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The Watcher – Kate Medina

If you see him it’s already too late…

‘A brilliant and believable female lead’ Good Housekeeping

Some secrets can’t be hidden.

The Fullers are the picture-perfect family, a wealthy couple with a grand home in the middle of remote woodland. But even they have something to hide – and it will prove fatal.

Some crimes can’t be forgotten.

Psychologist Dr Jessie Flynn and DI Marilyn Simmons arrive at the Fuller’s home to find a suburban nightmare. A crime scene more disturbing than anything they have ever encountered.

Some killers can’t be stopped.

Jessie knows that this is no random act of violence. And if she can’t unlock the motivation behind the crime and shine a light into this killer’s mind, the Fullers won’t be the only family to die…

I recieved a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join The Watcher Blog Tour

I hadn’t realised The Watcher was part of an ongoing series and that Dr Jessie Flynn had appeared in previous Kate Medina books. It certainly did not stop me enjoying The Watcher and it made me keen to go back and read the books which lead into this one. As a reader there is no better feeling than enjoying a book by a “new” author then learning the author in question actually has an established back catalogue for me to get stuck into.

The good news for new Kate Medina readers (like myself) and committed fans of Jessie Flynn and DI Simmons is that The Watcher is a terrific read which perfectly hit the balance of psychological thriller and strong police procedural. The murders in the book were twisted and nasty which is what I enjoy in crime stories and when I finally realised the driving force which prompted the murders I felt there was a very satisfying build up to the reveal.

I don’t want to encroach into spoiler territory but Jessie is asked to assist DI Simmons (Marilyn) when he is called to a double murder of a successful couple in their luxurious home. The attending police are deeply unsettled by the vicious nature of the attacks and Jessie is asked to share her thoughts on potential motives behind the sadistic attacks. Her initial conclusions are not entirely accurate and before long the killer strikes again to give further confusion to our investigators.

Kate Medina has done a wonderful job in pacing out The Watcher. It read so smoothly and I flew through the chapters as I always felt the story was enticing me to keep reading. There is a steady investigation progression, the threat of danger over some characters looms large and you want to know how that turns out. There is a fascinating side story around Jessie’s boyfriend and a problem he has been experiencing (something returning readers will very much appreciate) and I enjoyed the side story about the kennels – which you need to read to understand!

In brief, The Watcher was a hit with me. I want to read more in the series as I loved the characters. The book is deliciously dark, creepy when it matters and it gave me a fair chance at working out killer and motive (but I didn’t).

The Watcher is published by Harper Collins and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DQ9T6HW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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August 31

Eight Detectives – Alex Pavesi

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules.

Grant McAllister, an author of crime fiction and professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out.

But that was thirty years ago. Now he’s living a life of seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island – until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor, knocks on his door. His early work is being republished and together the two of them must revisit those old stories.

An author, hiding from his past, and an editor, probing inside it.

But as she reads the stories, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are parts that don’t make sense. Intricate clues that seem to reference a real murder.

One that’s remained unsolved for thirty years . . .

If Julia wants answers, she must triumph in a battle of wits with a dangerously clever adversary.

But she must tread carefully: she knows there’s a mystery, but she doesn’t yet realise there’s already been a murder . . .

My thanks to publishers, Michael Joseph, for the review copy which I received through Netgalley

Visiting a Mediterranean Island to meet reclusive author Grant McAllister is editor Julia Hart. Julia’s employers want to publish a collection of stories by McAllister which have been out of print and largely ignored for many years but Julia believes there is now a market for these clever tales. McAllister was a professor of mathematics and he devised a formula or a set of rules into which all crime fiction will fit – his collection of stories will be used to demonstrate each of these rules. One story per rule.

Julia and McAllister sit together, Julia reads a story and the pair discuss the rule or classification which that story fulfills. Julia also highlights some inconsistencies in each of the stories (there are always one or two) and challenges McAllister why he allowed them to creep into the text. Some are very subtle and I confess I missed virtually all of them – even when I knew to look out for them as the book progressed.

As a novel, Eight Detectives gives the reader a collection of short stories to enjoy – each a tale of Golden Age crime which are being hailed as Christie-esk in their execution. Indeed one of the stories is very much penned in homage to one of Dame Agatha’s finest novels and this is noted in the book. The stories are all quite different as each needs to conform to one of McAllisters rules and we only know the rule at the end of each tale. This ensures a reader can be surprised at the outcome of each story.

As with any short story collection (which Eight Detectives technically is not) there are some stories which are more enjoyable than others. So I found there were periods of the book where my attention waned. The story of Julia and McAllister between the short stories links the whole book and suggests there is a further untold tale developing; but that is a possible encroachment to spoiler territory and you need to read for yourself to learn about their conversations.

I found Eight Detectives a tricky book to review. I am very much a fan of the concept of the rules which McAllister devised. I liked Julia and though I cannot talk about her analysis of each tale and her ‘error spotting (because spoilers) this was also very well executed by the author. However I am not a great fan of short stories and I wasn’t gripped by some of the tales. To compare my reading experience to a train journey…there were times I was excited by the view, some bits felt comforting and familiar but at the end of the experience I felt a bit flat.

So a quandary – should I review it on the blog? Well as you are reading this…YES. It is a clever, clever premise. I am seeing a lot of love for it from other reviewers and for fans of Golden Age crime and “cozy” crime I would highly recommend it. Is it a page turning thriller? NO. I struggled to see it to the end as it just didn’t hit the mark with me. We can’t love them all.

Eight Detectives is published by Michael Joseph and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081R2MWFG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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August 17

Ash Mountain – Helen Fitzgerald

Single-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A heartbreaking, nail-biting disaster-noir thriller from the bestselling author of The Cry and Worst Case Scenario.

Fran hates her hometown, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.

She returns home to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer. As past friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…

Simultaneously a warm, darkly funny portrait of small-town life – and a woman and a land in crisis – and a shocking and truly distressing account of a catastrophic event that changes things forever, Ash Mountain is a heart-breaking slice of domestic noir, and a disturbing disaster thriller that you will never forget…

My thanks to Orenda Books for my review copy and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Ash Mountain tour.

I make this point so frequently…stories set in small towns are the best for tales of secrets and surprises. This is very true for Helen Fitzgerald’s Ash Mountain – a small Australian town where our main protagonist Fran lives. What initially seemed to be a story about living and growing up in a small community evolved with a dark mystery lurking in the background. Oh and a fire. A huge fire.

Fran is caring for her elderly father, a teenage daughter and is boosted by having her son, Dante, around too. Fran became a mother at age 15; as she is in her 40’s now Dante is mid 20s and very popular around town. I got the feeling Fran is less popular than her son and enjoys the fact he is much loved within his community. Fran is charmingly nervous, insecure yet determined and independent – all the complex characteristics people have and they are briliantly utilised by the author who makes Fran one of the most believable characters I have encountered for many months.

Helen Fitzgerald tells Fran’s story in a fascinating chronology. Chapers go from today (the day of the fire), to last week (10 days before the fire) to 25 years ago when Fran was the awkward girl at school desperately trying to fit in. It keeps the narrative punchy and gives a great insight into why Fran acts as she does now, why her pregnancy is relevant to a secret kept for over 20 years and why small down enemies never let go of their childhood niggles. Characters in small towns linger for a long time, some people Fran would rather never meet again – some she feels she cannot do without. This is most acutely reflected in Fran’s father – dying a slow death with Fran caring for him. They are both scared by what the future may hold, neither admit it to each other and their buckle-down approach to getting on with things feels a mask for their impending seperation.

I haven’t mentioned the fire. Well I *have* mentioned it but not explained it. The book opens with a huge forest fire beating a fast path towards town. Everything is fleeing but not Fran, she is bunkered down and worrying if her father got clear, if her daughter was near or if she got away. Most chapters in the book are set in the days leading up to the fire. Some are many years earlier but every now and then we get a real-time chapter of Fran on the day of the fire and we are reminded that all the lives we have been reading about are all in grave peril from relentless flames.

It’s wonderful storytelling. Helen Fitzgerald has a wicked talent for capturing people and making you believe in them, root for them and cry with them. Ash Mountain is a bit of a departure from my regular crime thriller reads but it was a very welcome change. Now available in paperback if you had been hanging off on picking this up – now is the time.

Ash Mountain is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, audiobook and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ash-Mountain-Helen-FitzGerald-ebook/dp/B081S12YDL/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1597610021&refinements=p_27%3AHelen+FitzGerald&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Helen+FitzGerald

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August 8

The Witch House – Ann Rawson

Who can you trust, if you can’t trust yourself?

Alice Hunter, grieving and troubled after a breakdown, stumbles on the body of her friend and trustee, Harry Rook. The police determine he has been ritually murdered and suspicion falls on the vulnerable Alice, who inherited the place known locally as The Witch House from her grandmother, late High Priestess of the local coven. When the investigations turn up more evidence, and it all seems to point to Alice, even she begins to doubt herself.

Can she find the courage to confront the secrets and lies at the heart of her family and community to uncover the truth, prove her sanity, and clear herself of murder?

My thanks to Red Dog Press for my review copy and for the chance to join the blog tour

Witchcraft entwined with a murder story in The Witch House by Ann Rawson. The majority of the tale is very much the murder side though and Alice’s association with witchcraft giving more of a theme to the background story – well that and the fact the murder victim appears to have been laid out in a ritualistic position.

The opening scenes set us up nicely for what may follow. Alice lives in a remote location and stumbles upon the corpse of a rabbit. The rabbit has been laid out as if it has been used in a ritual. Chalkmarks depict symbols around its body and a stake has been thrust into the corpse. Alice is upset by her discovery but doesnt want anyone else to see the dead animal so she cleans the sight and throws the corpse off into the distance. Unfortunately for Alice that was just a precursor for what was to follow. She goes to see her friend (and Trustee) Harry Rook only to find he has also been killed. His body is positioned exactly the way the dead rabbit had been. Alice is naturally upset and moves the stake which had impaled Harry when searching for signs of life. Unfotunately for Alice the police take a very dim view of her decision to interfere with a crime scene – particularly when Alice appears to be their prime suspect.

The Witch House has a degree of uncertainty for the reader. Alice reveals to readers that she was sectioned after the death of her grandmother – the two were very close whereas Alice’s relationship with her mother is clearly a challenge for them both. The uncertainty I mention comes from the fact Alice seems to doubt her own memory on a number of ocassions. There are details and events which she has to discuss with the police but she cannot honestly recall some of the things they believe she may have done. This adds an extra layer of intrugue as while reading The Witch House I couldn’t shake the feeling that the information Alice was sharing with the reader may not actually represent the truth.

Despite the murder of Harry Rook, Alice is determined to get on with her life. She knows she is not a killer and before Harry’s body was found she was in the process of signing up to resume her studies. Alice’s grandmother appears to have amassed a healthy collection of rare treasures which Alice and her new professor are discussing and exploring. I found the archaeology elements of Alice’s life to be fascinating and they gave nice moments of respite from the murder scenes and the anxious moment Alice feels when having to deal with her mother or the intense questionning from the police.

I have purposefully not focussed too much on the detail of Alice’s life and the complexities of her mental health concerns while under suspicion of murder. The reading of The Witch House allows much of the information to be drawn out at the best time in the story, knowing too much too soon would detract from the reading enjoyment. Alice’s story is well worth exploring – she is a likeable lead character who you want to be able to trust. But should you?

The Witch House is published by Red Dog Press and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088S7PD5H/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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August 6

The Lies You Told – Harriet Tyce

Can you tell the truth from the lies?

Sadie loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her safe.

She can’t tell her why they had to leave home so quickly – or why Robin’s father won’t be coming with them to London.

She can’t tell her why she hates being back in her dead mother’s house, with its ivy-covered walls and its poisonous memories.

And she can’t tell her the truth about the school Robin’s set to start at – a school that doesn’t welcome newcomers.
Sadie just wants to get their lives back on track.

But even the lies with the best intentions can have deadly consequences…

My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join the blog tour. I received a copy of The Lies You Told from the publisher.

I read crime and horror fiction. I don’t bat an eye at murder scenes, ghostly or monsterous carnage or even at depictions of evil crimes and wrong doings. I know it isn’t real. But I find reading about bullying to be hugely uncomfortable. I get annoyed, anxious and so very frustrated when I read about bullies. So Kudos to Harriet Tyce for dropping a big bundle of angst into my hands with her excellent depictions of loathsome bullies in The Lies You Told. It all seemed so believable that I experienced maximum bully-hating fury at some chapters.

In The Lies You Told we meet Sadie. She and her daughter (Robin) have left America for reasons we don’t immediately know, they have left Sadie’s husband and they are in Sadie’s mum’s old house. A house she hated as a child and it is clear she had no fondness for her late mother either. Robin is to be enrolled at Sadie’s old school which is somewhere Sadie also doesn’t seem to hold too many fond memories of. The reader knows Sadie is putting herself into a situation she is far from happy about but we don’t immediately get to know why Sadie is seeking this fresh start.

The early stages of the book follow Sadie and Robin trying to adjust to their new lifestyle. Neither find it easy. We see their engagements around the school and it left me with questions I needed to have answers to. Why is Robin forced to endure the misery of not being one of The Group? Why are the PTA mums so abhorrant and mean to Sadie? Though I did feel Sadie seemed to have a knack of saying the wrong thing around them…a nervousness of being picked on by the group? These questions kept me reading, I needed to understand what was happening and I was desperate for their respective upset to be resolved.

Away from school Sadie has other issues to contend with. Before leaving for America to have Robin – a decade before the events in The Lies You Told – she was a well regarded lawyer. On her return to the UK Sadie is given the opportunity to work on a high profile case, a teacher accused of grooming one of his pupils. The case should never have been brought Sadie is told by her colleagues. Harriet Tyce worked as a criminal barrister for a number of years and she draws upon that wealth of experience ensuring the the courtroom scenes in this book make for compelling reading.

For the reader we get the courtroom drama, Sadie and Robin’s domestic dramas and the overarching mystery around why the pair left the US to find themselves in this strained and unusual position. More than enough intrigue to keep the pages turning and certainly some fabulously realised characters to keep me emotionally engaged with Sadie’s plight. Blood Orange was a real high point in my 2019 reading, Harriet Tyce has another good ‘un on her hands with The Lies You Told.

The Lies You Told is published by Wildfire and is available in Hardback, audiobook and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WWSCGVS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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July 30

The Resident – David Jackson

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.

My thanks to Viper Books for my review copy and for the opportunity to join the blog tour.

Thomas Brogan. Serial Killer. Star of The Resident. This is his story, no detective being tormented by an elusive character leaving cryptic clues to taunt the police. No reporter chasing down a story and stumbling across a killer’s legacy. This is Brogan, a dangerous killer who from the opening pages is on the run as his latest murders have been discovered too soon. Brogan is on the run and the police are hot on his tail.

Fortunately for Brogan (and for the story) he eludes capture by hiding in an abandoned house at the end of a row of terraced properties. Seeking a safe place to lie low he makes his way to the attic space and makes a fascinating discovery – he can access all four houses in the terrace by moving along the loft space. Brogan’s first thought – he can find more victims to have fun with.

How do we know Brogan’s thoughts? Well author, David Jackson, shares Brogan’s inner dialogues – he talks to himself (argues frequently). We hear Brogan’s thought process, his internal debates over the next course of action and his common sense telling him what he should and should not consider to be his next move. This works well for driving forward the story. If nobody knows Brogan is in the loft and Brogan doesn’t have his conversations with himself then it would be difficult for the reader to understand why Brogan is acting the way he does because Brogan has a plan and he plans to have some fun while he waits for the coast to clear.

There is nothing of interest in the abandoned house which Brogan used to access the loft space. The other three houses in the terrace offer much more interesting fare. There is the elderly woman who only gets visited by her carer each day. The arguing couple who seem best ignored and the young professional couple in the last house. They have so much potential for Brogan and he plans to mess with their heads before he ends their lives.

Brogan is not a likeable character and his actions when he comes down from the attic space into the houses below re-enforce what a loathsome character he is. He purposefully stirs up disharmony in the young couple’s marriage. He digs into their secrets when they are out and moves items around their house. He steals food from all the houses where he can but soon finds an easier way to get the grub he needs. Being Brogan this involves upsetting another character in the book but this means little to him as the end result works to his advantage.

Following Brogan’s activities had a very real “one more chapter” dilemma, I just didn’t want to take a break from the book. I am very much a fan of serial killer stories and The Resident has a very different feel from the “normal” murder tales because the reader travels with the killer. I powered through The Resident in very short time and was nicely caught out by a few of the unexpected details which arose. It’s different, it zips along at a cracking pace and I loved it. Five star thrills once again from David Jackson.

The Resident is published by Viper and is available in physical and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083ZL59H9/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 28

Written in Blood – Chris Carter

A serial killer will stop at nothing…

The Killer
His most valuable possession has been stolen.
Now he must retrieve it, at any cost.

The Girl
Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like all the others.
But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins.

The Detective
A journal ends up at Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose. And if he can’t stop him in time, more people will die.

If you have read it
You must die

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Written in Blood tour. I recieved a review copy from the publisher.

I have always been a wee bit annoyed with myself that I let the first few Chris Carter books slip by when they first came out. Crime fiction has always been my favourite reading material and serial killer thrillers even more so. I love the cat and mouse element of a detective (usually) hunting down a prey. Carter’s Robert Hunter series are all dark tales consistently featuring some of the most grim crime scenes you can expect to read about. Despite being late to the series I swept up the early books and quickly caught up – over the last few years I now seek out the new Robert Hunter book as it is released…I don’t like the thought of there being a Chris Carter book I haven’t read.

When an author is assured of an immediate boost to the front of my teetering TBR pile it is a clear sign of the regard their books are held in. I read Written in Blood in two sittings over two evenings and it was everything I had hoped it would be.

Angela Wood is a pickpocket. One of the best in LA. THE best if you were to ask Angela. After a successful pre-Christmas afternoon she is over $600 to the good and decides to stop into a bar for a drink before she heads home. In the bar she overhears a big guy being extremely rude towards another patron so she decides to teach him a lesson by stealing his holdall. Angela is sucessful in securing the holdall but she has taken more than she bargained for – inside the bag is a notebook. Not the electronic kind – a large leather-bound book in which a killer has documented a number of murders he has committed. There are photographs attached to the pages to evidence his labours. Angela panics and delivers the book to the police where it soon reaches the attention of Robert Hunter.

Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, determine the authenticity of the deaths described in the killers notebook and the hunt for a sadistic murderer begins. It appears he has committed multiple crimes over a prolonged period of time yet not drawn attention to himself. The manner of each murder varies and the documenation the cops are reviewing suggests the killer is being guided by voices he hears who then tell him what to do. Hunter thinks they are likely seeking someone with sever mental health issues but the more he reads into the notebook the less likely this appears.

Both Hunter and Angela have a problem though. The killer is not happy to have lost his notebook and he wants it back. He is clearly a resourceful individual as within a very short space of time he has identified the thief and established that the police have the notebook. He engages with both Angela and Hunter and demands his book be returned – there is no doubt in his mind that this is what is going to happen. A confrontation beckons and it is not clear how many lives may be lost before the killer gets his way.

Fast paced, clinical writing style and utterly engrossing. Written in Blood is easily one of my favourite books in the Robert Hunter series and without doubt one of the most enjoyable reads in 2020.

Written in Blood is published by Simon & Schuster and is available in Hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XCRN85H/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 25

Catching Up – Quick Reviews

Some people consider blogging envy to be the state which exists when Blogger A sees Blogger B receiving an opportunity which Blogger A wanted but did not get. Not always. In my house blogging envy is when I see other bloggers keeping up to date with their reviews! Okay I jest (honest) but a combination of lockdown fatigue, no laptop for six weeks and my general scattyness does mean that I have missed sharing my thoughts on quite a few titles.

In a bid to get caught up I thought I would do some shorter reviews, just share the blurb and my thoughts – rather than provide my usual oversight on some of the themes and threads before capturing my overall thoughts on a book. Still with me? Great. Books I didn’t enjoy don’t appear on the blog so I don’t want you to presume I am doing shorter reviews because I was underwhelmed or unhappy…that’s not how we roll here.

Into The Fire (An Orphan X Thriller) – Gregg Hurwitz

Evan Smoak – former government assassin, ‘Orphan X’, turned white knight of last resort – is planning on hanging up his gun.

Then he gets one last call.

Max Merriweather has lost his wife, home and career. Now it looks like he’s going to lose his life. A murdered cousin has left him a package and a team of assassins on his trail . . .

Nothing Evan can’t handle.

If it weren’t for the fact he’s carrying a brutal concussion that’s made him vulnerable. Or that the simple job of keeping Max safe quickly escalated into a mission unlike anything he’s ever encountered.

But as Evan’s problems mount just one thing is clear: he is now in the most dangerous position of his life

I will start with a Five Star Read. When I was doing my 6-hour daily commute to work a few years back I hit the audiobooks pretty hard. One of the gems I discovered was the Orphan-X series by Gregg Hurwitz. I hung onto every word of that first book and quickly downloaded all the others available at the time – now I patiently wait for news of the next instalment.

Evan Smoak was an assassin for the US Government, part of the “Orphan” programme which recruited orphans who were trained as dispensible killers. Smoak left that world behind and went into hiding with a large bank balance to support his off the radar lifestyle. He tries to do some good and put his skills to use, he helps people in desperate situations and when he has solved their problem he asks them to find someone else who needs his help.

The books have all been terrific to read and Into The Fire may just be my favourite. Smoak is moving further away from the life he once knew and watching him try to adapt to a more mundane lifestyle (dating, residents association meetings, mentoring a young hacker etc) while also plotting to bump off some bad guys was wholly absorbing.

I am a huge fan of this series and encourage you to seek them out if action heroes are your thing.

Last Light – Helen Phifer

When a young woman’s body found hanging upside-down from a crucifix in an abandoned church, Detective Lucy Harwin is plunged into a case that will test her to her very limits.

Before Lucy even has time to get started, another body is found. And this time it’s someone Lucy and her team consider one of their own; the chief’s mother. Her body too is hanging upside-down, so Lucy fears there’s a serial killer stalking the streets of her small coastal town.

Lucy knows the chief is a good man. She trusts him, but can’t pin down his alibi. Just as she’s beginning to suspect the worst, she pushes for a test on some animal hairs, and uncovers a link to an old unsolved murder.

Lucy knows she’s getting close, and works around the clock to catch this killer before he strikes again. But then the trail leads her to the church where her teenage daughter volunteers. Can Lucy prevent a tragedy that will tear her world apart again?

After reading Last Light I discovered that Helen Phifer had penned several horror stories which explained why a police procedrual had some pretty brutal murder scenes. The story spends time with the investigating officer (Lucy Harwin) and we also get an insight into the killer as the narrative jumps back to the killer’s childhood and we get to see how they grow into the fully fledged murderer that Lucy needs to track down.

The most intruging element of Last Light was that I felt nobody was safe in this story. Possibly this is another consequnce of the author’s horror writing? I feel the best horror tales can make anyone a victim at any time. Lucy and her colleagues felt at risk during this story, too many police stories have untouchable heroes but Last Light didn’t give that feeling and the story benefits from the feeling of peril.

This was a pretty decent read, the payoff comes at the end when the various threads come together but I felt it took me a while to reach that point. Currently on Kindle for under £2 which makes it cheaper than a latte – buy the book not the coffee.

Golden in Death – J.D. Robb

‘Doctor Kent Abner began the day of his death comfortable and content’

When Kent Abner – baby doctor, model husband and father, good neighbour – is found dead in his town house in the West Village, Detective Eve Dallas and her team have a real mystery on their hands. Who would want to kill such a good man? They know how, where and when he was killed but why did someone want him dead?

Then a second victim is discovered and as Spring arrives in New York City, Eve finds herself in a race against time to track down a serial killer with a motive she can’t fathom and a weapon of choice which could wipe out half of Manhattan.

The 50th Eve Dallas thriller. FIFTY. By my reckoning I have read 47 of them and I have two of the missing books in my TBR pile. It is fair to say I am a big fan of this series. We have seen Eve Dallas grow from kickass socially awkward New York cop into a kickass socially awkward New York Cop who is surrounded by loads of great supporting characters. Watching Dallas grow and her character evolve has been an absolute joy for me. As a reader, finding a character you love is always special – when that character appears in 2 or 3 new books each year – well that’s icing on the cake.

For the 50th story in the series (Golden for 50) I was expecting some huge development in Eve’s personal life – a massive shift in the dyamic of the books – but it didn’t arrive. We began and ended book 50 in much the same position. Now that doesn’t mean J.D Robb may not come back to events in this book and spin them into something new (it has happened in the past with the infamous Icove case) but it didn’t have that feel. Instead we get a solid story with Dallas and Peabody trying to prevent deadly chemicals being released into the city.

There are a couple of deaths – witnessed by the reader so we know what is about to happen. It gives Dallas the opportunity to establish a link between victims, it seems a long shot when they begin to interview suspects, however, the arrogance of one of the suspects gives her cause to dig deeper. I always enjoy watching Dallas and Peabody working a case, turning their attention to characters that don’t behave as they would expect and digging deep into their lives to find the gaps in their alibi.

The humour, the thrills and the fun of the In Death series were very much present. As a fan of these stories I was delighted to have the opportunity to revisit my favourite characters. Trying to convert new readers to a series with 50 volumes may seem a daunting prospect, this isn’t the book which would draw in a new reader and have them hooked but it is a damned fine addition to a terrific collection.

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July 24

One White Lie – Leah Konen

Imagine you’ve finally escaped the worst relationship of your life, running away with only a suitcase and a black eye.

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

Imagine they’re in trouble. That someone is telling lies about them, threatening their livelihoods – and even their lives.

Imagine your ex is coming for you.

If your new best friends needed you to tell 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 . . .

My thanks to Sryia at Penguin RandomHouse for my review copy and the opportunity to join the tour.

Ooft.

Psychological thrillers sometimes aren’t quite what they are billed as. No real thrills, a bit predicable, never a sense of peril – essentially some books just don’t quite hit the mark for me. But One White Lie didn’t just hit the mark, it smashed it…maybe with the hammer that protagonist Lucy King carries around with her.

Ooft.

This story got me hooked – started reading in a hot bath, looked up 2 hours and 250 pages later in a decidedly cold bath. As a reader there is nothing better than finding a book which just keep you turning pages – One Little Lie did that for me. Always that nagging worry, doubt that what Lucy was experiencing was all it seemed, questions around why her new friends were shunned by the townsfolk where they lived. But I get ahead of myself.

We first meet Lucy as she is moving in to a new cottage in a small town on the outskirts of the city. She is clearly terrified and on the run from a controlling and aggressive partner and she needs a safe haven to sort out what to do.

Lucy meets her new neighbours, John and Vera. They are a few years older than Lucy but a strong friendship bond soon forms as the couple show her a kindness and compassion which she has been missing from her life for so long. For John and Vera Lucy represents a new friend in a town where they are deeply unpopular with the locals. For a long time Lucy tries to piece together snippets of gossip to determine why her friends are being held as outcasts. A nice layer of mystery for the reader as we only get snippets and rumour too.

Just as Lucy begins to relax in her new surroundings two shocking twists will threaten to destroy the sanctuary she has created. One way to ensure her continued safety is to tell One Little Lie to help John and Vera. That shouldn’t be too difficult a task should it? Unfortunately for Lucy one lie will lead to another and fate will play her a cruel hand further threatening her safety.

During all these issues Lucy is ever aware her ex is out there somewhere and he will be looking for her. So it is paranoia that Lucy believes someone has been in her home or has her ex finally caught up with her?

Stories build on the need to lie and sustain that lie places the protagonist under extreme stress and Leah Konen delivers that tension brilliantly. I really enjoyed One Little Lie – it ticked all the right boxes and I’d definitely recommend it.

One White Lie is published by Penguin and is available in physical, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YTHYLC6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Follow the tour:

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July 21

Murder at the Music Factory – Lesley Kelly

The body of Paul Shore toppled onto him, a stream of blood pooling around them on the concrete. Bernard lay back and waited to see if he too was going to die.

An undercover agent gone rogue is threatening to shoot a civil servant a day. As panic reigns, the Health Enforcement Team race against time to track him down – before someone turns the gun on them.

My thanks to Sandstone Press for my review copy.

A pandemic has caused a huge loss of life. The Health Enforcement Team (HET) was established in the aftermath of the virus to ensure people continued to be checked for possible infection – it is a thankless job and the HET does not attract elite applicants. However, the HET are our principle characters in Lesley Kelly’s Health of Strangers series; crime stories all set in post viral outbreak Edinburgh. Murder at the Music Factory is the 4th book in the series – it can be read as a stand alone thriller.

When I encountered the HET in the first Health of Strangers book it was June 2017 the idea of a pandemic sweeping through the world and changing life as we know it just seemed a clever piece of fictional world creation by Lesley Kelly. Then 2020 happened and…well, you know how that has turned out.

In Murder at the Music Factory the virus is under control and life has returned to a new normal. This means I may need to stop referring to the series as dystopian, perhaps idyllic would be more appropriate? For the Health Enforcement Team there is a more pressing issue confronting them – someone has shot a civil servant and poor Bernard, HET’s perpetual unlucky sod, was on the scene as it happened. It transpires nobody in the HET or any civil servant is safe as the shooter has threatened to target one of their number each day. A manhunt ensues but what could be behind these attacks?

As more incidents occur a pattern is established, the victims are not being selected randomly and the common link ties back to the Scottish Government and one high profile MSP. Is the shooter trying to ensure something remains a secret? Is there any link between the shootings and the disappearance of a legendary musician? The alternative pop-star is an obscure figure on the music scene but it appears he may also have held some obsure and unwelcome opinions which border on the fantatical. If the shooter and the musician are not connected then Mona, Bernard and the HET team have twice as many problems to contend with.

I hold my hand up to confessing my love for this series. I have enjoyed all the previous Health of Strangers books and Murder at the Music Factory was no exception. The new title is one of the few I actively watch out for each year. The characters are developing with each new instalment and I long to read more about them. Each book is engaging, funny, thought provoking and there is now a suspicion of a political conspiracy theory to keep me hooked. Honestly, if you are not reading these books you are missing a treat. More please.

Murder at the Music Factory is published by Sandstone Press and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YF6PYF4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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