The story begins with a house fire in which Jess Ambrose’s husband is killed – an arson attack which the police blame on Jess, causing her to go on the run from hospital. Disgraced detective Nate Griffin believes that Jess is innocent and tries to help her. Together, Jess and Griffin spot a horrific link between some gruesome and brutal murders. It seems that someone is copying famous serial killer murders from the past…and they aren’t about to stop their reign of terror.
I’m always intrigued by a poisoner – not that I probably should admit to this! Indeed, crime fiction – especially Agatha Christie, queen of poisons – has always been my go-to genre, although I don’t usually read much true crime.
With that in mind, I was very excited to win an advance copy of ‘A Passion for Poison’ from Readers First and relished the opportunity to read about a real life poisoner.
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.
An affiliate link for this book is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
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.
Another page-turner of a police procedural today, released in June 2020.
This is the latest installment in the series featuring DI Helen Grace. It works as a standalone, I think - I've only read one of the other previous books and wasn't lost at all!
A brutal murder is preceded by a sinister phone call telling the victim that they have only an hour to live. The killing seems to be linked to another incident eight years before when a group of young people on their Duke of Edinburgh expedition were targeted, but it becomes a race against time as more threats are made and the police can't get a solid lead. Meanwhile, DI Grace is also having to deal with problems in her personal life and a nosy reporter who seems too close to the police investigation.
This is another well-written and tense thriller - it certainly kept me reading, although I have to confess I did see one of the twists coming. DI Helen Grace is a strong and likeable heroine and the story is engaging. I wasn't a huge fan of the 'flashback' elements told via extracts from one of the character's book and I also thought the journalist figure was a bit superfluous - they felt like extra elements that weren't really needed as the book had plenty else to offer.
Overall, I would recommend this book to people who like tense and pacy police procedurals. It's one that rarely slows and is - in places - really quite creepy. I look forward to reading more of this series.
I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
My review of ‘Neon’ (published on 9th July 2020 by Orion).
This is a debut novel by GS Locke and is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller. From the tense opening where a man is awaiting his own death, it doesn't let up and will keep you reading as you race to the finish.
A serial killer referred to as Neon is slaughtering women in Birmingham and using their bodies within his twisted art installations of neon lighting. He is audacious and uses public spaces for his 'art', but his last victim was a police officer's wife. That very police officer, Matt Johnson, is now on his trail with a very unconventional partner who has her own reasons to kill. As the net closes in on the killer, the need to operate outside the law becomes essential.
This is an extremely tense thriller. Although the killer is revealed early on, the tension comes from the continued action, close calls and revelations as Johnson's rather maverick approach to policing runs its course. The setting is also appealing - as someone who knows Birmingham reasonably well, it felt realistic and creepy. However, I didn't particularly like the bleakness of the story, especially around Iris - I absolutely know why this was done and it is effective, but I prefer a little less grit personally!
Overall, I'd recommend this to people looking for a distinctly unusual take on the police procedural. For me, it's a 4 star read because the ending felt a bit rushed, but there certainly is never a dull moment!
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
