From The Bookshelf – Page 34

My Girl – Jack Jordan

Paige Dawson: the mother of a murdered child and wife to a dead man.

She has nothing left to live for… until she finds her husband’s handgun hidden in their house.

Why did Ryan need a gun? What did he know about their daughter’s death?

Desperate for the truth, Paige begins to unearth her husband’s secrets.

But she has no idea who she is up against, or that her life isn’t hers to gamble – she belongs to me.

My thanks to Jack for my review copy and for the chance to host a leg of the My Girl blog tour.

Normally I open reviews by sketching an outline of the story, perhaps highlighting central themes or positioning the type of story I have read. Yet I find that My Girl is posing a problem – I don’t want to spoil anything as I am going to implore you to read it and for the full impact of Mr Jordan’s gobsmacking story you *must* avoid spoilers!

Okay lets try this…

Paige is in a spiral of despair. Her daughter was murdered, her husband has taken his own life and Paige has a drink and drugs dependency. The story follows Paige and we watch her life falling apart around her, she alienates her in-laws, runs from the help that her father tries to find for her and is pushing away her brother when he tries to get her to moderate her behaviour.

As I read about Paige I swung between pity for her situation and frustration that she just could not seem to find the strength she seemed to need to start to fight back and try to kick her addictions. Many of her worst moments are recounted in flashback – Paige waking with a hangover to realise (or be told) what she had been doing, I really enjoyed how Jack Jordan mixed up the worst of the incidents, watching them unfold ‘real time’ in some chapters then describing events in flashback in the next.

Needless to say that I did not see Paige’s story turning out well for her. Just how horrifically things go wrong totally caught me off guard. Pity gave way to horror. My reading speed (which was already pretty speedy) picked up pace and I flew through My Girl. Not knowing how events would turn out was just not an option – this was compelling reading.

This is a book for the reader that likes their stories to have a dark and twisted edge. I started My Girl knowing only that a couple of my most trusted fellow bloggers had loved it. I am now adding my voice to their praise – this is a cracking story.

My Girl is released on 4 July 2016 and you can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Girl-Jack-Jordan-ebook/dp/B01F7U2SVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1465605107&sr=1-1&keywords=jack+jordan

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June 9

Dear Amy – Helen Callaghan

Margot Lewis is the agony aunt for The Cambridge Enquirer. Her advice column, Dear Amy, gets all kinds of letters – but none like the one she’s just received:

Dear Amy,
I don’t know where I am. I’ve been kidnapped and am being held prisoner by a strange man. I’m afraid he’ll kill me.
Please help me soon,
Bethan Avery

Bethan Avery has been missing for years. This is surely some cruel hoax. But, as more letters arrive, they contain information that was never made public. How is this happening? Answering this question will cost Margot everything . . .

My thanks to Michael Joseph for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

Dear Amy opens with Katie Browne packing to run away from home. She has had enough of life with her mum (and her mum’s new partner) so Katie is setting off to go to her father’s house. But as she makes her way through the darkening streets she finds there are worse things than being unhappy at home.

Katie doesn’t make it to her father’s house.

Margot is a teacher who also runs a feature column (entitled Dear Amy) for the local Cambridge newspaper. She provides guidance and advice on health and relationship issues, suggests shelters for victims of domestic abuse and offers a reliable and confidential option for those in need who feel that they have no one else to turn to.

Margot collects her Dear Amy mail from the newspaper offices. She finds a letter from a young girl who is claiming to have been abducted and that she is being held captive against her will. But the letter states that the girl is called Bethan Avery – a girl who disappeared almost 20 years earlier. How can Margot be receiving letters from a girl who has been missing for so many years? How is a kidnap victim able to send a letter? And why has she suddenly decided to write to Margot? I HAD to know so I HAD to keep reading.

Taking the letters to the police Margot finds herself caught up in a missing person investigation. Although Bethan has been missing for 2 decades there is a small ‘cold case’ team who believe that there may be links between Bethan’s disappearance and the recent disappearance of young Katie Browne.

Dear Amy falls into the vulnerable narrator category. Margot, despite enjoying success through her Dear Amy column and being a popular teacher (rare), has a few issues to face. She is negotiating the final stages of a divorce settlement with her (soon to be ex) husband and as the story unfolds we learn that Margot has managed to overcome some troubled teenage years. I particularly enjoyed Helen Callaghan’s skilful drip feed of important elements from Margot’s background and I enjoyed learning how she managed to overcome these issues and face them down.

Margot’s story and her bid to help Bethan (and possibly Katie) took some unexpected twists and turns. I had lots of fun reading Dear Amy, it certainly did not follow a path I was expecting and I really enjoyed how Helen Callaghan was able to draw me in to the story and keep me hooked. Definitely one to watch out for and BEWARE SPOILERS.

Dear Amy is published by Michael Joseph on 16 June 2016 and can be ordered here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0718183754?keywords=dear%20amy&qid=1458165185&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_har_1&sr=8-1

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June 8

Epiphany Jones – Michael Grothaus

Jerry has a traumatic past that leaves him subject to psychotic hallucinations and depressive episodes. When he stands accused of stealing a priceless Van Gogh painting, he goes underground, where he develops an unwilling relationship with a woman who believes that the voices she hears are from God.

Involuntarily entangled in the illicit world of sex-trafficking amongst the Hollywood elite, and on a mission to find redemption for a haunting series of events from the past, Jerry is thrust into a genuinely shocking and outrageously funny quest to uncover the truth and atone for historical sins.

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and the chance to host this leg of the blog tour.

From page one, I knew I was going to love this book. What I hadn’t realised at that early point was just how much!

Meet Jerry. He has had a rough old time of it whilst growing up. He sees imaginary people (his ‘figments’), he is depressive, dangerously addicted to celebrity internet porn (fake) and may have stolen a Van Gogh painting from work (but he isn’t sure). Jerry’s life is about to change in ways that he could never possibly have imagined and it is all down to a girl called Epiphany Jones – but can Jerry even be sure she is real?

If you read the introductory text from the book and took in the phrase sex-trafficking and then spotted my reference to internet porn you will realise that Epiphany Jones may not be catering for everyone’s tastes. There are some very dark, graphic and disturbing scenes in this book. They are powerful, emotive, chilling and excellently handled by the author. The harsh backdrop of the story is often lifted by laugh out loud moments as there are some wonderfully comedic scenes to enjoy too…Jerry’s visit to his mother’s house is worth the admission price alone.

So with Jerry’s life in turmoil what of the titular Ms Jones? Well she is something of an enigma. Her history is a closed book. She shares nothing more than she has to and she maintains she hears God’s voice as He is guiding her mission. Jerry and Epiphany are the oddest couple I have encountered in a long time yet it works!

It absolutely and totally works.

Their conflicted relationship (not that type) bounces from flashpoint to flashpoint and the pair frequently clash. Well Jerry clashes – Epiphany just deals with it as she knows that God has brought them together for a reason.

Grothaus has taken the dark subject of sex-trafficking and made it a bedfellow of the glitz, glamour and sleaze of Hollywood. Worlds collide in spectacular fashion and Jerry and Epiphany are caught up in the middle of the carnage. It makes for utterly compulsive reading.

I cannot say enough good things about Epiphany Jones, it was a phenomenal read and, at the end, it left me somewhat traumatised. I have concentrated on the dark subjects and the black humour but there is a love story lurking, a story of self discovery and a tale of a lost soul trying to be found. This is a book that needs to be read – assuming you can handle it.

Epiphany Jones is the perfect blend of thrills, comedy and darkness. It is going to take something special to top it this year, but I know already that this is going to be a book that I will recommend for many years to come.

A 5/5 review score for Epiphany Jones – but only because I cannot score it more than 5. It blew me away.

Epiphany Jones is published by Orenda Booka and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here.

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June 7

Twisted River: Siobhan MacDonald

Limerick, Ireland: Oscar Harvey finds the body of a woman in a car boot, beaten and bloody. But let’s start at the beginning…

Kate and Mannix O’Brien live in a lovely Limerick house they can barely afford. Their autistic son is bullied at school and their daughter Izzy wishes she could protect him. When Kate spots a gorgeous New York flat on a home-exchange website, she decides her family needs a holiday.

Hazel and Oscar Harvey, and their two children, live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Though they seem successful, Hazel has mysterious bruises and Oscar is hiding something.

Hazel is keen to revisit her native Limerick, and the house swap offers a perfect chance to soothe both troubled marriages.

But this will be anything but a perfect break. And the body is just the beginning.

My thanks to Heloise at EDPR for my review copy

Twisted River opens with a punch – a car is standing in the driveway beside a house. A woman’s body is being bundled into the boot of a car when two children appear asking their father where their mother has gone…

Brilliant opening and it made me want to keep reading but Siobhan MacDonald gets nasty at this point and jumps us back in time to spend some time outlining the events that led up to that shocking opening.

Twisted River tells the story of two families. One from Ireland, the other from the US. The reader is introduced to the two households and we learn that all is not well on either side of the pond. The mothers of the house, Kate and Hazel, each feel that a change of scene will do their respective families the world of good. With Hazel keen to return to her native Ireland and Kate desperate to allow her son the chance to see New York City, the two families agree a house swap.

But Kate and Hazel will soon learn that leaving your problems at your doorstep isn’t as easy as they would hope – particularly when crossing someone else’s doorstep means you inherit some of their problems too.

I found Twisted River to be a pretty enjoyable read. As a speed reader, with multiple books on the go at any one time, I did struggle initially keeping up with which character belonged in which family. That is more a reflection on me than on the author (I am terrible with names) but it did mean that I had to back track a couple of times to place the scene. As I got deeper into the plot this minor inconvenience faded and I enjoyed where the story was going.

Dysfunctional families throw up some interesting dynamics and the author managed to capture and convey the sibling rivalry and domestic grief well. I also thought the scenes where both families arrived at their new ‘homes’ were very well constructed and I actually felt the enjoyment and wonder that the two families were experiencing as they explored their new environments.

This is Siobhan MacDonald’s debut novel and I would definitely be inclined to pick up more books by this author. The characters were well realised, the story was well paced and kept me guessing. By the time we were back at the boot scene I can confess I was totally wrong about what I thought would have occurred to lead us up to that point.

Definitely a book which is worth your consideration.

Twisted River is published by Canelo and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twisted-River-unmissable-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B01DUPBA3W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465256131&sr=8-1&keywords=twisted+river

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June 6

Long Time Lost – Chris Ewan

Nick Miller and his team provide a unique and highly illegal service, relocating at-risk individuals across Europe with new identities and new lives. Nick excels at what he does for a reason: he’s spent years living in the shadows under an assumed name.
But when Nick steps in to prevent the attempted murder of witness-in-hiding Kate Sutherland on the Isle of Man, he triggers a chain of events with devastating consequences for everyone he protects – because Nick and Kate share a common enemy in Connor Lane, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means tearing Nick’s entire network apart.

My thanks to Sophie at Faber for my review copy

Last year I really enjoyed Chris Ewan’s Dark Tides. It was a claustrophobic, atmospheric thriller. This year Chris brings us Long Time Lost and shows his skills on a much larger platform as this is a globetrotting action adventure. It is also a damn fine read!

Nick Miller is a man with secrets. He comes to the rescue of Kate Sutherland who narrowly avoids death when the witness protection scheme fails her. Kate places her trust in Nick to keep her safe until such time as she can get to court to testify.

Miller, working with a handpicked team, is keeping a small number of people safe in various European cities. He has developed a surreptitious means for keeping track of them and as long as everyone follows Miller’s rules their safety will be assured. But there is one key question that everyone in the story must be able to answer: “Can you keep a secret?”

Kate and Miller are caught up in a desperate rush across Europe as Miller’s “clients” become targets.

Back at home, the police are very keen to catch up with Nick Miller. It seems that Miller has secrets of his own and if he values his continued freedom then he needs to keep off the radar too.

Long Time Lost is a tense thrill ride. Chris Ewan keeps the action zipping along and when we meet the bad guys that Kate and Miller are trying to escape, the tension cranks up a notch or two.

Chris Ewan always seems to create characters that I actually care about (given the number of books I can have on the go at any one time this is not something I say often). I had lots of fun reading Long Time Lost – it was one of the books I read long into the night when I really should have been trying to sleep. Perfect reading for thriller fans.

Long Time Lost is published by Faber & Faber. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Time-Lost-Chris-Ewan-ebook/dp/B01B8GDRKE/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1464996879&sr=1-1

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June 4

Harvest Festival – Karl Drinkwater

First the birds went quiet. Then the evening sky filled with strange clouds that trapped the heat below. Now Callum wakes, dripping in sweat. Something has come to his isolated Welsh farm. If he’s going to keep his family alive during this single night when all hell breaks loose, he’ll have to think fast. And when he sees what he’s facing, he suspects even that may not be enough.

One of my own purchases this one but special shout-out ‘thanks’ to Sarah Hardy from By The Letter Book Reviews who wrote the review that made me buy Harvest Festival.

A shorter review as this is a novella and I don’t want to spoil too much of Harvest Festival as the fun is in the unknown in this one.

On a remote Welsh farm a family awake to find intruders on their property. Callum leaves the safety of the home to investigate who is snooping around his farmyard – what he finds is both shocking and terrifying and now Callum has made himself and his family into targets.

What begins as a picture of a typical family scene soon flips into a terrifying fight for survival. I enjoyed how the author took time to ensure we cared about Callum and his family before the peril kicks in. Once the danger had arrived the pace picked up and remained relentless.

Harvest Festival was a straight through, single sitting read. I really enjoyed where the author took the story and the finale left me hoping Callum’s family would come through unscathed – sadly I cannot tell you if they did…no spoilers!

Harvest Festival is published by Organic Apocalypse and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harvest-Festival-Karl-Drinkwater/dp/1911278088/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1464993546&sr=8-7&keywords=harvest+festival

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June 1

Security – Gina Wohlsdorf

When the gleaming new Manderley Resort opens in twenty-four hours, Santa Barbara’s exclusive beachfront hotel will offer its patrons the ultimate in luxury and high-tech security. No indulgence has been ignored, no detail overlooked. But all the money in the world can’t guarantee safety. As hotel manager Tessa and her employees ready the hotel for its invitation-only grand opening, a killer is in their midst. One by one, staff are picked off with ruthless precision. And before the night is over, as Tessa desperately struggles to survive, it will become clear that the strangest and most terrible truth at Manderley is simply this: someone is watching.

My thanks to Claire Bowles PR for my review copy.

Security is a slasher movie in a book. The cast is small, the book plays out entirely within the rooms and corridors of a grand hotel and there is a deadly game of cat and mouse about to unfold.

In the new Manderley hotel the employees prepping for the grand opening. It’s the end of the working day and most of the staff are leaving for the night. The manager, Tessa, is running a final check over her new domain, the chef is prepping, the housekeeper is polishing and a killer is cleaning his knife, removing the blood which coats the blade.

On the top floor is a security suite. Cameras are discretely hidden all around the hotel and someone is always watching but who is watching the killer and why are they not doing anything to alert the authorities?

I read Security in a day. I couldn’t get through it quick enough and the book helped with this as the action was coming quick and fast. Some pages are cleverly written to reflect one moment in time seen through two, three or four security cameras – the page divided to show different viewpoints and track the subjects moving around the hotel.

Tessa is a strong lead character and even amongst the backdrop of a murder story there is time for the author to develop a love story which may (or may not) all end in tears if our killer has their way.

A fast paced, adrenalin filled thriller. Gripping tension, grizzly scenes and a nail-biting finale…Security is one for those that like their crime stories crossing into horror territory.

Security is published by Algonquin Books on 13 July. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Security-Gina-Wohlsdorf/dp/1616205628/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464728096&sr=1-1&keywords=security+gina

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May 31

Deadly Harvest – Michael Stanley

A young girl goes missing after getting into a car with a mysterious man. Soon after, a second girl disappears, and her devastated father, Witness, sets out to seek revenge. As the trail goes cold, Samantha Khama – new recruit to the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department – suspects that the girl was killed for muti; traditional African medicine. She enlists opera-loving wine connoisseur Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Benga to help her dig into the past. But as they begin to find a pattern, Kubu and Samantha suddenly find they are in a race against time…

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour

The hunt is on for a Witch Doctor in Botswana. Not my normal type of read I had thought – but this is a cracking police procedural with a very distinctive setting and subject matter and I absolutely loved it.

A sinister Witch Doctor is promising power to men in Botswana who crave success in their chosen fields. The price of power is a high one which few can afford to pay. Even if you have the money then the Witch Doctor will require extra special materials to make his magic work.

Muti.

The remains of a young human, a life once full of energy and drive who will be murdered to fuel the ambitions of the corrupt and unworthy. It was quite unsettling reading how innocent young girls are abducted in plain sight and taken away to a fate unknown.

Detective Kubu is implored by his new colleague, Samantha Khama, to dig into the disappearance of several young girls but Kubu is focussed on the murder of a prominent politician. His bosses have stressed that Kubu must find the politician’s murderer as a matter of utmost priority. However, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that the politician’s murder may also tie in with the disappearance of one of the girls Samantha has been looking into.

Kubu and Samantha methodically work the cases and I loved seeing how their investigation progressed. Where leads start to run cold it was fascinating to see how Kubu utilised local beliefs and customs to shake information out of reluctant witnesses. Samantha, being younger and (in her eyes) much more practical, shunned Kubu’s superstitious methods – until it seems that they are starting to work.

How can the police overcome the deep-rooted fear of the evil power of the Witch Doctor, a man that can apparently make himself invisible if the need should arise, to get to the bottom of a series of murders? The challenge that faces Kubu is great, particularly when his own department is in a state of turmoil as a battle for power is subtly playing out.

I thought Deadly Harvest was magnificent, I just wanted to keep reading – I had to know how the story was going to play out. I know nothing of Botswana yet the authors made the country seem so real and vibrant. I look forward to meeting with Detective Kubu again in the future – a high bar has been set.

Deadly Harvest is published by Orenda Books and can be ordered in paperback or digital formats here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Harvest-Detective-Michael-Stanley/dp/1910633445/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464646053&sr=1-1&keywords=deadly+harvest

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May 25

Play Dead – Angela Marsons

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.

The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?

As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …?

The latest utterly addictive thriller from the No.1 bestseller Angela Marsons.

My thanks to Kim at Bookouture for my review copy and for the chance to join the blog tour.

Let me cut to the chase – Play Dead is brilliant. I am going to give it a 5 star score and I am going to urge you to read it. The only excuse you are permitted for not reading it immediately is that you have not yet read the first three books in the series. To be clear, you don’t *need* to have read them to start Play Dead…but why miss out on all the previous amazingness?

Still here? Then let me elaborate a bit on why Play Dead has had me hooked over the last couple of days.

First is the return of Kim Stone – a lead character that shuns social niceties, keeps everyone at a distance and has a deep rooted sense of justice that makes her an excellent police officer. She has, for me, been one of the stand-out characters in crime fiction since her debut in Silent Scream.

Next up a serial killer. Through flashbacks we are given a small insight into what may be motivating the brutal murders of local women, faces smashed, soil forced into their mouths. Their bodies are dumped in a secret research centre (a ‘body farm’) – the researchers particularly disturbed to have unexpected bodies landing in their facility. Nasty. But good Nasty.

Three – the return of Stone’s nemesis, journalist Tracy Frost. The interplay between these two makes for fabulous reading. Frost plays a much larger role in Play Dead but this may not necessarily be a good thing for her! Readers will get to know Ms Frost very well in Play Dead and I will wager that some opinions of the odious journalist will change as readers progress through the story. I found myself wondering how her relationship with Stone would have developed had they both been aware of their respective backgrounds before they crossed swords in a professional capacity. Shame we will not get to see how that develops in future books…or will we? **NO SPOILERS**

Four – not content with hitting her heroine with a demanding series of crimes to investigate we also learn a bit more about Kim’s background. And here Angela Marsons broke me a little. Returning readers will know that Kim had a tough childhood, elements of this are explored in more detail through Play Dead. If you have developed any emotional attachment to Kim’s character (and it seems I have) then some of the revelations will make for tough reading.

Getting upset on behalf of a fictional character? Yeah, that happened.

Five – EVERYTHING ELSE. The pages practically turned themselves and I didn’t want to stop reading. Play Dead sees Stone back at her tetchy best and I just cannot get enough of these stories. 5/5…oh I said that already.

The blog tour draws to a close tomorrow but you can catch up on all things Play Dead if you follow through all the tour hosts.

Play Dead is published by Bookouture and is available in paperback and digital formats.

You can order a copy of Play Dead here: http://amzn.to/1Mdiokh

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May 23

The Dark Inside – Rod Reynolds

1946, Texarkana: a town on the border of Texas and Arkansas. Disgraced New York reporter Charlie Yates has been sent to cover the story of a spate of brutal murders – young couples who’ve been slaughtered at a local date spot. Charlie finds himself drawn into the case by the beautiful and fiery Lizzie, sister to one of the victims, Alice – the only person to have survived the attacks and seen the killer up close.

But Charlie has his own demons to fight, and as he starts to dig into the murders he discovers that the people of Texarkana have secrets that they want kept hidden at all costs. Before long, Charlie discovers that powerful forces might be protecting the killer, and as he investigates further his pursuit of the truth could cost him more than his job…

Loosely based on true events, The Dark Inside is a compelling and pacy thriller that heralds a new voice in the genre. It will appeal to fans of RJ Ellory, Tom Franklin, Daniel Woodrell and True Detective.

My thanks to Sophie at Faber for my review copy

The Dark Inside is one of those stories which will totally get under your skin – in a good way. It made me rage at the characters, it made me worry when the lead character (Charlie Yates) wouldn’t listen to reason and the bullying – oh the bullying – at times it made me hate everyone in Texarkana. So well realised is the world of 1946 USA that Rod Reynolds took me to a time and a place far away from my mundane commute to work.

Charlie Yates is a disgraced reporter. He has clashed with his boss one time too many (early signs of the temper which will cause him problems throughout The Dark Inside) and he is sent to small town Texas to report on a series of brutal murders. But when he gets to Texarkana the authorities do not want a city reporter sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. They also don’t want to accept the possibility that the murders which have taken place may be the work of one man – a man as yet unidentified and who may possibly kill again. Yates is facing opposition to his investigations every where he turns. He is warned off pursuing leads and, when he doesn’t listen, the warnings become more forceful. Yates needs to leave town – while he still can.

The Dark Inside captures the mood and feeling of 1940’s USA. The setting is so very unusual in today’s crime fiction releases that it stands out from the crowd, distinctive, different and very memorable. Charlie Yates is a likeable lead character but he has some very real flaws which have brought his life to a real low-point, the inner demons that he faces add an interesting angle to the story.

I touched on the bullying. I hate bullying, but it is rife in Texarkana and Mr Reynolds plays this to wonderful effect. Was it a sign of the times? The powerful men of the town all believe that they call the shots, but there is always someone more powerful, someone with more knowledge and clout and one by one the bullies will fall. It kept me reading, that wait to see justice done, fairness restored and ‘good’ winning through. Did it? Well that would be a *spoiler*.

When when an author can make me angry at his characters then I know that I am reading a book I am going to love. When that book finishes and I immediately want to read more from that author then I am a happy reader.

This is a debut novel – it is a mighty fine thing. Assured writing, excellent pacing, wonderful characterisation (even those odious bullies) and a cracking murder mystery. Read this!

The Dark Inside is published by Faber & Faber and is available in paperback and digital formats. You can order a copy by clicking through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Inside-Charlie-Yates-mystery/dp/0571323057/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463954652&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dark+inside

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