The police say Calvin Cross died naturally.
Former Scotland Yard detective Ember Lockhart lost her career following a scandal. Now working as a private investigator, she is hired by Amelia Cross to investigate her husband’s sudden death on a flight into Heathrow. Calvin had been frightened before he died, and the corrupted USB stick he left behind suggests he had good reason.
As Ember begins asking questions, she is followed, warned and threatened to abandon the case. With reluctant help from her former colleague and ex-lover, Leo Campbell, she traces Calvin’s death to a secretive technology company involved in political blackmail and corporate espionage involving an elaborate plan to destabilise the British government.
Then Amelia is murdered, and the evidence is carefully arranged to frame Ember. Charged with killing her own client, Ember must prove her innocence while pursuing an organisation prepared to eliminate anyone who gets in the way of their ultimate political goal.
Deborah Stone is the best-selling author of four gripping psychological thrillers that keep readers turning pages late into the night. Her novels have won multiple awards and critical acclaim, establishing her as a standout voice in contemporary psychological suspense and thriller fiction.
Her new crime thriller, Buried In Silence, will be available for pre-order on September 30, 2026 and will be released on October 14, 2026. Her last release, Nowhere Man (October 3, 2024), is available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook. It follows the success of Semi-Detached (April 3, 2023) which was recently honoured with the Chill With A Book Readers’ Award. Deborah’s second novel, Me and My Shadow, received the prestigious Chill With A Book Premier Award, given only to books that earn outstanding ratings across all reviewer categories. Her debut, What’s Left Unsaid, won the Runner-Up Prize for Best Book of 2018 in the same awards and remains a reader favourite.
In addition to fiction, Deborah is the author of the highly respected non-fiction guide, The Essential Family Guide to Caring for Older People, a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2022. A recognised expert on elder care, Deborah frequently appears on BBC, ITV, Sky, and Channel 5, offering expert advice on aging, care planning, and family support. She contributes regularly to national newspapers and lifestyle magazines, helping families navigate the complexities of caring for older relatives.
She lives in London with her husband and their delightfully mischievous golden retriever.
My thoughts: A man dies of an apparent heart attack on an aeroplane, his wife insists it wasn’t a natural death but the police disagree. So she hires former Detective Inspector Ember Lockhart to investigate.
What follows involves being framed for murder, explosions, boxes of offal, threats, kidnappings, senior members of the government, MI5, CEOs and millionaires determined to control the country. Not what Ember, or her former colleague Leo expected at all.
It’s all very heart racing and gripping as Ember, Leo and his subordinate Rohan attempt to untangle it all, find out who really killed Ember’s client and her husband and put a stop to the evil schemes of a rather vile rich and powerful person.
I really enjoyed this, I like Ember, she’s clever and headstrong, prone to charging full steam ahead into things, but Leo is there to rescue her and try to get her to rein in her impulsive nature. They make a good team, whether it’s hunting a killer or just dodging his nosey neighbour!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
💚🧡 Thank you so much for being a part of this adventure x
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