Blog Tour: Black Reed Bay – Rod Reynolds

When a young woman makes a distressing middle-of-the-night call to 911, apparently running for her life in a quiet, exclusive beachside neighbourhood, miles from her home, everything suggests a domestic incident. Except no one has seen her since, and something doesn’t sit right with the officers at Hampstead County PD. With multiple suspects and witnesses throwing up startling inconsistencies, and interference from the top threatening the integrity of the investigation, lead detective Casey Wray is thrust into an increasingly puzzling case that looks like it can have only one ending. And then the first body appears, and Casey’s investigation plunges her into a darkness she could never have imagined…

Black Reed Bay introduces a breathtaking, powerful and addictive new series, fronted by the fantastic Detective Casey Wray, from the CWA-nominated author of Blood Red City and The Dark Inside.

Rod Reynolds is the author of four novels, including the Charlie Yates series. His 2015 debut, The Dark Inside, was longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger, and was followed by Black Night Falling (2016) and Cold Desert Sky (2018); the Guardian has called the books ‘pitch-perfect American noir’. A lifelong Londoner, Rod’s first novel set in his hometown, entitled Blood Red City, was published by Orenda Books in 2020. Rod previously worked in advertising as a media buyer, and holds an MA in novel writing from City University London. He lives with his wife and family and spends most of his time trying to keep up with his two young daughters. Follow him on Twitter @Rod_WR.

My thoughts: this was an excellent crime thriller, set in a sleepy oceanside neighbourhood where things aren’t all they seem. Detective Casey Wray is determined to find out what happened to Tina Grace, and won’t buy the DA’s decision to close the case. If Tina’s dead, where’s her body?

Pursuing the truth despite threats and death, pushing the tiniest scrap of evidence into the light, Casey won’t stop and as it seems that one young woman’s disappearance is linked to something much bigger that will alter everything Casey believes in, her relentless hunt for justice could destroy the department as she knows it.

Clever, gripping and full of red herrings, dodgy dealings and suspects who die rather too conveniently, this is crime writing at it’s best. I could not put it down.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.