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Blog Tour: ‘A Life for a Life’ by Carol Wyer

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

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

Blog Tour: ‘Blood Games’ by Liz Mistry

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!

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

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.

Header photo by Paul Green on Unsplash

Book Review: ‘Deep Cover’ by Leigh Russell

I am always up for a good police procedural and jumped at the chance to read this – I’d heard so many good things about this series which focuses on DI Geraldine Steel. Thanks to No Exit Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: ‘Lying Ways’ by Rachel Lynch

It’s no secret that I love DI Kelly Porter so a new book from Rachel Lynch is always a treat. This is the ninth in the series – a great series that I’ve followed since the start.

This book is centered on HMP Highton, a prison in a remote bit of the already pretty remote Lake District. When a newly released convict is found tortured and killed shortly after leaving Highton, DI Kelly Porter and her team are horrified at the brutality of the crime. When a second ex-convict is killed in similar circumstances, it seems that there is a dangerous killer on the loose…but the leads keep taking the team back within the prison walls.

Blog Tour: ‘The Woman in the Wood’ by M. K. Hill

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for ‘The Woman in the Wood’, the second book in the series featuring DI Sasha Dawson.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Head of Zeus for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was published in hardback in March 2021 – this blog tour coincides with the paperback publication.

From the Publisher:

A reality TV star becomes a suspect in an Essex murder case in the sharp, funny and moving new thriller from M.K. Hill.

Three years ago, Danny ‘Abs’ Cruikshank, star of reality show ‘Laid in Essex!’, was living the dream. And then, on the night of the party, everything changed.

It was supposed to be an intimate weekend gathering. Just a few close friends in a remote cottage in Wales. But after a night of heavy drinking in the village pub, a local girl was reported missing, presumed dead. Abs and his friends had been the last to see her alive.

No-one was ever charged, but the controversy destroyed Abs’s career. So now, three years later, the celebrity who once captured the heart of millions is opening Southend’s new branch of Quidstore. And then one of Abs’s mates is murdered. Does someone know what really happened that night in Wales?

DI Sasha Dawson and her team must race against the clock to find the killer before they strike again – but first she must discover what happened to Rhiannon Jenkins on the night she vanished. Will the truth set Abs free? Or bury him?

My Review:

Crime fiction is my go-to genre so I was delighted to get a place on the blog tour for ‘The Woman in the Wood’ by M. K. Hill. I haven’t read the first book in the DI Sasha Dawson series, but this works beautifully as a stand alone.

The novel opens with the death of a man on Hockley Station and DI Sasha Dawson of Essex Police is called in to investigate. She recognises the victim’s name from a list of people questioned about the disappearance of a young woman in Wales three years previously – a disappearance that made headline news as a star of reality TV show ‘Laid in Essex!’, ‘Abs’ Cruikshank, was also questioned.

As Sasha and her team look deeper into the events surrounding the mysterious death, it seems that Abs and his friends are again going to be forced back into the spotlight…

When I picked up the book, I hadn’t really registered the Essex connection – it was lovely to read a book about the areas I grew up in, even if the events are slightly sinister! Hockley, Hadleigh, Southend, Chelmsford…I could picture it all! Even the reality TV dimension – here ‘Laid in Essex!’ – was familiar to me; anyone who has lived in Essex has surely been repeatedly asked if they know ‘Sugar Hut’ in Brentwood, the club featured in ‘The Only Way is Essex’. Reality TV and Essex – it seems – go hand in hand in people’s minds.

(Answer: no, I’ve never been there, Sorry).

Essex connection aside, I could not put this book down. I have cooked meals, done chores and generally ignored my family in the company of DI Sasha Dawson!

One of the real strengths of the book is the plotting. As the novel progresses, we find out more about the fateful night in Wales when the young woman went missing and this thread is cleverly entwined with the present-day lives of those who were there. There were so many twists and turns on the way through this story that I’m surprised I don’t have whiplash! There are some really tense moments too as the characters fight for survival against an unknown threat.

I also really liked the character of DI Sasha Dawson – she’s a likeable, slightly workaholic forty-something who is juggling her stressful job with family life. I could definitely relate to Sasha, although I wasn’t sure whether references to her family tragedy perhaps relate to the first book in the series. Definitely one I need to look into!

Overall, I thought this was a clever and engaging police procedural. The supposedly glamorous reality TV element is interesting but never overshadows the grim truth of the murder investigation – and the race to the finale is proper heart-in-mouth territory. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes their crime novels packed with tension, twists and turns – there is so much to get your teeth into here.

About the Author:

Mark Hill was a journalist and an award-winning music radio producer before becoming a full-time writer. The first novel in the Sasha Dawson series, ‘The Bad Place’, was described as ‘everything a police procedural should be’ by The Times, who also named it as their Crime Book of the Month. He lives in London.

Book Review: ‘The Midnight Hour’ by Elly Griffiths

I love historical crime and this series ticks all the boxes for me (if we are OK with calling the 1960s ‘historical’!) – this isn’t my first book in this series and so I knew more or less what to expect. I wasn’t disappointed and actually think this is one of the stronger instalments in the series.

Book Review: ’56 Days’ by Catherine Ryan Howard

Too soon for a novel about the pandemic?

In a word, no! This is a lively and cleverly structured novel that takes us through a lockdown mystery. I raced through it in two sittings because I really needed to know what happened.

Blog Tour: ‘A Cut for a Cut’ by Carol Wyer

It is my stop on the blog tour for ‘A Cut for a Cut’, the second book in the series to feature DI Kate Young. I loved the first book and so couldn’t wait to read this one!

Thanks to Damp Pebbles for inviting me on the blog tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is out now! It was published on 29th June, 2021 by Thomas & Mercer.

Book Review: ‘The Tattoo Thief’ by Alison Belsham

Regular visitors to The Quick and the Read know that I’m kind of obsessed with crime fiction – specifically, I love pacey, engaging police procedurals. Even better if the lead characters are distinctive or quirky in some way, plus an interesting setting is hugely important to me.