesting – I loved Elizabeth, with her intriguing past and fierce intelligence. Joyce, whose narrative perspective drives some of the chapters, is also a fabulous character – witty and sharp and learning her true capabilities as the investigation progresses. The police who work with the group are also charmingly portrayed – I like that they all have back-stories and insecurities and flaws in the same way as the main characters do.

I also listened to the audiobook, which is brilliantly read by Lesley Manville. I’d recommend this whole-heartedly as she brings out the warmth of the characters, especially in the Joyce chapters.

This is a strong sequel to ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ and I’ll keep going with the series – hopefully in a slightly more timely way than with this book!

Photo by Li Zhang on Unsplash

Blog Tour: ‘Whole Life Sentence’ by Lynda La Plante

It’s out now! The last book in the brilliant Tennison series – this is Book 10 and it’s another great mystery.

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join #TeamTennison and to Zaffre Books for my review copy. Opinions, as always, are my own.

I’ve loved this series and it has been a treat to read it from the start with other bloggers as part of #TeamTennison. It’s been great to see Jane Tennison develop from a new recruit in the Metropolitan Police to a DCI in the prestigious AMIT unit. Along the way, she’s investigated IRA bombings, serial killings, cold cases, armed robberies and a fair dose of police corruption – it’s been a varied career and an enjoyable one to follow.

Blog Tour: ‘Forget Me Not’ by M. J. Arlidge

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour for this – the latest in the brilliant DI Helen Grace series. Thanks also to Orion Books for my copy of the book – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

A new M. J. Arlidge book is always a treat – fans of the series will know exactly what I mean and what to expect. There’s always the fabulous but maverick DI Helen Grace at the book’s heart, usually immersed in a tense, dangerous and high-stakes investigation as part of Southampton Police’s Major Incident Team.

This book starts on Day One with the abduction of a young girl, a case that DI Grace wants the team to prioritise. However, she is put under strict instructions to put her team to work instead on the gang crime that is taking over Southampton’s streets. As DI Grace is never one to follow orders, she begins work on the case of the missing girl – and uncovers some disturbing and dark secrets that are a little too close to home…

Blog Tour: ‘Taste of Blood’ by Lynda La Plante

Here we are – the 9th and most recently published of the Tennison series! This marks the last of my regular #TeamTennison reviews…until the publication of Book 10 in July!

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the tour and Zaffre Books for my review copy. As always, opinions are my own.

Book Review: ‘The Kill List’ by Nadine Matheson

If you haven’t discovered this brilliant series featuring DI Anjelica Henley, then what are you waiting for?!

This is the third book in the series, following on from the excellent ‘The Jigsaw Man’ and ‘The Binding Room’. Of course they’re best read in order, but ‘The Kill List’ would also work as a standalone – there’s enough new mystery and anything you need to know about past events is explained.

Book Review: ‘A Stranger in the Family’ by Jane Casey

I absolutely love this series! This is Book 11 in the DS Maeve Kerrigan series – and it’s yet another brilliant, tense and precisely-plotted police procedural. You’ll want to clear the diary for this one as you won’t easily put it down.

The story opens with Maeve being called to what seems to be a murder-suicide of an older couple, the Marshalls. However, things don’t quite make sense at the crime scene and the investigation soon becomes a double murder. This would be tragic enough, until the couple’s links to a child’s disappearance 16 years previously are uncovered – and it seems that the motives for the double murder lie in the earlier tragic event. It’s up to Maeve to unravel the truth about the Marshalls and the cold-case of the missing child – as the answers are inextricably joined.

Book Review: ‘Dark Rooms’ by Lynda La Plante

It’s that time again – an update on #TeamTennison and the mission to read all of the Tennison series before the publication of the latest book in summer 2024!

Thanks to Compulsive Readers for my spot on the team and to Zaffre Books for my review copies of the novels. As always, opinions are entirely my own.

So, we’ve got to Book 8, ‘Dark Rooms’, and it’s another gem. It does feel like every book in the series is different and unique – we are a long way from formulaic here!

Book Review: ‘Unholy Murder’ by Lynda La Plante

Thanks to Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for my place on #TeamTennison! It has been a delight to read the Tennison series, following Jane Tennison from her first police job to her role here as a Detective Sergeant. Thanks for my copy of the book for review – opinions are entirely my own.

In this – the seventh in the series – Jane is called in to investigate the death of a young nun found inside a sealed metal coffin by a group of builders developing an old convent. At first, nothing seems amiss – but closer inspection of the body suggests that the woman could have been murdered. As senior police officers try to write it off as a cold case, Tennison is not so convinced and works to uncover the identity of the nun – and how she came to be in the ground.