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A House of Ghosts – W.C. Ryan

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

An unrelentingly gripping mystery packed with twists and turns, A House of Ghosts is the perfect chilling read this winter.

My thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the chance to join the blog tour. I received a review copy of the book from the publishers.

A House of Ghosts is exactly that…Blackwater Abbey has many spitits roaming its halls and one or two of the guests during the course of events in the book can see them. However (important info incoming) the ghosts are not malevolent spirits intent on destroying the characters in the tale, they are passive characters. Do not pick up A House of Ghosts and expect it to be the next Amytiville Horror – it’s not that type of read.

What A House of Ghosts can offer is (I felt) closer to an espionage adventure or a puzzle in a old stately home set during the latter period of The Great War.

There are some supernatural elements to the tale, a seance to contact Lord Highmount’s sons who died in the conflict. A mirror which reflects more than the viewer but there are also undercover agents working for British security and a houseguest with murder and menace on their mind.

The characters residing at Blackwater Abbey seem to have secrets they are to keep. The house is remote and cut-off from help as a storm rages outside. The finger of suspicion points at different people throught the book and the author keeps the mystery element twisting nicely through the chapters.

I have worked my way through a few stories this year with unlikeable lead characters and they haven’t been to my liking. I found I enjoyed A House of Ghosts much more I as I became engaged with the events in Blackwater Abbey and wanted to read more about the characters in the book. More importantly I wanted to keep reading as I enjoyed the world W.C. Ryan was spinning for me. I much prefer when a story entertains rather than has to be endured.

Not the ghost story I had anticipated from the title but a great period mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed.

A House of Ghosts is published by Zaffre and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Ghosts-gripping-mystery-haunted-ebook/dp/B07DDL8KKQ/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1569880277&refinements=p_27%3AW.+C.+Ryan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=W.+C.+Ryan

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September 26

Bone China – Laura Purcell

Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft’s family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken.

But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home.

Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.

My thanks to publishers, Raven Books, for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

Now that the nights are “fair drawing in” it is very much the time to start looking for the best of the creepy, gothic stories to read on the dark and stormy nights. While I cannot deliver on the appropriate weather conditions I *can* bring a good wee story to your attention which very much meets the creepy gothic criteria.

Laura Purcell’s Bone China takes the reader to Cornwall back in the days when large residences had housekeepers, ladies maids, butlers, coachmen and a plethora of other staff to keep a household ticking over. The families who owned these homes seemed to be measured by the size of their staff, the skill of the cook etc. So when we meet Hester Why as she travels to Cornwall the reader is not sure why she is leaving a good role in London to take on a position in a rundown old home in one of the remotest parts of the country.

From the very outset it becomes clear Hester is not in a good place. Sneaking drinks of gin from a flask which she tries to conceal from other passengers and trying to ensure she does not draw any attention to herself. However, her attempts to remain unnoticed will be dashed when her carriage is involved in an accident and her skills are needed to help save the life of a fellow traveller.

Arriving at her new place of employ in a muddy and bloody state Hester is surprised to find she will be sharing room (and bed) with another staff member – a marked comedown from her previous role in one of the most illustrious homes in London.

The narrative jumps back to Hester’s former life when she was known by a different name and when her previous mistress treated her with favours and comfort above societies norms of the time.

Back to Hester in her new role at Moroven House. It is a constantly cold place. Her new mistress is near invalid who has an unhealthy obsession with sitting by her china collection and appears terrified to leave her plates and cups unattended.

Her new mistress has a young ward in her care but the two never spend any time together and the ward is watched by another servant who has little time for Hester. The mysterious pair spend time in a different part of the house and Hester finds that the child plays in a the middle of a ring of salt – a ring which should not be broken. Hester scorns their backward belief in sprites and fairy-folk but as the story unfolds it does seem that there are strange goings on at Morvoren House.

As the blurb above indicates there is another character to feature prominently in Bone China…Louise Pinecroft. The author takes us 40 years into the past to see the mistress of the house as a young woman. Her father is a brilliant doctor who is devoting his time to find a cure to the terrible disease consumption. Louise is convinced her father is on the path to a major breakthrough but at what cost to his own health?

Laura Purcell is, without doubt, one of the best of the current crop of newly published authors who are making a real name for themselves. Few can match her when it comes to penning gothic chillers as she captures the atmosphere and feeling needed to carry off these stories. If you get the chance to pick up her terrific debut, The Silent Companions, then grab it – that one was special.

Bone China. Clever, unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable – watch out for it.

Bone China is published by Raven Books and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526602539/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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September 21

Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd – Daniel Hardcastle

As Daniel Hardcastle careers towards thirty, he looks back on what has really made him happy in life: the friends, the romances… the video games. Told through encounters with the most remarkable and the most mind-boggling games of the last thirty-odd years, Fuck Yeah, Video Games is also a love letter to the greatest hobby in the world.

From God of War to Tomb Raider, Pokémon to The Sims, Daniel relives each game with countless in-jokes, obscure references and his signature wit, as well as intricate, original illustrations by Rebecca Maughan. Alongside this march of merriment are chapters dedicated to the hardware behind the games: a veritable history of Sony, Nintendo, Sega and Atari consoles.

Joyous, absurd, personal and at times sweary, Daniel’s memoir is a celebration of the sheer brilliance of video games.

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours who invited me to join the blog tour – also to the publishers, Unbound, for my review copy.

First things first…the title. Now I am no prude and, as a person of Scottish persuasion, I throw out expletives like punctuation. But I feel the F-Bomb in the title isn’t really needed and may put some folk off picking up what is actually a good wee book. I hope I am wrong as Hardcastle’s love letter to around 30 years of gaming is well worth your attention. Also when I think about my interactions with gamers on platforms such as Twitter and Mixer – they swear like fuck too so perhaps the swearyness will draw them in.

Fuck Yeah turned out to be a tricky book to review. Not because it is hard to follow or because it is poorly written. It is neither of those things. There are many short sections and bite-sized discussions which make it perfect to pick up and put down. It is well written with many laugh out loud moments. Clearly Hardcastle and I have experienced similar frustrations and enjoyed the same big moments in several games so the personal nostalgia his observations brought ticked all the right boxes for me.

No the problem I had with reviewing Fuck Yeah was that my son decided he wanted to read it too and my book vanished to places unknown whenever I set it down. Sometimes tracking it down was easy. Son would be heard guffawing with laughter and I could trace him that way. Other times he would wander through the house, book in hand, reading sections out loud to me (an audiobook experience that Audible are yet to fully master). The failsafe way of recovering my review copy was to wait for the child to fall asleep and then liberate the book from beside his bed. We got there in the end!

So two generations in the one family have enjoyed (or are still enjoying) Fuck Yeah. Definitely a good sign and reflects well that the selection of games Hardcastle discusses is appreciated by a teenager and a man in his mid 40’s.

Before the book arrived I did wonder how the selection of games the author selected to focus on may fare. Pretty well as it turns out. The games I have played which are discussed are very well covered. My kid has not played most of the games but is currently contemplating picking up one or two of the titles still available on current platforms. Even if I hadn’t played some of the games under discussion Hardcastle’s observations on the titles in question were still enjoyable so my biggest concern over how much I may get from the book were quickly quashed.

In between discussions on particular games are some additional chat points about life in games in general. These were fascinating too. I particularly enjoyed learning how badly Nintendo seemed to have botched the launch of the Wii. Trivia and gaming gems which I have missed over the years made the pages fly by.

When I first heard about Fuck Yeah I thought that’s a book I am definitely going to enjoy. Reader – I was right.

Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd is available in hardback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuck-Yeah-Video-Games-Professional/dp/1783527870/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1569011760&refinements=p_27%3ADaniel+Hardcastle&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Daniel+Hardcastle

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September 11

The Quiet Ones – Theresa Talbot

If only someone had listened…

When the supposed suicide of famous Scottish football coach Harry Nugent hits the headlines, the tabloids are filled with tributes to a charitable pillar of the community that gave so much back to sport and to those less fortunate. But something isn’t right. Normally celebrities are queuing up to claim to have had a very special relationship with the deceased, but investigative journalist, Oonagh O’Neil is getting the distinct impression that people are trying to distance themselves from Harry.

Oonagh’s investigation leads her to uncover a heartbreakingly haunting coverup that chills her to the core…and place her in mortal danger from those willing to protect their sadistic and dark secrets at any cost….

I received a review copy from the publishers.

A new Oonagh O’Neil book is very much a cause for celebration. After a debut appearance in The Lost Children (which I review here as Penance) and a return in Keep Her Silent (reviewed here) I was dying to see what Theresa Talbot had in store for investigative journalist Oonagh.

The appeal of these books is that Theresa Talbot puts a real (and distressing) story at the heart of Oonagh’s fictional adventures. The story is fictional but that core of reality and the way the author conveys the hurt the characters experienced makes the books utterly compelling.

In The Quiet Ones Oonagh is confronted with the possibility that a murdered sporting hero may have been killed because of a dark secret from his past. Can Oonagh find a way to get vulnerable strangers to open up and discuss their past horrors? Even if she can, will there be evidence she can pass to the police to ensure justice can be done?

The Quiet Ones opens with a murder. It has the appearance of a professional hit and the police are baffled. The victim is a prominent figure in Scottish football circles, he supports a number of charities and good causes and his death is a headline writer’s goldmine. Particularly when it is obvious the police have no leads, suspects or can even work out a motive.

Oonagh gets suspicious when “friends” of the deceased seem keen to distance themselves from him. She follows her instincts knowing there is a story to uncover. Her boss is not keen to give her time to chase a story which he doesn’t believe is there to be found so Oonagh is forced to play politics in the office to cut herself the leeway she needs to uncover the truth.

There are very sensitive subjects incorporated into The Quiet Ones and the author handles these superbly. In the acknowledgements Ms Talbot thanks David Gordon who “shared his story with such quiet dignity” that reflects perfectly how the more upsetting elements of The Quiet Ones are addressed within the book. It is a deeply emotive and moving read.

Despite being the third book in the series The Quiet Ones can easily be read as a stand alone thriller. It is highly recommended and once you have finished it I am sure you will seek out the first two as well. Top stuff.

The Quiet Ones will be published on 12 September 2019 by Aria and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1788545346/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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September 5

Sleep – M K Boers

A marriage made in heaven, a murder made in hell.

Why kill the man you love?

Lizzy was struggling, everyone knew that.

He shouldn’t have done those things.

He shouldn’t have pushed her so hard.

And now, her children, her marriage, her hope – gone.

It was all her fault, she knew that, but was there a chance of redemption?

Lizzy Dyson’s on trial for her life. She knows she must pay for what she did, even if it wasn’t planned, but will the jury believe her?

Sleep is a domestic thriller but through the story there are many courtroom scenes giving it a nice cross genre feel. While I am not normally a huge fan of domestic noir (where a story follows a troubled relationship) Sleep takes a more unusual approach in telling Lizzy’s story which really caught my attention.

Lizzy, returning home from work early one afternoon, finds her husband in her bed with his lover. She kills them both. The book opens at the point between the crime and the subsequent discovery by the authorities…the opening chapter is deliciously dark in that regard.

Once the reader becomes aware of Lizzy’s crime they are then taken through how she came to this point in her life and M K Boers slowly unpicks layers of trouble and upset which Lizzy has endured prior to that fateful day. I found myself constantly reviewing my opinion of Lizzy with each new “layer” we uncover – while you can’t condone the action she took, the reasons behind her decision become clearer.

In the courtroom scenes Lizzy is confronted with figures from her life who are initially introduced by the prosecution to build the case against her. As she hears a distortion of past events she starts to find an inner strength to push back and get the correct version of events into the open.

M K Boers spins this story brilliantly and the balance between human drama and courtroom interrogations hit the spot for me.

Sleep is published in both paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-M-K-Boers-ebook/dp/B07TRGHHQ2/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1567631231&refinements=p_27%3AM+K+Boers&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=M+K+Boers

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August 27

The Alphabet Murders – Lars Schutz

FOR THIS KILLER, IT’S A GAME OF A B C

When the body of a man is found brutally murdered in a wildlife park and tattooed with a letter A, criminal profilers Jan Grall and Rabea Wyler are thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Later, two more mutilated bodies are found, again with tattoos on their skin – B and C – and it becomes clear that Grall and Wyler are dealing with a brutal serial killer. One who won’t stop until his set is complete.

When Grall’s hotel room is marked with a Z and his girlfriend kidnapped, the race is on to find out who the killer is.

Before it’s too late . .

My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join the blog tour and to the publishers who provided my review copy.

A serial killer tale from Germany which had a distinctly claustrophobic feel despite the action unfolding thick and fast.

The story opens with the reader witnessing the attack on a woman who is being held prisoner by an unknown assailant. He is tattooing something onto her skin and the violence of the “branding” lets us know this book falls firmly into the gritty classification.

Readers are then spun away from this horrific attack to a murder scene – a badly mutilated body has been found in a field of bison. The beasts are unsettled but not as much as the attending officers who cannot fail to notice a large letter A marked on the victim’s body.

Criminal profilers Jan Grall and Rabea Wyler are on the scene to assist with the inevitable investigation. The pair, despite being partners, appear mis-matched. Grall is the key figure in The Alphabet Murders and most of the story will be focused on Grall and his involvement in the case. However, this is a difficult assignment for Grall as he is returning to his home town after a number of years absence and he has to face memories he would rather forget. Events from long ago have shaped the man he became but now he has to share too much information with his partner so the pair can work to apprehend a killer. The stakes are raised even higher for Grall when it appears the murderer has targeted Grall himself as a future victim.

I referred to The Alphabet Murders as being claustrophobic, I feel this was partly down to the dark wintry setting. It gave off a distinctly Se7en vibes at times. Yet some scenes were unfolding at a rapid pace which seemed at odds with the claustrophobia so the action pinged along and the body count quickly increased.

Pacing issues aside (a minor niggle) I am a sucker for a serial killer story and this one has a good few twists which I certainly enjoyed. Definitely a story for the reader who doesn’t want their crime fiction to be sugar-coated…well worth looking out for if “nasty” floats your boat.

The Alphabet Murders is published by Zaffre in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alphabet-Murders-Lars-Schutz/dp/1785768638/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1566929609&refinements=p_27%3ALars+Schutz&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Lars+Schutz

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August 18

Control – Hugh Montgomery

Not all doctors are heroes . . .

Renowned surgeon Michael Trenchard locks his office door and prepares for a relaxing evening. But what follows is a living nightmare when later he is discovered in a locked-in coma, the victim of an auto-erotic asphyxiation.

It is left to Doctor Kash Devan, Trenchard’s young protégé, to uncover the truth. And what he discovers is chilling . . .

In his ruthless pursuit of wealth and success, Trenchard has left a trail of wrecked lives, and angry people, behind him. Which of Trenchard’s victims hated him so much that they wanted to ruin not only his reputation, but his life as well?

I received a review copy from the publisher. My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the chance to join the blog tour.

There are far too few hospital based thrillers these days. I love a medical thriller and, like many others, I grew up reading Robin Cook novels so I knew I could rely upon a new hospital drama arriving once a year. Then the hospitals seemed to fade from the pages of crime novels (other than the morgues) and the courtrooms took over. So when I read the blurb for Control and realised the lead character was a junior doctor and the victim was his boss I had high hopes. I was not disappointed.

Control was exactly what I have been missing. A tense thriller set in a hospital where doctors and nurses are the key players and the patients could be suspects, witnesses or even a killer. Nobody is above suspicion and there are some very nasty twists in the tale to make readers aware as to how much you can be at the mercy of your medical staff.

Control had me hooked. The narrative is driven by Kash, a young doctor who finds himself working under the powerful and influential surgeon Michael Trenchard. Trenchard is very much the man in control of his staff but there are signs that his authority is not welcomed by everyone.

The early part of the story settles the reader into life at the hospital. Kash is run ragged coping with all his responsibilities and there seems little time for himself. Yet he finds a way to balance life with the unrelenting work demands and we see how young doctors are expected to cope in the modern NHS.

But before we get too comfortable with hospital life a dramatic incident. Trenchard is found in his office, barely alive, and it appears he has accidentally lost control during an auto-erotic asphyxiation. Kash is one of the first on scene and tries to save his mentor’s reputation but his efforts will be largely futile.

Kash refuses to believe Trenchard could have indulged in auto-erotic asphyxiation and he is sure the surgeon would not have indulged in his office at the hospital. As such Kash starts to ask questions and challenge the findings of the police. Unfortunately for Kash someone doesn’t want him to look too closely into what actually occurred.

Clever writing and some very nasty medical twists and turns made Control one of my favourite reads of the summer – highly recommended.

Control is published by Zaffre and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07M7KQKP9/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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August 17

The Warehouse – Rob Hart

Gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the United States beyond recognition.

Amidst the wreckage, an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a global saviour. Yet, beneath the sunny exterior, lurks something far more sinister.

Paxton never thought he’d be working Security for the company that ruined his life, much less that he’d be moving into one of their sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what’s left outside, perhaps Cloud isn’t so bad. Better still, through his work he meets Zinnia, who fills him with hope for their shared future.

Except that Zinnia is not what she seems. And Paxton, with his all-access security credentials, might just be her meal ticket.

As Paxton and Zinnia’s agendas place them on a collision course, they’re about to learn just how far the Cloud will go to make the world a better place.

To beat the system, you have to be inside it.

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things for the chance to join the blog tour. I received a copy of the book from the publishers through Netgalley.

I read and reviewed The Warehouse back in May and at the time I flagged it as a book which was one to watch out for. I loved the cleverness of the writing and the chilling look at a possible future society.

Now, for the blog tour, I am re-sharing my original review and urging everyone to pick up The Warehouse without further delay – it’s a corker!

We are in a future where society is coping with a harsh reality, society’s tolerance has all but vanished and people are reliant upon the global retail giant: Cloud. Cloud provides hundreds of thousands around with world with jobs, residential places at their vast warehouses, consumers can want for nothing as Cloud offer it all.

Stepping into the Cloud Warehouse in Rob Hart’s novel is Paxton. He ran his own business, a firm with a product which people found useful and which allowed him to be moderately successful. When Cloud noticed his small success they approached Paxton to work with him, a deal was reached but margins were squeezed and trading got tougher and tougher. Eventually Cloud forced Paxton’s firm out of business and we meet him as he approaches Cloud with a view to getting a job with them.

During the selection process Paxton meets Zinnia. Zinnia is not keen to strike up a conversation with Paxton as she is applying for a job with Cloud for a very different reason. Security and employment is not Zinnia’s primary motivation – she is working undercover to infiltrate the Cloud building with a view to uncovering some of the secrets of the firm’s operation.

Both Paxton and Zinnia enter The Warehouse with very different agenda but both are trying to keep a secret. Over the course of the story we see how they will become indoctrinated to the way of life of Cloud. Compliant to the unique rules which Cloud operate. Conscious of the need to fit in and to meet the expectation of their employer or face the consequence of being Cut.

Rob Hart has created a fascinating micro-world in which to set his story. The clever use of chapters where mundane tasks are completed show just how hard Zinnia has to work to keep her cover in place and shows the routine Cloud expect from their employees. I loved the idea of a corporate giant taking over our lives (but it is also rather chilling as you ponder if this could actually become prophetic).

Great book – grab it now!

The Warehouse is published by Bantam and is available to buy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HBTSLC1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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August 15

The Darkest Lullaby – Jonathan Janz

The old house waited. For years there had been rumors that the owner, Lilith Martin, had been part of an unholy cult. People spoke of blasphemous rituals, black rites filled with blood, sex…and sacrifices. Then Lilith died and the house sat empty. Until now.

Lilith’s nephew, Chris, and his wife, Ellie, are moving in. Ellie isn’t happy about living in such a dark, foreboding place, but she wants to get pregnant and this house has a lot more room to raise a baby than their apartment. Unfortunately, she and Chris will soon learn that Lilith has other plans.

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things for the chance to join the blog tour.

I think there must come a point in every horror book or film where the viewer/reader asks “why don’t they just leave this place?” In The Darkest Lullaby I think I reached this point around the time my Kindle told me I had read 40% of the story.

Clearly Jonathan Janz also appreciated his characters should have been getting the Hell out of Dodge as he worked in a couple of nice twists to ensure Chris and Ellie (our couple in peril) have to remain in their creepy house in the woods. No escape for Ellie from her husband’s odd and threatening behaviour. No escape for Chris from the strange woman he is compelled to follow into the woods. No escape from the strange things in the old run down house. Uh oh.

I have read a few of Jonathan Janz’s books and he is great at building up the tension, has no qualms about bumping off characters in grizzly and disturbing ways and you cannot be sure if the good guys will survive (or if they even are the good guys). For fans of a good-old horror tale you can’t go far wrong with Janz’s books.

In The Darkest Lullaby we have an entity who wants to use her nephew to find a way to return from the grave…if she even made it to her grave! Chris and Ellie move into Chris’s aunt’s old home in the hope of finding peace and a nice place to start a family. However soon after they arrive Chris starts to behave oddly and Ellie becomes increasingly alarmed by strange goings on in the house.

As the story unfolds we learn that Lillith, Chris’s aunt, had an unhealthy obsession with her nephew and a really strong dislike of Ellie. That really can’t be a good combination!

The Darkest Lullaby is one for the horror fans. Bloody, unsettling and with strong adult themes. A late night page turner which kept me reading…mainly so I could find out which characters survived!

The Darkest Lullaby is published by Flame Tree Press and is available in digital and paperback format here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkest-Lullaby-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/178758271X/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=jonathan+janz&qid=1565820624&s=gateway&sr=8-16

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August 6

Holiday Reading – Part 2

Time to do some catching up. I have spent a large part of July reading and a tiny part of July writing reviews so it’s time to redress the balance. I finished over a dozen books during my summer break and that is too many to fit into a single catch-up post so I shall break these down into double headers.

Black and Blue – David Rosenfelt

Doug Brock hasn’t had it easy since his getting shot in the line of duty as a New Jersey state police officer. Between the amnesia and having to solve two murder cases, it hasn’t been the most restful recovery. Now, the cold case department is checking evidence from a murder case Doug was investigating before the accident, but the DNA points to a man Doug eliminated as a suspect and he remembers none of it. Doug begins to reinvestigate what turns out to be a series of unsolved killings and must retrace his steps to discover why he would have let the suspect go free. What he uncovers may be more dangerous than any case he’s faced yet.

My thanks to Minotaur Books for my review copy

David Rosenfelt has written a lot of books but this is my introduction to his work. David has released 19 books in the Andy Carpenter series, all with a distinctly canine theme, I shall be turning my attention to those very soon. However, it should be noted that Black and Blue does not feature Andy Carpenter (and I don’t recall many dogs) this one is a Doug Brock thriller – I inhaled it in just two sittings.

Brock is a cop in New Jersey. He was shot in the line of duty and lost a lot of his memories – not them all but enough that he cannot remember much of his life over the last few years prior to the shooting. This has created issues with his fiancee and means some cases he worked are a total mystery to him.

In Black and Blue one of Brock’s older cases may have become pertinent to an active investigation and he will need to revisit his original case notes to try and identify who may be responsible for a shooting. Did Brock let a killer walk free?

As Brock and his colleagues review likely suspects the body count increases. The most elusive of killers, a sniper, seems to be working through a list of intended victims whilst taunting the police about their lack of progress in stopping his “work”.

The dynamic between Brock and his colleagues was engaging and gave some lighter moments away from the murder scenes. Pacy, action packed and with a good number of twists to keep me reading. Perfect holiday reading.

Black and Blue is published by Minotaur Books and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Blue-Doug-Brock-Thriller/dp/1250133149/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=david+rosenfelt&qid=1565117369&s=gateway&sr=8-8

Exit Wounds – edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan

A brand-new anthology of crime stories written by masters of the genre, including Jeffery Deaver, Val McDermid and Lee Child.

A brand-new anthology of crime stories written by masters of the genre. Featuring both original in-universe stories and rarely-seen reprints, this collection of masterful short stories brings together some of the genre’s greatest living authors.

This was perfect reading for a summer vacation. I was able to pick up and set down the book for short reading bursts between activities and day trips. While stop/start bursts is frustrating when working my way through a novel, these bite sized, unsettling tales were ideal.

I don’t read many short story anthologies so I am not sure what the correct etiquette may be for a review. As such I don’t plan to discuss each story individually (there are nineteen) but as I go along I will highlight a few which stood out.

First I need to highlight the quality of the collection. Val McDermid shares a Tony Hill and Carol Jordan story, James Oswald treats us to a Tony McLean chiller (one of my favourites in the collection), Lee Child, Dean Koontz and Dennis Lehane are joined by Steph Broadribb, Sarah Hilary and AK Benedict and I still haven’t mentioned more than half of the authors!

Two of the stories which stuck with me long after I put the book down were Dead Weight by Fiona Cummins and Disciplined by Martyn Waites. Some voices across the book just strike a chord with me or I found the twist was unexpected (and possibly nasty). It has been almost 3 weeks since I finished the last story in the collection but these two stories were the ones I thought of first when I sat down to prepare my review.

This is a cracking collection from Titan Books. The stories are dark and disturbing and the quality of tales assembled in a single volume is terrific.

Exit Wounds is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exit-Wounds-K-Benedict/dp/1785659189/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=exit+wounds&qid=1565123235&s=digital-skills&sr=8-1

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off