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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

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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

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October 27

Betrayal – Lilja Sigurdardóttir

When aid worker Úrsula returns to Iceland for a new job, she’s drawn into the dangerous worlds of politics, corruption and misogyny … a powerful, relevant, fast-paced standalone thriller.

Burned out and traumatised by her horrifying experiences around the world, aid worker Úrsula has returned to Iceland. Unable to settle, she accepts a high-profile government role in which she hopes to make a difference again.

But on her first day in the post, Úrsula promises to help a mother seeking justice for her daughter, who had been raped by a policeman, and life in high office soon becomes much more harrowing than Úrsula could ever have imagined. A homeless man is stalking her – but is he hounding her, or warning her of some danger? And why has the death of her father in police custody so many years earlier reared its head again?

As Úrsula is drawn into dirty politics, facing increasingly deadly threats, the lives of her stalker, her bodyguard and even a witch-like cleaning lady intertwine. Small betrayals become large ones, and the stakes are raised ever higher…

My thanks to Orenda Books for a review copy of Betrayal and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Betrayal blog tour.

When I first started this blog I had no expectation around where it may lead. I used to read quite a lot of books each week but would stick to familiar authors and got caught up in too many ongoing series but I didn’t really push myself into trying titles I would not normally have considered. To keep my blog fun for myself, I promised myself that I would try to bring myself out of my reading comfort zone and try new authors or consider reading books I would never likely have been aware of.

Why am I telling you this? Today’s review is the 800th post on Grab This Book – it is for an Icelandic political thriller and I am quite confident this is not a book which would have been on my radar had I not spent the last six years on the fringes of crime fiction’s blogging community. I would have missed out on this (and many other) great thrillers and it would mean I would not be encouraging more people to read Betrayal and enter the seemingly dark world of Icelandic politics.

Thanks for keeping me company over the last 800 blog posts. Regular readers will know that I have featured many books by the newly annointed winner of the Best Crime/Thriller Publisher Dagger Award – Orenda Books. When I am looking for stories which take me into new reading territories then the Orenda library is easily the best place to begin looking. “Mama Orenda”, Karen Sullivan has a phenomonal ability to find the most powerful authors and get incredible stories into the hands of readers.

To Betrayal: the story begins with Úrsula, who is being lined up to take a ministerial post in the Icelandic government. She is not affiliated with any party but both sides of the political divide agree she is a great neutral candidate to step into post. Always up for a challenge the former aid worker is putting warzones behind her to return home but is she stepping into a new type of conflict?

Úrsula has to find her feet quickly but her department seems well run and she can rely upon the support of her staff. On her first day a distressed mother appeals to Úrsula to assist with a rape case – her daughter was attacked by a police officer but her attempts for justice and a fair hearing for her daughter has gone nowhere.

Outside her office and without her knowledge a streetsleeper has recognised Úrsula and is determined to ensure she understands she has allied with “the Devil”. He will stalk her and find ways to leave messages for Úrsula and her initial decision to decline a ministerial car and bodyguard appear to be serious mistakes.

We also get to spend chapters in the company of some other interesting characters. First there is Úrsula’s bodyguard who is dealing with online attacks against his new boss and a jealous girlfriend at home. Then we have Úrsula’s smoking buddy; a cleaner at the ministry who may also be a witch but is certainly a party goer who winds up matchmaking for a TV newsreader. There is also Úrsula’s family, her colleagues and a journalist who is paying her lots of attention.

With so many plates spinning for Úrsula and story threads woven by Lilja Sigurdardóttir to keep her readers hooked you will find Betrayal spins along at a cracking pace. There’s always something to keep you wanting to read more and I was somewhat bereft when I reached the end of the book and realised my time with these engaging characters was over.

Betrayal is published by Orenda Books and is available in digital and paperback. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betrayal-Lilja-Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir-ebook/dp/B088671XP2/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&qid=1603730427&refinements=p_27%3ALilja+Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir&s=digital-text&sr=1-5&text=Lilja+Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir

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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

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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

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October 18

Stone Cold Trouble – Amer Anwar

Set in the heart of West London’s Asian community, this is the latest instalment in the unmissable ZAQ & JAGS series . . .

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 . . . ?

I originally recieved a review copy from the author prior to publicaiton but subsequently bought and read my own copy which I purchased after release

No messing about on this review – Stone Cold Trouble is nailed on for a full five star review. I bloody loved it. My only regret (and this is on me) is that I didn’t read the first Zaq and Jags book – Brothers In Blood – before I read Stone Cold Trouble. As the books follow the story of the lead characters there were some small spoilers, I assume, as to how the first story panned out. So I shall hold off for a few weeks then revisit this feisty duo so I can enjoy their debut adventure.

But Stone Cold Trouble is the focus for today and I want to rave about it a little. It’s fast paced, tension packed, funny, engrossing and one of the best page turners I have picked up for many a month.

Zaq Kahn is the lead character and we pick up his story as he agrees to help his friend, Jag, with a family problem. It turns out Jags uncle “Lucky” was not so lucky in a high-stakes card game. He used a family heirloom as a marker against a bet but now can’t get the necklace back – turns out the other guy wants the necklace more than the cash he was owed. Lucky wants Jags and Zaq to help him get back the necklace before Lucky’s wife discovers it is missing. Recovering the necklace will prove to be somewhat problematic and these scenes provide much of the light relief in the early part of the story.

The light relief is necessary as Zaq has a much more serious issue to contend with. His younger brother has been rushed to hospital after being badly beaten and left for dead. While sitting by his brother’s hospital bed Zaq vows to find those responsible and seek some retribution. Stone Cold Trouble is Zaq trying to juggle a personal investigation into the attack on his brother, recover a stolen necklace and keep his brother company in hospital while his brother fights for his life. There is no shortage of action points and Amer Anwar juggles the balance of tension, action and quieter scenes perfectly.

I found Stone Cold Trouble to be pure reading fun. The story flowed and twisted and I got totally caught up in events – one of those gems which you get half-way through and find that you don’t want the story to end. Highly recommended and I cannot wait to see what else Zaq and Jags will get up to in future.

Stone Cold Trouble is published by Dialogue Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07SZL5BJX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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October 10

The Point Of No Return (Audiobook) – 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.

I am an Audible member and I bought the Point Of No Return audiobook on release.

Some housekeeping first and an apology to Neil Broadfoot. This is the third Connor Fraser book but the first I have reviewed. Earlier this year I read the second book, No Place to Die, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, this was one of the books I was reading when we first went into the March 2020 Covid Lockdown. A quick glance at my blog archive will show very little reviews were prepared over the first few months of the year as I found it incredibly difficult to keep focus on anything at that time. I stuggled and reviews which should have been written were not. My apologies to Neil for missing the paperback publication window of No Place to Die with a review I did so want to write.

The earlier Connor Fraser titles are readily available in paperback and digital format. Connor’s story builds with each book (though each title can be read as a stand alone). If you haven’t already read the previous books No Mans Land and No Place To Die then I would encourage you to pick them up and immerse yourself in these terrific stories.

The Point Of No Return opens with a miscarriage of justice being corrected. Some 14 years ago Colin Sanderson was convicted of the brutal murders of two students. The reader is left in no doubt that Sanderson is a nasty piece of work and there are interested parties, other than the police, unhappy to see his conviction overturned after his lawyer found an irregularity in the evidence used to secure the original Guilty verdict. Sanderson is free and is not looking to slip quietly into the background. A PR firm have ensured he will be given a platform to air his grievances (he has many) and there is talk of a book deal to allow him to tell his story. Enter Donna Blake, reporter for Sky News who is handed exclusive interview rights and the lure of the chance to ghost-write Sanderson’s book. Donna is a friend of Connor’s and their paths have previously crossed in devastating ways.

Just a few days after his release Sanderson manages to shake off the observation team working for Connor’s security firm. During the period where he is not being watched another murder takes place on the Stirling University campus. There are stiking similarities between the new murder and the deaths of the two students Sanderson was accused of committing. Have the courts freed a murderer on a technicality?

There is a constant sense of peril surrounding both Connor and Donna in The Point Of No Return. Neil Broadfoot managed make me believe both characters were just one step away from falling foul of a dangerous killer. I love when a story grips me in the way Point Of No Return did.

It should be noted there are also some emotive scenes away from the murders where Connor is starting to understand his own family history a bit better. His relationship with his father is strained but he dotes on his grandmother,who is in ailing health. Connor’s relationship with his gran and his father come into close scrutiny and he will not always like what he discovers when he starts asking questions about their past. Families have their secrets and Connor is going to have to face some unpleasant realisations before this book reaches its climax.

The Point Of No Return delivers a cracking murder story and anyone that enjoys a great thriller cannot go wrong with this one.

Huge shout to the team behind the audiobook too. Narration duties were handled by Angus King and he was excellent. There is a fair sized cast in this story and King gave each their own voice and brought the characters to life. Audiobooks can really let down a great book if the vocal performances are jarring or the voices chosen are unsuited to the material presented. In the case of The Point Of No Return there were no concerns – this is a polished and quality production and the source material shines.

Great book and a cracking addition to the Connor Fraser series. Don’t miss out on these stories – they are too good to let them slip by.

The Point Of No Return is published in Hardcover, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085PV4NHV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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September 21

How The Wired Weep – Ian Patrick

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.

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour for How The Wired Weep. I purchased this book prior to accepting the invitation to join the tour.

I don’t really know where to start with this review – I loved this book and I am not sure how to convey some of the emotions I had while reading.

How The Wired Weep is an intense story, small core characters living on the front line of police and gang divide. The story is told from both viewpoints. Ed is our police detective. He has a contact within a gang who is feeding him important information. He receives tip offs about where drugs are stashed, guns are moved around and other activities which the police will try to clamp down on.

Ed’s source is Ben (not his real name). Recently out of prison and keen not to return. He is an excellent driver and used by Troy (head of one of the London criminal networks) to run errands and pick up and deliver drugs and weapons. Ben seems to be moving up in Troy’s trust as he gets more important tasks to complete. But the greater the task the greater the risk.

Ben drips info to Ed but is ever aware that to be caught means certain retribution. Ed knows Ben is unreliable. He is a drug user and a criminal so it is a fine line the police need to tread to keep their source on the street while not digging too deep into what Ben may not be telling them about his daily activities.

Readers see Ed trying to keep Ben on yhe right side of the law where he can. We also see Ben’s reactions to Ed’s good intentions. It is a fascinating dynamic and both men are deeply entrenched in the life of the other – even if they may not always see it as such.

Away from their interactions with each other Ian Patrick shows the intensity of Eds job against his home life. Ed and his wife are trying fertility treatment but the demands of work always seem to stop Ed having conversations with his wife. It is quite distressing to see her desperately trying to get their family together but Eds job getting in the way. Making this worse is that we also see how close Ed is to his colleagues and the trust and reliance they need to have in each other. In terms of character development and authenticity everyone in this story feels solid and real – the life experiences we are seeing them handle make them so believable.

I can’t recommend this story enough. It is the police trying to manage the street but the street is too big and chaotic. It’s compelling and so vividly told that you will be hooked. Read this!

How The Wired Weep is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08B64GXK1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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September 10

You Can Trust Me – Emma Rowley

You can trust me.

But can I trust you?

Olivia is the domestic goddess who has won millions of followers by sharing her picture-perfect life online. And now she’s releasing her tell-all autobiography. For professional ghostwriter Nicky it’s the biggest job of her career. But as she delves deeper into Olivia’s life, cracks begin to appear in the glamorous façade. From the strained relationship with her handsome husband, to murky details of a tragic family death in her childhood, the truth belies Olivia’s perfect public image. But why is Olivia so desperate to leave an old tragedy well alone? And how far will she go to keep Nicky from the truth?

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy and the opportunity to join the blog tour

Who doesn’t love a story about secrets? In You Can Trust Me there are plenty of secrets which ghostwriter, Nicky, is determined to uncover.

Nicky is recently single and struggling to meet the rent on the flat she shared with her ex. Now that he is out the picture the rent has become steeper than she can comfortably manage making it difficult for Nicky to turn down work.

As a ghostwriter Nicky has developed a good reputation with the agency who engages her services. Obviously her CV cannot list the titles she has written (all confidential) but the agency will send her projects to consider. When we first meet Nicky she is just wrapping up a book for a celebrity chef and making minor amendments to reflect the fact secrets from his private life have just been splashed over the newspapers in recent days. All part of the job!

The underwhelming prospect of a new project with a Coupon Lady from TV is all the reward Nicky faces. However an urgent request that she write a book for one of social media’s high profile influencers leaves Nicky little time to prepare or to take a breather from her last project. She needs to make a snap decision but the lure of working with the enigmatic and seemingly perfect Olivia is too good an opportunity to turn down. Nicky hurriedly packs and dashes to meet Olivia in her country home.

From the moment the two meet there seem to be problems. Olivia is secretive, withdrawn from the writing process, reluctant to engage too fully or share personal information. Nicky needs to get her to open up and share some personal details or she may find it impossible to write Olivia’s book for her.

Olivia’s reluctance is only half the problem as Nicky seems overwhelmed and awkward in the presence of her client. Misunderstandings and accidents around Olivia’s home leave Nicky feeling exasperated and on the back foot. Unable to draw out her client in conversation Nicky starts to snoop around her home and to ask questions about the family in the nearby village. Here she stumbles upon potential dynamite – Olivia’s family has a huge secret and if Nicky can get her to talk about it there will be fireworks ahead.

Emma Rowley has woven a clever tale here – there are lots of secrets in this book for Nicky to uncover and once you know what they are you realise you have spotted some secrets too – only you didn’t know it. Nicky’s awkward demeanour and frustrated attempts to do her job won me onto her side and I got frustrated with the cool attitude of Olivia. However something happens which makes you consider Olivia in a new light. Can she trust Nicky to write her story? Will Nicky get to the truth or will she accept what Olivia has told her? How far does a high profile influencer need to go to protect the pictue perfect world ahead has built up for herself?

Nicely paced, clever surprises dropped into the story and some well realised characters made this a fun read.

You Can Trust Me is published by Orion and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07C1ZMHXH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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September 6

The Thursday Murder Club (Audiobook) – Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

My thanks to Chloe at Penguin Random House for the opportunity to listen to The Thursday Murder Club audiobook ahead of the publication date.

After a summer of COVID related publication delays this week saw a tsunami of new titles heading our way. Many debut authors will get lost in the flurry but as one of the most familiar faces on our telly boxes I doubt that will apply to Richard Osman. Indeed a quick glance at the Amazon charts shows that The Thursday Murder Club is sitting in the top ten Mystery titles. But here’s the thing – this is a good book and irrespective of how well known the author may be a good story shines through and The Thursday Murder Club definately shines.

I was invited to join the blog tour for the audiobook of The Thursday Murder Club so the past two weeks I have spent my time in the company of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron; four residents of a retirement village in once of the nicer areas in Southern England. Much of the story is seen through the eyes of Joyce (as relayed to her diary) however narrative does change viewpoints and we get a good opportunity to view many different events and discussions as the story unfolds. This is extremely helpful as there is a lot going on down in Coopers Chase village where our amatur sleuths reside.

For clarity, the Thursday Murder Club are not a gang of aged killers biding their time to pick off the next victim. Elizabeth is good friends with a former police inspector who now finds herself hospitalized and seemingly receiving end of life care. The police officer and Elizabeth (along with Ron and Ibrahim) would review old case files and try to find clues which the investigating teams may have missed many years before. Their endeavours are keeping their minds active and deep down Elizabeth knows there is little hope of actually catching a killer. At the start of the story we see Joyce (former nurse) being consulted by Elizabeth on the liklihood of a stabbing victim dying within a certain timeframe. Having considered the extent of the wounds – Elizabeth has crime scene photographs for reference – Joyce is able to surmise there was time between stabbing and death for the victim to have received medical assistance which would surely have saved her life. Elizabeth concurred and Joyce appears to have passed the “entry exam” and is invited to join the Thursday Murder Club. Thus Joyce and the reader become members of Elizabeth’s core circle.

Archive files are all well and good but when an actual (brutal) murder takes place and the members of the Thursday Murder Club knew the victim, the old cases are promptly forgotten as there is a killer to be found. Using their combined skills Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce and Ibrahim manage to befriend the local community police officer, get her brought into the team investigating the murder and then work their charms on her boss to facilitate an exhange of information to ensure they are kept up to date on the progress of the police investigation.

If that sounds whimiscal and unlikely then you may well be right but it is fun and that’s what’s really important here. Richard Osman has crafted a light hearted, funny and engaging story. It is cozy crime but with an unexpectedly large death count by the end of the story and there are so many charming, tender and emotive moments in the book that you can find yourself laughing one paragraph only to have a casual throwaway line in the next bringing a tear-prick to your eyes. Joyce’s Jersey Boys story nearly did for me.

The hook in this story is not the murder or even the investigation. It is very much the characters – the four Club members, Donna and Chris the two police officers investigating the murder, the gangsters who knew the victim (he was one of them) and the dozens of supporting characters that come and go as life goes on around the Coopers Chase retirment village. If you enjoy larger than life characters wonderfully realised on page then Richard Osman is your current go-to book of choice…he nails it.

I do need to point out that it took me a while to embrace this story. The narrative style is very conversational and that took me some time to get my head around. Characters have conversations with lots of tangents, drifting off point to discuss the daughter of the person they met and oh she had a new car and her husband is not the nicest chap in town. It is a frighteningly realistic portrayal of group discussions in a retirement home and adds so much more insight into how the characters are thinking but when I was reading I was initially horrified about having to listen to all the ramblings. But the ramblings are sometimes important, they are often emotive or funny and they can lead to some unexpected outcomes. I am more accustomed to dark and edgy crime thrillers so the mental shift to cosy, chatty was needed. I think I was around 90 mins into the audiobook (over 10 hours in length) before I embraced it fully. And I am glad I did.

The all important information you need to know about the audiobook is how does the narration sound? Leading us through this story is Lesley Manville – she was a great choice and made Joyce, Elizabeth and the others really come to life for me. She has, what I consider to be, a posh English accent which I associate with tea with the vicar, the chair of the local WI branch and someone who uses the word “frightful” in every day conversation. Not much like the voices I hear in my neighbourhood on the edge of Glasgow! But it works perfectly for The Thursday Murder Club and that’s the key.

Not my usual listen as I tend not to enjoy the cosy crime stories but The Thursday Murder Club had so much going on and was written with buckets of charm and clever, clever red herrings I could not help but love it. Not too shabby at all – good job Mr Osman!

The Thursday Murder Club is available in hardback, digital and (obviously) audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S5D5TH7/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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