From The Bookshelf – Page 11

My Favourite Books from 2020

Happy Hogmanay from a snowy Scotland. As the sun sets for the final time on 2020 I think we can all agree that this has not been one of the better years. Yet I look back on the previous 12 months with my bookish eyes and there were some great moments (mainly books I loved which offered escapism from our real-world dystopia).

Before everything stopped in March and we were no longer allowed out to play I had the joy of attending two events in Glasgow. A special mention and my thanks to the Orenda authors who made the trip to Glasgow for the Orenda Roadshow. Also to Elly Griffiths who hosted an afternoon tea and book reading in Waterstones in Sauchiehall Street. Little did I know at the time that this would be the only events I would attend all year – both days were great fun and I took the teenager along too where he initially got a bit starstruck but also started his own collection of signed crime thrillers…I am so proud!

But I digress. This post is my end of year wrap up. The ten books which brought me the most joy and esacapism during the year. Some were the right book at the right time. Some were great stories I could not put down and the others were titles I immediately put into the hands of someone else with a nod of “You MUST read this”.

10 – Curse The Day – Judith O’Reilly (Head of Zeus)

At a global tech gala hosted at the British Museum, scientist Tobias Hawke is due to unveil an astonishing breakthrough. His AI system appears to have reached consciousness, making Hawke the leading light in his field.

But when terrorists storm the building, they don’t just leave chaos in their wake. They seize Hawke’s masterwork, sparking a chain reaction of explosive events which could end the world as we know it.

Michael North, ex-assassin and spy-for-hire, must find the killers and recover the AI. But he can’t do it alone. Hawke’s wife, Esme, and teenage hacker, Fangfang, have their own reasons to help complete North’s mission – and together they unravel a dark and deadly conspiracy which stretches right to the top of the British elite.

Can North survive long enough to uncover the whole truth? Or is it already too late for humanity?

9 – Dark Highway – Lisa Gray (Thomas & Mercer)

An isolated highway in the middle of the desert—the perfect place to hide a secret.

LA-based artist Laurie Simmonds disappeared two months ago, her campervan abandoned on the isolated Twentynine Palms Highway, miles from anything—or anyone. With the police investigation stalled, her parents put all their faith in private investigator Jessica Shaw to find out the truth of what happened.

Jessica and her partner Matt Connor discover that two other women are missing, their disappearances connected to the same highway. When a link emerges between these women and a group of former college friends, Jessica feels certain they’re closing in on their target.

But no sooner do they follow this up than Laurie’s parents get spooked and drop the case. Jessica is blindsided but determined not to give up: three women are missing, and many more may be at risk. She can’t turn her back on them. But the more she pulls at the threads of the truth, the closer she comes to danger. Can she find out who’s behind these crimes before they come for her?

8 – Thirty-One Bones – Morgan Cry (Polygon)

When Daniella Coulstoun’s estranged mother Effie dies in Spain under suspicious circumstances, she feels it’s her duty to fly out for the funeral.

On arrival, Daniella is confronted by a dangerous group of expat misfits who claim that Effie stole huge sums of cash from them in a multi-million property scam. They want the money back and Daniella is on the hook for it.

When a suspicious Spanish detective begins to probe Effie’s death and a London gangster hears about the missing money, Daniella faces threats on every front. With no idea where the cash is and facing a seemingly impossible deadline, she quickly finds herself out of her depth and fighting for survival in a strange and terrifying world.

7 – One White Lie – Leah Konen (Penguin)

Imagine you’ve finally escaped the worst relationship of your life, running away with only a suitcase and a black eye – and you’re terrified what will happen if he finds you.

Imagine your new next-door neighbours are the friends you so desperately needed – fun, kind, empathetic, very much in love.

Imagine that they’re in trouble. That their livelihoods – even their lives – are at risk. They have a plan to keep all of you safe, but they just need you to tell one small lie.

One small lie, and all of these problems would disappear . . .

You’d do it. Wouldn’t you?

It’s only one small lie, until someone turns up dead.

6 – The Resident – David Jackson (Viper)

THERE’S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN
AND HE’S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE

Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space.

That’s when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims – the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet…

Do you fear The Resident? Soon you’ll be dying to meet him.

5 – A Dark Matter – Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)

Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators

When patriarch Jim dies, it s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.

Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.

As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything

A compelling, tense and shocking thriller and a darkly funny and warm portrait of a family in turmoil, A Dark Matter introduces a cast of unforgettable characters, marking the start of an addictive new series.

4 – Stone Cold Trouble – Amer Anwar (Dialogue Books)

Trying – and failing – to keep his head down and to stay out of trouble, ex-con Zaq Khan agrees to help his best friend, Jags, recover a family heirloom, currently in the possession of a wealthy businessman. But when Zaq’s brother is viciously assaulted, Zaq is left wondering whether someone from his own past is out to get revenge.

Wanting answers and retribution, Zaq and Jags set out to track down those responsible. Meanwhile, their dealings with the businessman take a turn for the worse and Zaq and Jags find themselves suspected of murder.

It’ll take both brains and brawn to get themselves out of trouble and, no matter what happens, the results will likely be deadly. The only question is, whether it will prove deadly for them, or for someone else . . . ?

3 – How The Wired Weep – Ian Patrick (Independently Published)

The Wire crosses the pond.

Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.
Ben’s unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.

Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.

Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.
He lives in fear of discovery.

When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?

Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.

2 – Bobby March Will Live Forever – Alan Parks (Canongate)

WHO IS TO BLAME WHEN NO ONE IS INNOCENT?

The papers want blood.
The force wants results.
The law must be served, whatever the cost.

July 1973. The Glasgow drugs trade is booming and Bobby March, the city’s own rock-star hero, has just overdosed in a central hotel.

Alice Kelly is thirteen years old, lonely. And missing.

Meanwhile the niece of McCoy’s boss has fallen in with a bad crowd and when she goes AWOL, McCoy is asked – off the books – to find her.

McCoy has a hunch. But does he have enough time?

1 – King of the Crows – Russell Day (Fahrenheit Press)

2028, eight years after a pandemic swept across Europe, the virus has been defeated and normal life has resumed.

Memories of The Lockdown have already become clouded by myth, rumour and conspiracy. Books have been written, movies have been released and the names Robertson, Miller & Maccallan have slipped into legend. Together they hauled The Crows, a ragged group of virus survivors, across the ruins of London. Kept them alive, kept them safe, kept them moving.

But not all myths are true and not all heroes are heroes.

Questions are starting to be asked about what really happened during those days when society crumbled and the capital city became a killing ground.

Finally the truth will be revealed.

And there you have it – ten cracking books. Bring on 2021 I am ready for new stories.

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December 29

My Five Favourite Audiobooks of 2020

In years gone by the audiobook was my go-to option when I was commuting to work and back. Since March 2020 my work has never been more than 10 metres from my bed so for a while it seemed there may not be a “best audiobooks” post for 2020. However, shortly before the March lockdown commenced we welcomed a puppy to the Grab household and the long walks I have been taking since the summer (when his wee legs were able to start doing long walks) meant the audiobooks made an appearance after all. Hurrah for puppies and brilliant stories.

As tradition demands I shall start to wind down the year by sharing the five audiobooks I listened to in 2020 which brought the most enjoyment. They are not in any order and I don’t have a “best” but if you asked me to recommend a good audiobook I would tell you to listen to any one of these.

Beast – Matt Wesoloski

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories….

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger Elizabeth Barton had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’.

However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.

King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’.

Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return….

The Unwanted Dead – Chris Lloyd

Paris, June 1940.

The Nazi occupation of Paris begins. Detective Eddie Giral – a survivor of the last World War – watches helplessly on as his world changes forever. But there is something he still has control over.

Finding whoever is responsible for four murdered refugees: the unwanted dead, forgotten amid the headlines.

To do so, he must tread carefully between the Occupation and the Resistance, all the while becoming whoever he must be to survive in this new and terrible order descending on his home.

The Point of No Return – Neil Broadfoot

How far would you go to find the truth?

After more than a decade of being in prison for the brutal murder of two Stirling University students, Colin Sanderson has been released after his conviction was found to be unsafe.

Returning home to a small village not far from Stirling, Sanderson refuses police protection, even in the face of a death threat. But the PR firm that has scooped him up to sell his story does know of a protection expert in Stirling. They want Connor Fraser.

Connor reluctantly takes the assignment, partly as a favour to DCI Malcolm Ford, who is none too keen to have Sanderson on the loose, particularly as he was involved in the original investigation that saw him imprisoned.

When a body is found, mutilated in the same way as Sanderson’s victims were, all eyes fall on the released man. But how can he be the killer when Connor’s own security detail gives him an alibi?

As Connor races to uncover the truth, he is forced to confront not only Sanderson’s past, but his own, and a secret that could change his life forever.

The Law of Innocence – Michael Connelly

The most important case of his life.

Only this time the defendant is himself.

The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.

Heading home after winning his latest case, Defence Attorney Mickey Haller – the Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.

Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.

Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.

With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.

But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence….

Crime doesn’t come better than Connelly.

Red Desert – Paddy Magrane

When a violent attack on his girlfriend tears Tom’s life apart, escape makes perfect sense. He takes a job with an oil company, providing therapy to staff cooped up in a camp in Southern Iraq. Nice pay packet, if you don’t mind being stuck in the desert surrounded by unexploded mines and cluster bombs.

On his arrival, an explosion outside the camp leaves four men dead. Something about it doesn’t make sense, and Tom starts to ask questions. His curiosity begins to get him into trouble – especially with the former soldiers who work there as security contractors. When the camp is attacked and Tom is shipped home, he continues his investigations. Working with a journalist pursuing a story about a cover-up, Tom looks into a notorious army barracks. But then the journalist falls beneath a tube train. Falls, or is pushed? With an unseen enemy closing in, will Tom’s search for the truth end in his death, too?

Set between London, Berlin and Iraq, this white-knuckle suspense thriller is perfect for fans of The Hurt Locker, American Sniper and Homeland.

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December 22

Winterkill – Ragnar Jonasson

A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…

When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.

Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.

Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.

Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…

As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.

I bought my copy of Winterkill. My thanks to Orenda Books and Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour.

Ari Thor Arason returns and Winterkill gives us a sixth wonderful reason to visit the Northern Iclandic town of Siglufjörður. I have been a huge fan of these clever crime stories, each has been a tightly plotted tale working wonders with a small cast. Ragnar Jonasson has indicated Winterkill will be the final trip to Siglufjörður and the last Ari Thor novel. One can but hope that in the future he listens to the pleas of the readers and gives Ari Thor as many farewell tours as The Rolling Stones have enjoyed.

Winterkill finds Ari Thor promoted to the role of chief investigator. He heads up the police department in Siglufjörður and has responsibility over a younger officer who he is trying to train in the way Ari Thor’s mentor trained him. We will see that the two men have a slightly strained relationship which Ari Thor finds a little unsettling. He has been pondering an offer to “have a word put in” in Reykjavik which would smooth over a move away from Siglufjörður for Ari Thor but he is taking each day as it comes for the moment.

Easter is approaching and Ari Thor has been looking forward to the visit of his girlfriend and their son who are now living in Sweden. A few days of enjoyable family time is put at risk when a teenage girl falls to her death on the main street in the early hours of the morning. Initially it seems to have been a suicide, yet, for those left to mourn, the question of “why” demands an answer.

The mother of the dead girl assures Ari Thor that her daughter had been a quiet girl and they had no secrets. The few friends she had commented on her studious nature and could not explain why she may have chosen to end her life. Yet something doesn’t quite sit right with Ari Thor – the reader is left sharing his thought that everyone he speaks with may be holding something back. Is it imagination or are there secrets to uncover?

A call from an old friend brings Ari Thor to a small nursing home in the town. One of the patients has scrawled “She was murdered” all over his wall…what did the old man see the night the girl fell to her death? Can Ari Thor elicit any useful information from an elderly witness who has trouble focusing on the person in the room?

As we have come to expect from a Ragnar Jonasson book there are clues and half-truths sprinkled through the story for sharp-eyed readers to look out for. The telling of Winterkill is exquisite and the pages simply fall away as you get wrapped up in the story. Jonasson can tell a story which feels deep and enriched and he does it without loading his story with padding. There is a ruthless efficiency in these books which will leave you entertained without feeling the writer is filling time – the long standing comparisons with the pacing and style of Agatha Christie’s books spring to my mind once again.

A Ragnar Jonasson book is always a rewarding experience – Winterkill reaffirmed this.

Winterkill is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BC4D58S/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 16

Cry For Mercy – Karen Long

The girl’s eyes were open, her gaze softened with a milky hue. Her perfect skin and halo of blonde hair made her look angelic. It was a brutal contrast to the rope suspending her from the high-vaulted ceiling, and the bruises that had blossomed on her arms. Eleanor reached forward then caught herself. This woman was past saving.

When a beautiful young woman is found murdered in a derelict power station, Detective Inspector Eleanor Raven hurries to the scene. The girl’s body has been ritualistically posed, with cherry-red lipstick painted across her mouth. And when she catches sight of the engagement ring crusted with blood on her delicate finger, Eleanor pushes back on the grief it provokes. Lydia Greystein had so much to live for. The only way Eleanor can help now is to find the killer responsible, and she and her team immediately set to work.

As Eleanor and the team work together to unpick the killer’s motivations, another woman is found, bound and posed in the same ceremonial stance. Suddenly, Eleanor’s case becomes more twisted and urgent than ever. Just when they think they’ve hit a dead end, Eleanor finds a link between the victims and a cold case—an unsolved death with a connection to her own hidden life outside work. To follow the clues now risks bringing her secrets into the open.

But as Eleanor begins to understand the killer, he starts to understand her too.

Eleanor must solve this case before more women are taken. Could the secrets she keeps from those closest to her be the final clue to break open this case… or will they ultimately cost Eleanor her life?

My thanks to the publishers Bookouture for my review copy, recieved through Netgalley

Cry For Mercy was originally published under the title The Safe Word. Although I had not read The Safe Word I have read the two books which followed so I had some knowledge of Eleanor Raven’s world before starting Cry For Mercy. This previous reading wasn’t really a spoiler – more an advert for Cry For Mercy as I knew before I started reading that I was in for a treat. Karen Long delivers tension packed thrills with the dark edge that I love in my books.

Cry For Mercy opens in a way you just wouldn’t expect – Karen Long revealing more about Raven than readers may have expected but it lets you understand how she is driven, prepared, cautious and (on some things) secretive. It also prepares readers for one of the background threads of the story…fulfilment of desires.

Raven is one of the best detectives in her division but she has just lost her long-standing partner who has been sidelined by health issues. We enter Raven’s world as a murder victim has been found in an abandoned building – strung up and wrapped in plastic sheeting. A grisly murder scene and one which does not seem to give the cops much to work on.

Raven gets to work the case but she is saddled with a new partner, one that is keen to learn but knows Raven will be a tough taskmaster. He also brings some baggage in the form of an unruly dog which has been dumped on him at short notice by his ex as she swans off on vacation with her new beau. The dog (Monster) brings some of the lighter moments in the story – always welcome in the darker takes – and he is a joyous addition to the cast.

Poor Raven; saddled with a rookie partner, his bombshell dog and coping with the absence of her trusted friend and colleague. On top of this chaotic mix is a brilliantly plotted murder story with a killer who has a plan they want to play out. His victims will be carefully selected and the reader can see him closing in on his prey. Tensions mount further when he realises that Raven is aware of his “work” and steps must be taken to ensure his plans can reach their climax. For Raven this will have more severe implications than she could have anticipated.

Cry For Mercy is a brilliant murder story but definitely not one for readers who favour a cozy crime read. This is the fantastic first book in the Eleanor Raven series and you need to get reading it immediately.

Cry For Mercy is published by Bookouture and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08HZ7NP8H/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 12

One By One – Ruth Ware

Snow is falling in the exclusive alpine ski resort of Saint Antoine, as the shareholders and directors of Snoop, the hottest new music app, gather for a make or break corporate retreat to decide the future of the company. At stake is a billion-dollar dot com buyout that could make them all millionaires, or leave some of them out in the cold.

The clock is ticking on the offer, and with the group irrevocably split, tensions are running high. When an avalanche cuts the chalet off from help, and one board member goes missing in the snow, the group is forced to ask – would someone resort to murder, to get what they want?

My thanks to Graeme at Vintage for my review copy and the opportunity to join the Ruth Ware Readers Party

Ever had a book hangover? It’s the grumbly sensation which arises when you put down a stonewall banger of a read and turn to your TBR pile with a feeling of dispair for the next book you choose to read (as you know whatever you pick will just not be as good as the story you just finished). I mention this because One By One has given me a major book hangover and I have no idea what to read next.

The remote alpine ski resort of Saint Antoine has two staff members on site to cook for and to look after the guests – Erin and Danny. Erin is the host/cleaner and co-ordinator and Danny is the excellent chef who can prepare the fine food for the chalet residents as they come off the slopes at the end of a day’s skiing.

Erin and Danny are to be joined by the shareholders and staff of music tech firm Snoop. Snoop operate an App which lets you snoop on the music library of other users. If Ed Sheerin is online and listening to music then Snoop users can listen along with Ed to share the experience. The app has been phenomonaly successful but Erin realises that the Snoop representatives are at Saint Antoine to discuss the future of the company – the company are at a critical stage and the decisions they make during their stay will determine the future of the firm. From what Erin can tell there are two factions and a vote on a corporate buy-out will need to be taken by the shareholders…tensions are high amongst the ten Snoop representatives.

Each of Ruth Ware’s previous books have been wonderful at scene setting and the development of the principle characters and One By One is no different. We feel surrounded by the snowy peaks, chilled at the idea of stepping outside and, through Erin, we get a feel for the young friends and colleagues who make up Snoop. The founder Topher and his former partner Eva (the principle shareholders and the heads of the two differnet factions for the future path of the firm). Their tech nerd is there, the legal brain, PA’s and support colleagues – all one dynamic wee team with the confidence, charisma and the arrogance of youthful success. Except there is one of their number that doesn’t fit in. Liz. She is shy, reserved and awkward. When the Snoop staff make plans they forget to include Liz. Erin can’t figure out how Liz came to be involved with Snoop and why she has been invited along to Saint Antoine. The awkwardness around Liz only compunds the problems Erin has to deal with while keeping the high manintenance guests pacified and helping cool tempers when opinions on the buy-out differ.

After a morning board meeting the guests head to the ski slopes to take a collective break and enjoy some of the challenges offered on the various ski slopes. However the day is going to end with a shock as one of the party gets sepearated from the group and doesn’t return to the chalet. Panic and confusion split the group furhter – conditions outside are worsening and the friends cannot go looking for their missing colleage. As they hunker down and contemplate what happens next it becomes obvious the shareholder power has shifted and when the remaining shareholders realise how positions have changed they begin to wonder if someone has taken matters into their own hands. Would someone resort to murder to ensure they get their own way?

Conditions worsen, tempers fray further and worry increases when a second death occurs. Can Erin and Danny keep their calm and keep their guests safe or is there a killer in their midst?

One By One is a wonderfully tense mystery story. The remote location and the blizzard conditions outside the cabin gives the book the feel of a locked-room murder mystery. Erin is our principle narrator and she guides us through most of the incidents as they occur, her anxiety and suspicions drive the whole book and it works perfectly. I didn’t want to break from reading as it all seemed to be unfolding in real time and I felt I had to keep going.

When a book is as gripping as One By One you know you have invested your reading time wisely. Ruth Ware consistently delivers high level thrillers and One By One only confirms her standing as a writer on the top of her game.

One By One is published today by Vintage and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GKMG9L/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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November 5

The Decagon House Murders – Yukito Ayatsuji

The members of a university mystery club decide to visit an island which was the site of a grisly, unsolved multiple murder the year before. They’re looking forward to investigating the crime, putting their passion for solving mysteries to practical use, but before long there is a fresh murder, and soon the club-members realise they are being picked off one-by-one. The remaining amateur sleuths will have to use all of their murder-mystery expertise to find the killer before they end up dead too.

This is a playful, loving and fiendishly plotted homage to the best of golden age crime. It will delight any mystery fan looking to put their little grey cells to use.

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley.

Yukito Ayatsuji is taking one of the most famous murder mystery stories and putting a new spin on events. A group of friends – students at a university mystery club – are all planning on spending a few days staying on a small island. The island has a dark past as the previous year the couple that lived on the island, and members of their staff, were murdered. One employee remains missing to this day and it is generally accepted that he was the killer and has fled to freedom.

One of the students knows the new owner of the island and manages to negotiate for the members of the mystery club to stay for a few days in the intriguingly named Decagon House – a smaller building away from the main residence where the murders occurred. Pleasingly for map fans there is a map of Decagon House inside the book and you can see it is a 10 sided building with a room on each of the walls. The rooms taken by each of the students is shown on the map and if you are playing amatur sleuth it is a helpful guide when you try to work out who may have been close to any given room at any time. Handy when the murders begin.

Murders? Yes indeed. I said this was a new spin on a famous murder story – take a collective of people, pop them on an island and let the murders commence. It is Yukito Ayatsuji’s take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and it is a fun read. First the students…fewer than the 10 guests that Christie had on her island and because they are all members of the same club they know each other before proceeding begin. Each of the students has their club name – the surname of a famous mystery writer, Christie (nod), Poe etc. Slightly different from the original source material is that there are several scenes which also take place off the island. An independent investigator is asking questions and conducting his own review of the murders on the island the previous year.

The narrative is split – students on the island being picked off one by one with a variety of causes of death. The mainland where the truth about the murders the previous year is slowly being discovered. Will the two plot threads come together? Well possibly. Will they come together while all the students are still alive? Certainly not – the body count is high.

The Decagon House Murders was my first expereince of a Japanese murder story. There are some distintive language styles in Japanese to English so I read with more care than usual but the translator has done a terrific job and there was never any point where I wasn’t getting a great story. I am aluding to the naming style of family name before forename which was explained before the story began and it does help to understand this as characters are introduced.

I consider And Then There Were None to be the best of the Christie collection and I enjoyed this spin on the original. Look out for this when it is published next month I really enjoyed the time I spent with this one.

The Decagon House Murders will be published on 3 December 2020 by Pushkin Vertigo. It will be available in paperback and digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decagon-House-Murders-Yukito-Ayatsuji/dp/1782276343/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1604509887&refinements=p_27%3AYukito+Ayatsuji&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Yukito+Ayatsuji

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November 5

The Law Of Innocence – Michael Connelly

THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE OF HIS LIFE.
ONLY THIS TIME THE DEFENDANT IS HIMSELF.

“The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.”

* * * * *

Heading home after winning his latest case, defense attorney Mickey Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.

Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.

Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.

With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.

But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence…

I received a review copy of The Law of Innocence from Orion through Netgalley. I would also like to thank Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join this blog tour.

There are a lot of Michael Connelly books. As a fan I consider this to be a very good thing, my relationship with Connelly’s characters has been developed and nurtured over many books and many years. So when I discovered The Law of Innocence was a Mickey Haller story my anticipation heightened. Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer and this suggested a courtroom drama was heading our way.

Not just any courtroom drama – a huge drama as it is Haller himself that is the accused. Of murder. And despite knowing he is innocent Haller will need to be at the very best of his game to ensure he can also convince a jury of his innocence. Who else is at the very best of his game? Michael Connelly is too as The Law of Innocence is one of his best yet (possibly even THE best).

If you enjoy a courtroom drama then The Law of Innocence is your essential read – I can’t think of a legal thriller I have enjoyed more. Haller is everywhere in this story and we see everything unfold as he does. From the point he is arrested to the time he spends in jail awaiting a bail hearing we are there experiencing Haller’s predicament with him.

Connelly has crafted this so well. Readers get to see Haller and his team building his defence. The frustration at tricks which the prosecution will pull to hamper his case. We will cheer when the judge reprimands the prosecuting attorney and laugh as Haller scores points at their mis-steps. You cannot help become anything but wholly immersed in this story.

As the case draws closer Haller and his team begin to peel back layers of lies and secrets which suggest Haller has been unwittingly dragged into something far bigger than he originally anticipated. For someone Haller is a useful and expendable distraction. If he gets too close to the truth then Haller cannot be allowed the opportunity to take the stand and present his defence…now it is not just his freedom which is at risk.

The Law of Innocence breezes straight onto my Best of 2020 selections – few books are more befitting of the title “page turner”.

Loved it.

The Law of Innocence will be published by Orion on 10 November 2020. It will be available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087ZCX3CD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

November 2

The Last Resort – Susi Holliday

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One perfect crime.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear.

Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat—it’s a trap they can’t get out of.

As the clock counts down to the lavish end-of-day party they’ve been promised, injuries and in-fighting split the group. But with no escape from the island—or the other guests’ most shocking secrets—Amelia begins to suspect that her only hope for survival is to be the last one standing. Can she confront her own dark past to uncover the truth—before it’s too late to get out?

My thanks to Susi Holliday for arranging an early review copy of The Last Resort

Tech thriller or survival horror tale? Murder story or fantasy nightmare? Well thanks to the twisted genius that is Susi Holliday you can enjoy all those concepts within The Last Resort. I originally pegged this story as Agatha Christie meets Westworld with some Enid Blyton and Michael Slade. Now I just want to class it as a Susi Holliday thriller – dark, deadly and uttery gripping.

Our focus in The Last Resort is Amelia – she has been invited to attend an all-inclusive trip to a private island. We pick up her story as she boards the plane to set off on her adventure and through Amelia’s eyes we see the other six passengers who are joining her on the trip. An unusual mix of characters who are not too keen on sharing information about themselves but everyone appears to have been selected for a skill or opportunity which they can offer to their mysterious hosts.

Their actual destination is to be kept a secret and a mid-flight incident means that the seven guests will not be able to keep track of their flight path or see where they actually land. On deplaning the seven are met by one of the staff members on the island who presents them all with a piece of tech which they will be required to wear for the duration of their stay. This tech has been developed by Timeo Technologies, who appear to be the firm behind their host’s invitation, and promises to push the boundaries of technological advances to make their stay remarkable. However Amelia’s device doesn’t work correctly and she has to take an older model – it alienates her slightly from the rest of the group and when the tech starts to reveal the full extent of its capabilities it causes futher divides as suspicion and fear amongst the guests escalates.

The reason behind this suspicion and fear is that the luxury retreat the guests were expecting is not quite the island they find themselves on. Their hosts can speak directly into their ears, their every move appears to be under surveillance and worse still; the device can apparently read the mind of the wearer and project images of their darkest secrets into the open. This group of strangers are being subjected to a breakdown of their defences and information, which could ruin them, is being publically shared. This mental attack is hard for Amelia and her fellow guests to contend with yet there are also phyiscal perils to be overcome too. The Last Resort is not a story about a luxury retreat, it is a story about seven strangers in a battle of wits to try to survive the experience and confront their mysterious host to understand the reason behind the vindictive and potentially deadly assults.

I am very fond of tense thrillers such as this. The chapters are timestamped to let the reader know there is a deadline to be met and that for some of the guests the minutes which tick by may not be sufficient to secure their safety. The confines of the island, and the way the author depicts the narrow pathways and passages the guests have to navigate adds a feeling of claustrophobia which accentuates the trap which they feel they have entered. The location almost feels like one of the characters as it is so integral to their plight.

The Last Resort is another gem from Susi Holliday. I loved the unpredictable nature of the peril the characters face. The tech is clever, deadly and alarmingly plausible. If you are seeking a new page-turner then you should look no further than The Last Resort – five star thrills all the way.

The Last Resort is available now for Amazon Prime members through the Amazon First Reads scheme. Publication date for non Prime members is 1 December 2020. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085HCCP4W/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

October 22

Bad Debt – William McIntyre

Defence Lawyer Robbie Munro’s wife has been stalked by a witness in a trial she is prosecuting. When the stalker is killed and Robbie is charged with murder his friends are only too willing to come up with schemes to prove his innocence. In the end though, will it be his enemies who make the difference?

My thanks to Sandstone Press for my review copy, received through Netgalley, and for the opportunity to host the publication day leg of the Bad Debt Blog Tour.

It is publication day for the latest in the Robbie Munro series: Bad Debt. That means you can use the purchase links at the bottom of this review and get reading this fun thriller without too much delay. It’s definitely a book I am recommending – I really enjoyed this one.

Proceedings begin with an ending, Robbie is at a funeral. The deceased was also a defense lawyer who appears to have written the book on sneaky plays in court to use every available twist to get his clients off the hook. His former partner asks Robbie a favour; a political candidate in the Scottish Parliament is accused of using excessive force to attack a housebreaker who entered his home late one night. Could Robbie take his case and ensure the accused isn’t found guilty?

Robbie is also no stranger to sneaky tactics and effective use of legal loopholes, so he takes on the case and promptly finds himself caught up in a venture which puts his family and his freedom at risk. The first shock for Robbie comes when he finds the prosecuting Fiscal is his own wife – drafted in as cover at the last minute. Still confident he can win there are further surprises in store when the attack victim gets into court and appears to have total amnesia over the alleged attack. Something is very strange about this case.

An attack on a family member leaves Robbie rattled so he enlists the help of one of his own dubious contacts to find the attacker. Things don’t go quite to plan and Robbie’s attempts to speak with the attacker find Robbie placed under arrest and sent to prison pending a hearing.

With his reputation and freedom at stake Robbie will need to be at his sharpest to uncover the truth and clear his name. Luckily for him he has expert legal support in the form of his wife and he can call on the vast array of his dubious contacts to provide help when needed. With a Buckfast swilling pugilist and a wannabe porn producer in your corner how can you not succeed?

Bad Debt is a hugely enjoyable read. A clever thriller with some wholly unexpected twists. Robbie Munro is a wickedly engaging lead character – the humour and quips come thick and fast but don’t undermine the tension or Robbie’s predicament.

Bad Debt is published by Sandstone Press and is available in paperback and digital format from today. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086Y8RS96/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

October 20

Some Lockdown Reviews

Without being too subtle about 2020 – it has been a really crap year. I have found my reading has really suffered and my reviews more so. Working from home has been a great relief but at the end of my working day I have felt little urge to shut down the work laptop only to remain sitting in the same spot and crank open my own laptop to draft a few reviews.

But that’s selfish behaviour – I have used stories to lift my blue moods and give me the escapism I needed. Maybe someone else would benefit from knowing about the great stories which brought me some respite and the authors and teams behind the stories worked so hard to get their books out there that I cannot simply pass them over without comment. So here are some catch up reviews for books I have read “in lockdown”

Knife Edge – Simon Mayo

You never know where danger may come from…

6.45am. A sweltering London rush hour. And in the last 29 minutes, seven people have been murdered.

In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift.

The victims have one thing in common: they make up the investigations team at the news agency where Famie works. The question everyone’s asking: what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation?

As Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she must find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim…

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

I know that Simon Mayo has had a number of successful books which are aimed at younger readers so I was keen to see how the transition to the adult market would be recieved. If Knife Edge is reflection on the excitement and tension he brought to his earlier books then I can see why his previous titles are held in such high regard. This was a highly enjoyable thriller.

Focus is on Famie Madden, she works for one of the top media outlets in the country and on the day we join her story she is in the hot-seat for co-ordinating all the stories which are going to air. However, Famie is soon to find the news is coming far too close to home – a series of murders in London all take place during the start of the morning rush hour. The attacks are clearly linked and must have been conducted by different people as they are spread around the city. As more information starts to come through to Famie and her team they realise that all the victims are their colleagues.

It is a shocking opening to the story and Famie is impacted more than most as she had been in a secret relationship with one of the victims. Naturally Famie wants answers so she begins to look into what story her colleagues may have been working on that brought about their terrible fate.

Knife Edge has all the thrills you need from a high stakes thriller. After a dynamic start the pace does slow a touch but it’s a steady build up back to a corking finale. While there haven’t been many opportunities to post recommendations for a summer beach read – Knife Edge falls into that category. The paperback is out in March 2021 so keep this one in mind when the good weather returns and you are planning some relaxing downtime. If you can’t wait that long then hardback, digital and audio copies are all available now!

Knife Edge is published by Doubleday and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WFS252B/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The Photographer – Craig Robertson

The sergeant took some from each box and spread them around the floor so they could all see. Dozens upon dozens of them. DI Rachel Narey’s guess was that there were a few hundred in all.

Photographs.

Many of them were in crowd scenes, some just sitting on a park bench or walking a dog or waiting for a bus or working in shops. They seemed to have no idea they’d been photographed.

A dawn raid on the home of a suspected rapist leads to a chilling discovery, a disturbing collection hidden under floorboards. Narey is terrified at the potential scale of what they’ve found and of what brutalities it may signal.
When the photographs are ruled inadmissible as evidence and the man walks free from court, Narey knows she’s let down the victim she’d promised to protect and a monster is back on the streets.
Tony Winter’s young family is under threat from internet trolls and he is determined to protect them whatever the cost. He and Narey are in a race against time to find the unknown victims of the photographer’s lens – before he strikes again.

I was at the launch of The Photographer and Craig Robertson gave a very powerful demonstration of the inherent creepiness behind an element of this story. It made me uncomfortable but made me really want to read The Photographer to see how the author addressed the issue in the book.

I was horrified to realise that a good many months (far, far too many) have passed since that launch event and that a review I thought I had written remained outstanding. The good thing about a good book is that it doesn’t go away and on a recent trip to my local bookshop I saw copies of The Photographer on the shelves waiting to find new readers. Go find it – this is a powerful and brilliantly told story.

Photographs – taken without the consent of the subject, or without the subject even knowing they were being photographed, have been found by DI Rachel Narey while she searched the home of a suspected rapist. What was already a harrowing case has taken an even more sinister turn. Narey is convinced her suspect is guilty of the rape she is investigating but now she wonders what other crimes he may have committed. She will throw herself at this case in the pursit of justice and in doing so will bring danger to her home.

This is an incredibly tense read and it’s another cracking addition to what is already a brilliant series. Craig Robertson knows how to hold his readers attention and I found I lost huge chunks of time engrossed in The Photographer. The scenes of tension and peril are nicely balanced out with lighter moments between Narey and Winter as their relationship further develops and they juggle their time between work and caring for their young daughter.

It is always a reading treat to spend time with one of Craig Robertson’s books – if you haven’t read any of his books before now then there is no time like the present to start!

The Photographer is published by Simon & Schuster and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XKH76MX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

Category: From The Bookshelf, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off