Every lie has its cost. In money or in blood . . .
Suave, suited winemaker Adam Gillespie has it all. A thriving business. A designer
home in a leafy Birmingham suburb. And a little black book full of lovers.
Until, the drab Monday morning he’s found dead at his desk. A carrier bag masks his chiseled features — and surely smothered his final cries.
Detective Tom Mariner’s team are ready to chalk it up as a tragic accident. A kink
gone horribly wrong.
But Mariner’s not so sure. The burn marks around the victim’s wrists tell a darker
story.
And this isn’t the only mysterious death on Mariner’s patch.
Elsewhere, an elderly woman is found floating in a murky canal.
Mariner knows he should leave well alone. He’s supposed to be on leave. Recovering
from the case that almost cost him everything . . .
He somehow survived, battered not beaten. But his health — and his relationship — are hanging by a thread.
This time around, he might not be so lucky . . .
Chris Collett grew up in a Norfolk seaside town where she worked in a boarding
house (now defunct) a local bakery (closed down) and a crisp factory (razed to the
ground). After leaving school she trained, in Liverpool, as a teacher for children with
learning disabilities, including autism.
Now a recently retired university lecturer,
Chris is married with two grown up children and lives in Birmingham, UK on DI Tom Mariner’s ‘patch’. She has published short stories, teaches creative and crime writing and is a manuscript assessor for the Crime Writers Association.
My thoughts: What could the murder of a wine merchant and the accidental death of an old woman have in common? Nothing, or so it seems. The police think Adam Gillespie was probably killed over a wine certification or a theft in his warehouse, and the elderly lady probably fell in the canal.
But DCI Tom Mariner’s not so sure. He’s on medical leave, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking and after being asked to look into the drowning by the dead woman’s niece, he’s putting the pieces together and uncovering a conspiracy and a criminal taking advantage of the most vulnerable people around.
Meanwhile one of his team is concerned about their neighbour, a university student who has been acting rather strangely. Has he found another crime in the city?
Clever, full of twists and with an ingenious connection between the two victims and the least likely criminal mastermind you might ever come across. Very enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 