January 31

Ragdoll – Daniel Cole

RagdollA body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together, nicknamed by the press as the ‘Ragdoll’. Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them. With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?

 

My thanks to team at Trapeze who provided a review copy through Netgalley.

 

It is time I added my voice to the cheerleading for Ragdoll. This thriller has been receiving rave reviews from the early readers and it is easy to see why it has gained so many fans.

Detective William Fawkes (aka Wolf) had put his heart and soul into capturing a killer. But when the jury returns its verdict, Wolf’s emotions boil over and he attacks his chief suspect beating him to within an inch of his life.

Spin forward a few years and Wolf is back in active service. His life has been turned upside down by the events in that courtroom, however, fate has conspired to give Wolf a fresh chance at salvaging his career. But Wolf cannot just shake off the baggage that he carries and someone is clearly not keen to let Wolf move on, a killer has decided to pit their skills up against that of the notorious “Wolf” Fawkes and if Wolf cannot identify a murderer then he may well become a victim too.

The cover blurb (0utlined above) gives an early indication that Daniel Cole is out to shock his readers with a dark tale of cop vs killer. I’d say he does a pretty good job too – Ragdoll should appeal to readers of Paul Finch and Katerina Diamond…you are never fully confident that anyone in the story is “untouchable” and everyone is in peril.

I have no doubt that Ragdoll will do well when it releases later this month. For readers who also enjoy tv police procedurals this is a story which you will feel is made for dramatization.  And that is my only (minor) quibble with Ragdoll – as much as I enjoyed the story it felt like reading a screenplay at times.  It seemed to have a very structured ebb and flow of big events: a build up to a cliff-hanger incident, resolve it, start a build up to the next one, resolve it. This is normal in all action/thriller books but in the case of Ragdoll they were very noticeable.

Style issues aside Ragdoll is a great read, I liked Fawkes who was a very engaging lead character. Daniel Cole delivers some really nasty twists and a couple of cracking “WTF” moments which had me re-reading paragraphs as I tried to get my head around what had just unexpectedly unfolded.

Be prepared to hear a lot more about Ragdoll through 2017, it’s going to be a biggie.

 

Ragdoll will publish on 23 February 2017 and is available to pre-order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ragdoll-Daniel-Cole/dp/1409168743/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1483653818&sr=1-2

 

 

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January 29

Her Every Fear – Peter Swanson

Her Every FearFollowing a brutal attack by her ex-boyfriend, Kate Priddy makes an uncharacteristically bold decision after her cousin, Corbin Dell, suggests a temporary apartment swap – and she moves from London to Boston.

But soon after her arrival Kate makes a shocking discovery: Corbin’s next-door neighbour, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police begin asking questions about Corbin’s relationship with Audrey, and his neighbours come forward with their own suspicions, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own.

Jetlagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination playing out her every fear, Kate can barely trust herself. so how can she trust any of the strangers she’s just met?

 

My thanks to Sophie at Faber for my review copy and the chance to join the tour.

Kate Priddy is not having the best of times. Recovering from a traumatic incident involving her ex-boyfriend she has agreed to swap homes with an American cousin. On arriving at his apartment (much nicer than her flat) Kate is disturbed to find that one of her new neighbours may be missing.

Kate’s initial concerns escalate when we learn that her neighbour, Audrey, has actually been murdered in the apartment next to her new residence. The police come to question Kate and ask about her cousin (Corbin) but Kate and Corbin never met – is it possible her cousin could be a killer?

Narrative switches and we learn that Audrey had actually been under observation for many months. In the opposite wing of the apartment block we learn that one of the other residents could see straight into the victims house and had developed an unhealthy fascination with her. With Audrey dead it now seems that the voyeuristic neighbour may now be turning his attentions towards Kate.

Her Every Fear will focus on several different characters. At various stages of the story we may revisit some scenes more than once. Our initial impression of a conversation will be challenged when the second narrative outlines a totally different explanation for what originally seemed to be a straightforward situation. It is very cleverly worked and once you realise that all the characters have a very specific reason for acting in a certain way it leads to question who may have the most to lose if their secrets were to come out into the open.

This book was everything that I had hoped it would be. The twists were twisty, the shocks shocking and the nastiness was ramped up to the max. Peter Swanson can spin a damn good yarn and Her Every Fear was an absolute treat to read.  Highly recommended if you enjoy a suspenseful thriller.

 

Her Every Fear is published in Hardback and digital format by Faber and you can order a copy through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Her-Every-Fear-Peter-Swanson/0571327109/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485726879&sr=1-1&keywords=her+every+fear

 

Catch up with the tour:

HEF_BLOG

 

 

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January 27

Stav Sherez – To Plot or Not to Plot?

The IntrusionsI’m always slightly amused when a novel of mine is described as “effortlessly plotted”. I’m very happy readers think so but the truth is I never plot and the process is anything but effortless.

   It’s one of those perennial questions students of creative writing always ask – should I plot out the novel beforehand or just go where it takes me? And all the writers I know are split between those who map out flowcharts and utilise Scrivener and other programs and those, like me, who just hope it will all make sense in the end.

   Of course, there is no right answer. Every writer takes a very different journey into the heart of their novels but we all arrive at the same place – a finished book with a coherent plot.

   It’s strange, because in every other part of my life I’m a planner. If I’m going on holiday, I’ll make notes of all the places I want to visit, work out the best itinerary – I make lists of books to read, people to call, CDs to listen to.

   But not with fiction. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried. But after a few weeks of trying to hammer out a plot I always give up in frustration. It used to really bother me. It doesn’t any more. I’ve come to terms with the fact that this is how my brain works and for all its disadvantages, this is the only way I know to write books.

   But what does it mean not to plot?

   I always start a novel knowing only the opening scene. With The Intrusions, all I knew before I started writing was that it would be primarily set in a backpacker’s hostel in Bayswater and that residents would go missing. That was all. I normally have a location in mind and the inciting incident that sets the plot rolling but I have no idea where the plot is going or who the killer is. It normally takes me about a year and a half of working on the book before I know who did it. Personally, I think (and, obviously, I’m biased) that this is an advantage – that if I don’t know who the killer is, it’s far less likely that I’ll inadvertently telegraph it to the readers. That’s one of the advantages of not plotting – the flexibility to twist and turn with the rhythm of the story rather than sticking to the marked path.Stav Sherez

   Writing, for me, is a way to work out what I think about a given subject. I often don’t really know what I think about anything until I begin to write about it. With The Intrusions, I wanted to write a classic serial killer thriller. So I began with the hostel and the disappearance of one of its residents. But as I kept writing, and then drafting and redrafting, I realised that the serial killer aspect was the part I was least interested in – after all, it’s been done so many times before by better writers than me. But something was happening within the draft – technology and all its ramifications was creeping deeper into each chapter. About a year into the book I realised that what interested me most was technology and how criminals use it as well as how policing has adapted to this new investigative tool. Themes of the intrusiveness of modern wired life kept creeping in too. If I had plotted the novel out beforehand, I would never have found this different tributary and, I believe, the book would have been much weaker for it.

   But of course, there are disadvantages to this approach. The most important is that it takes me much longer to write a book this way. I have to go past many dead ends before I find the right path. There’s also the fear that the book will collapse. Every book I’ve written, there’s been a stage where I was convinced the book wasn’t working, would never work, and that I should ditch it and begin something new. A year into The Intrusions I very nearly chucked it. There were so many clichés, so little surprise; I was embarrassed by how bad it was. But I’m quite stubborn about stuff like this and didn’t want that year to have gone to waste so I kept at it, through another six drafts or so, and slowly, draft by draft, I could feel the plot beginning to interlock. There’s nothing better than that feeling when all the disparate ends suddenly click and you realise your unconscious has been guiding you all along and everything that didn’t make sense is now crystal clear.

 

THE INTRUSIONS by Stav Sherez is published on 2nd February

You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intrusions-Carrigan-Miller-Stav-Sherez-ebook/dp/B01I0H2T0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485469833&sr=1-1

 

Intrusions-blog-tour

 

 

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January 25

Rattle – Fiona Cummins

RattleA serial killer to chill your bones

A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he’s just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family’s macabre museum.

Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.

Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.

What begins is a terrifying cat-and-mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey’s father and Etta Fitzroy, a troubled detective investigating a spate of abductions.

 

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

Rattle is a bit of a chiller. Fiona Cummins seems to have drawn up a list of all the things which she feels will make readers uncomfortable and then built a gripping thriller around some of the nastiest ideas – nice!

We have a serial killer who is stalking a very particular victim group.  A young child with a debilitating and life threatening illness, a family on the edge of breakup and a kidnapped girl who just wants home to her mum.

With so many vulnerable characters in Rattle it is no surprise that this is frequently a harrowing read. I was struck with how the adults in the story are all pushed to a breaking point. The children are placed in greatest peril but seem more able to accept what is happening and their resilience was a striking contrast to that of their parents.

I am reluctant to give away too much of the story in my review. Suffice to say that I ripped through Rattle in double quick time – one of those books you don’t want to put down.

Cracking debut from Fiona Cummins and a treat for thriller fans.

 

Rattle is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rattle-Fiona-Cummins/dp/1509812261/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485386379&sr=1-1&keywords=rattle+fiona+cummins

 

 

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January 24

Burned and Broken – Mark Hardie

9780751562088A vulnerable young woman, fresh out of the care system, is trying to discover the truth behind the sudden death of her best friend.

The charred body of a policeman – currently the subject of an internal investigation – is found in the burnt-out-shell of his car on the Southend seafront.

To DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine Russell of the Essex Police Major Investigation Team, the two events seem unconnected. But as they dig deeper into their colleague’s murder, dark secrets begin to emerge.

Can Pearson and Russell solve both cases, before more lives are destroyed?

 

My thanks to Clara at LittleBrown for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour

 

It is always exciting to get the chance to discover a new crime series from the earliest days of publication. A quick look at Amazon and I spot that Mark Hardie’s new book Burned and Broken also features the names Pearson and Russell in the title space – a good indicator that the characters are destined to return.

Their return would not be unwelcome as I rather enjoyed Burned and Broken when I got into it. A grim opening sequence sees the last few seconds of a man’s life as the car he is sitting in goes up in flames. From there the police arrive and we find that the man in the car may have been one of their colleagues.

Narrative skips back a few days and we begin to follow Cat Russell as she faces an interrogation from a member of the Police Standards team.  They are investigating the behaviour of Cat’s sometime partner Sean Carragher who appears to have abused a police issue credit card and may also be facing charges of using excessive force.  Readers know that in a few days Carragher it looks most likely that Carragher will be burned to death in his car, as Cat sits in a small interview room she is giving nothing away about her friend’s behaviour.

Elsewhere we meet a teenage girl, Donna, recently out of the care system and struggling to make ends meet. Donna is torn up over the recent death of her friend and is determined to seek justice. But Donna’s friend (despite being dead) seems to be with her in spirit and Donna is chatting with her friend trying to assure her that she will put things right for her.

I had a shift in focus through Burned and Broken, initially I was more interested in Donna and her quest for justice than I was with the police investigation.  However, as the story unfolded I became more caught up in Cat’s story and less keen on Donna’s role (as she seemed to be drifting in random directions).

Happily all the loose ends start to entwine as the end of the story approached and Donna’s whimsical idea for revenge started to take on much more significance.

A promising debut from Mark Hardie – one for the fans of police procedurals.

 

Burned and Broken is published by Sphere in digital format (with a paperback release in May) and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burned-Broken-Pearson-Russell-Hardie-ebook/dp/B010QDG63A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485299298&sr=1-1&keywords=burned+and+broken

It’s a busy old day on the Burned and Broken blog tour but if you look around for these great bloggers then you will get a great overview of Mr Hardie’s debut thriller. Follow the Tour!

B&B3

 

 

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January 22

TM Logan – Five Writing Commandments To Live By

Lies

Today I am delighted to be joined by TM Logan, author of LIES, who is sharing

Five writing commandments to live by

I’m going to start with a confession: I’m not sure I could name all Ten Commandments even if you held a gun to my head. I was a church choirboy for five years (including a stint as head boy) so you might assume I would have absorbed the details. And I would probably get six or seven. But ten? No chance. So after writing LIES I’ve created my very own five commandments for debut authors…

1. Thou shalt write every day.

When I’m into a first draft I will write every day, without fail, until it’s done. I believe it’s really important to maintain that momentum, to keep on top of the story and stay in touch with your characters. For me that means writing on buses, trains, planes, in hotel rooms, in car parks, in bed – wherever I can use the time. I’ll write anywhere. The flipside of this is that you should also read every day, challenging yourself with a variety of genres rather than always reading the same type of book.

2. Thou shalt observe, and listen, and pay attention to way people look and speak and move.

Honing your observation skills can help bring your characters to life. How does a particular individual walk into a room? Do they gesture when they talk? What does their expression tell you? Here’s a game you can play: the next time you are in a boring meeting, or sitting on the bus, or standing in a queue at the supermarket, pick someone out and think about how you’d describe them in a single sentence. If you had to paint a picture in the reader’s mind, how would you do it in 20 words or less?

3. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s plot.

Write the story that you want to write. Don’t follow the trend, don’t try to copy what was popular last week or last month. Don’t mimic the book that landed a big advance or a film deal. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn from other books, other writers – quite the opposite. But you should find a story that you want to tell, and do your best to tell it. Aim to write a book that you would like to read myself. If your heart’s not in it, it will quickly become obvious to the reader.

4. Thou shalt avoid distractions.

My desk at home faces the wall so there’s nothing to distract me, no window, no view, no music. Because basically there are a lot of things that are easier to do than writing: never has doing the washing up been more attractive than when you’re supposed to be writing. But you have to resist the siren call of chores and social media (or at least organise your time better so you can do both). There’s always going to be something easier to do than sitting in that chair and putting your hands on the keyboard. But you have to realise when you’re making excuses to yourself – and just get on with it.

5. Thou shalt seek out feedback

This is a tough one. Seeking out constructive feedback can be difficult step to take. For a long time I didn’t show my work to anyone (even my wife) but at some point you are going to have to bite the bullet and ask for opinions on your writing. But if you choose the right people, feedback can improve your work immensely. Writing groups can be good for this, as can organised courses that bring like-minded writers together.

Good luck!

@TMLoganAuthor

 

LIES is currently available in digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lies-gripping-psychological-thriller-breath-ebook/dp/B01M0R1Y1J/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485118716&sr=1-1&keywords=tm+logan

You can read my review of LIES by clicking here.

 

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January 21

Behind Her Eyes – Sarah Pinborough

Behind her eyesDon’t Trust This Book

Don’t Trust These People

Don’t Trust Yourself

And whatever you do, DON’T give away that ending…

 

Louise

Since her husband walked out, Louise has made her son her world, supporting them both with her part-time job. But all that changes when she meets…

David

Young, successful and charming – Louise cannot believe a man like him would look at her twice let alone be attracted to her. But that all comes to a grinding halt when she meets his wife…

Adele

Beautiful, elegant and sweet – Louise’s new friend seems perfect in every way. As she becomes obsessed by this flawless couple, entangled in the intricate web of their marriage, they each, in turn, reach out to her.

But only when she gets to know them both does she begin to see the cracks… Is David really is the man she thought she knew and is Adele as vulnerable as she appears?
Just what terrible secrets are they both hiding and how far will they go to keep them?

 

My thanks to Jaime at Harper Collins for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

 

Today I am thrilled to host the first leg of the Behind Her Eyes blog tour and I immediately have a problem. I need to be VERY careful about what I say!

You see Behind Her Eyes is the “Fight Club” of the 2017 new releases – you can’t talk about Behind Her Eyes, because you must keep the secret. The secret?  Well this book is responsible for the social media hashtag #WTFthatending so as you read you know that something big/unexpected/unusual/gobsmacking is going to happen. You just don’t know what (and it will be on your mind the whole time you are reading).

But there is much more to Behind Her Eyes than the ending. The story follows Louise, a single mum who is low on confidence as her ex-husband  and his new partner are expecting their first child. They want to take Louise’s young son Adam to France for a month’s vacation and Louise is uncomfortable with the thought of Adam being away so long.

But Louise has another distraction, she met a charming and good looking guy in a bar and they hit it off. But the evening ended unexpectedly when the guy got uncomfortable and fled only to turn up the next morning at Louise’s work and to their mutual horror they learn that he is her new boss.

The mutual attraction does not fade though and Louise and her boss, David, are going to find it difficult to keep their relationship platonic.

Enter David’s beautiful wife Adele.  She provides the second narrative to the story and Behind Her Eyes unfolds as Louise and Adele drive the story forward. They meet by chance and become friends. Louise realises that Adele is David’s wife but chooses to keep their friendship a secret from David as she is not sure how he may react to his wife and his lover being friends.

Readers soon become to realise that Adele is fully aware of Louise and David’s relationship but she seems to be playing a game of her own. Adele has a plan and bringing Louise and David together just seems a small part of it. But to what end? Adele has a history of mental illness and there is a third narrative thread recounting time she has spent in a care home receiving psychological treatment. Does Adele become an unreliable narrator or is Louise’s narrative misleading us over how fragile David and Adele’s marriage may actually be?

Behind Her Eyes is an engaging and tense read and the promise of the #WTFthatending will keep you hooked. I love Sarah Pinborough’s stories, she is not afraid to put her characters through an emotional wringer so I know that no-one is safe and that anything could happen. That unpredictability is a treat for a reader and Behind Her Eyes does not disappoint.

Read it (and avoid spoilers).

 

Behind Her Eyes is published by Harper Collins and releases on 26 January. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-Her-Eyes-Sarah-Pinborough/dp/0008131961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484992145&sr=8-1&keywords=behind+her+eyes

 

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January 17

Lies – TM Logan

LiesWHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS BASED ON LIES?

When Joe Lynch stumbles across his wife driving into a hotel car park while she’s supposed to be at work, he’s intrigued enough to follow her in.

And when he witnesses her in an angry altercation with family friend Ben, he knows he ought to intervene.

But just as the confrontation between the two men turns violent, and Ben is knocked unconscious, Joe’s young son has an asthma attack – and Joe must flee in order to help him.

When he returns, desperate to make sure Ben is OK, Joe is horrified to find that Ben has disappeared.

And that’s when Joe receives the first message . . .

 

My thanks to Twenty7/Bonnier Zaffre for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

It begins as a chance encounter, Joe Lynch spotting his wife driving through town as he is driving their son home. It then leads to an unexpected confrontation and a scuffle between friends. That scuffle leaves one man unconscious and the other rushing his son to hospital.

There is unfinished business but before Joe can start to sort out the damage he has done he will find he has bigger problems to contend with. But how is Joe going to sort out the mess that his life has become if he is surrounded by people that he no longer feels he can trust? Can he see through the LIES?

TM Logan’s debut thriller, LIES, is a humdinger of a read. It made me uncomfortable. It made me angry (for Joe, at Joe and about what was happening TO Joe). It made me feel bad for a character in one chapter then made me vexed with that same character in the very next chapter. It is nicely paced, well balanced and a damned good thriller with some clever wee twists that caught me out.

Lies comes highly recommended for fans of domestic thrillers. You will never quite be sure if you can trust anyone and there are characters you will warm to only for them to do something which you will find upsetting. Ready for an emotional whirlpool? Then you are ready for Lies.

 

Lies is available in Digital format now and you can order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lies-gripping-psychological-thriller-breath/dp/1785770551/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484690916&sr=8-1&keywords=lies+tm+logan

A paperback shall follow in May for those that want to pre-order a physical copy

 

 

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January 15

Lying in Wait – Liz Nugent

Lying in wait‘My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.’

Lydia Fitzsimons lives in the perfect house with her adoring husband and beloved son. There is just one thing Lydia yearns for to make her perfect life complete, though the last thing she expects is that pursuing it will lead to murder. However, needs must – because nothing can stop this mother from getting what she wants …

 

My thanks to Sara at Penguin RandomHouse for my review and the chance to join the blog tour.

 

Lying in Wait constantly caught me off guard – but in a good way!

It opens with the murder of Annie Doyle and the killer almost immediately starts to lose control of how to manage the predicament that he finds himself in.  Step forward Lydia Fitzsimons, the killer’s wife. She will supervise the disposal of the body, arrange an alibi, cover for her husband and keep him “on message”.

But the secret of this terrible deed will take its toll on Lydia, or more specifically on her family. Her husband will not find peace (even when Annie is buried in a safe location).  Lydia’s son Laurence has a suspicion that something has happened on the night of the murder. As time goes by his suspicions grow stronger that his father may have some knowledge of the disappearance of local girl Annie Doyle. Laurence becomes obsessed with the “missing girl” collecting newspaper clippings and following the story for updates.

Meanwhile Annie’s family find their own way to cope with the unexpected disappearance of Annie. Most troubled by idea that Annie has vanished is her sister Karen – she turns to the police for help but encounters problems in getting information from them.  Karen’s husband is no help as he is more concerned about the public perception of Annie and the rumour she was working as a prostitute.

Lying in Wait is told by several narrators and the story progresses by following Laurence, Lydia and Karen as we learn how they contend with life “after Annie”. We get an insight into how each copes with the challenges which arise as they try to uncover (or cover-up) information. It is wonderfully twisty and several times I caught myself asking “where can it go from here?” The unpredictable turns made for great reading and I can guarantee shocks along the way.

One for the fans of psychological thrillers that love a bit of human drama and torment to spice up a dark tale.

 

Lying in Wait is published by Penguin and is available now in digital and paperback. You can order a copy through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Lying-Wait-Liz-Nugent/0241974062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484434927&sr=8-1&keywords=lying+in+wait

 

Follow the blog tour here:

Lying in Wait blog tour poster

 

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January 12

Rupture – Ragnar Jonasson

Rupture1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all…

In nearby Siglufjörður, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He’s assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjörður in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.

 

My thanks, as ever, to Karen at Orenda for my review copy.

Ragnar Jonasson can get a LOT of story in one book. There is tonnes going on in Rupture so for Ari Thor fans this is going to be a bit of a treat.

Siglufjörður is in lockdown. A quarantine on the town as illness has claimed a life and nobody is prepared to risk their health just to meet their neighbours.  Ari Thor is using this down time to investigate a cold-case which has been brought to his attention. In the mid 1950’s a woman in the remote settlement of Hedinsfjörður seemingly took her own life by drinking poison.  There were only 4 people in the settlement at that time and it was assumed that the isolation became too much leading her to take her own life. Spin forward to the present day and an old photograph has come to light which suggests that the four may not have been alone as a shot of a mystery man is captured on film.

Away from Siglufjörður I was delighted to see journalist Isrun return (she first appeared in Black Out). Isrun is still working in the newsroom and has significantly enhanced her position amongst her colleagues since we first encountered her. Isrun is reporting on the abduction of a child but as she digs deeper into the story she starts to believe there may be a much bigger story hiding behind the shocking kidnapping.

When I first reviewed a Jonasson novel (Snowbound) I remarked on the similarities with the plot of an Agatha Christie novel. Rupture gave me that same feeling as I read it – even down to the scene where Ari Thor gathers a small number of characters together to outline his deductions. It really was a fun book to read.

Delightfully twisty, frequently sinister and utterly engrossing. I do love the Dark Iceland series and Rupture is another corker.

 

Rupture is published by Orenda Books and is available now in paperback and digital format.

You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rupture-Dark-Iceland-Ragnar-Jonasson/dp/1910633577/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484262126&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=rupture+ragna

The Rupture blog tour is in full flow and you can follow it here:

Rupture tour

 

 

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