I’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.
I’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!
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.
Thanks 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
I’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.
This marks yet another series that I’ve jumped into at a mid-point! This is the second book in this series, following on from ‘The Christmas Killer’ – although I think this works fine as a stand alone novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This story opens with a farmer returning home on Christmas Eve – it’s snowing in the remote part of Cumbria where he lives and he is dreading discussing his urgent financial issues with his family. When he returns to the farm, he notices some footprints in the snow leading to his cellar – but there are no prints leaving the cellar. Days later, the bodies of the farmer and his family are found in the farmhouse and DI Walker is called in to solve a complex crime.
I loved the remote and snowy setting of this book – there is something really eerie about an already remote place being cut off further by the weather. Cumbria is also a great setting for crime novels as it is at the mercy of the elements and difficult to navigate quickly even in bright sunshine – Rachel Lynch uses just this setting for her excellent crime novels about DI Kelly Porter (also worth a read!)
The central characters of DI Walker and his wife are also well-rounded and engaging. They are expecting a baby and there is a sub-plot to do with their past in London which adds a bit of depth and interest to their relationship and situation – although I think the sub-plot probably feels more high-stake if you’ve read the first book. I thought it was a shame that more of the police team weren’t given more to do – so much of the focus is on Walker himself that the team don’t really have distinct personalities.
The plotting is clever and this is a really solid police procedural novel – I enjoyed following the investigation as it experienced highs, lows and setbacks galore. There was certainly enough happening to keep me reading – but I did guess one of the big revelations very early on which is why this is a 4 star review and not a 5 – maybe I’ve just read too many crime novels and am suspicious of everything! That said, the tension is managed well and the connection to the earlier crime at the farmhouse gives this an interesting dimension.
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys tense and twisty police procedurals. There are some really creepy ideas and situations in the book so it probably isn’t for the faint of heart. However, there’s lots to enjoy and it would make a lively festive read…if Christmas bloodbaths are your thing.
Incidentally, no judgement from me because this book is just my thing!
If you’d like a copy of this book, please use my affiliate link below – 99p last time I looked so you can’t go wrong! Thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
This was one of my most anticipated novels of 2021 – I have absolutely loved all the mysteries featuring Captain Sam Wyndham and his partner, Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee set in Colonial India during the 1920s. This is the fifth book in the series and was out on 11th November.
Thanks to the lovely people at Hobeck Books for my review copy of ‘Way Beyond a Lie’ – this tense and twisty thriller is published on 9th November.
This story opens with a disappearance – Ross McKinlay’s wife, Carla, has vanished during their supermarket trip. The problem is that the police can’t find trace of her, a fact that leads Ross to take matters into his own hands. What he doesn’t appreciate is quite what he is dealing with – and quite how dangerous his investigations will become.
I’ve developed a bit of a taste for Scandinavian crime thrillers – so I was very pleased to be introduced to Anne Holt’s writing by Readers First. Thank you to them and Corvus for my review copy. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
The book starts with the assassination of a Norwegian MP in a cafe – an attack in which private investigator, Selma Falck, is also hit. Looking for answers about who killed her friend, Selma works sometimes alongside the police, sometimes with journalists and her own contacts to piece together a puzzle that has far-reaching implications for her country. In doing so, she finds her life in danger again as yet more killings threaten to undermine the stability and peace of Norway…
